University of Minnesota Athletics
Late Goals Sink Gophers in Loss to St. Cloud State
1/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Despite dominating the third period, Minnesota's first WCHA game of the season's second half resulted in defeat as St. Cloud State scored two goals in the final two minutes for a 3-1 win on Friday at Mariucci Arena.
Tied 1-1 through two periods, St. Cloud State held a 30-14 advantage in shots and had the first two chances of the third period before Minnesota caught fire and rattled off 17 consecutive shots. However, Huskies' goaltender Jase Weslosky stopped them all and shortly after a late penalty kill, St. Cloud State's Garrett Roe broke free for his second goal of the game and the game-winner with 1:41 left. The Huskies added an empty net goal with six seconds left and improved to 11-10-2 overall and 6-8-1 in the WCHA. Minnesota is also 11-10-2 overall and dropped to 5-8 in the league.
Minnesota scored the game's first goal just 2:37 into the contest as St. Cloud native Mike Howe put in a loose puck in front of the net. David Fischer ripped a shot from the point that deflected off Gophers' forward Evan Kaufmann. Weslosky was sprawled out and couldn't locate the puck, which bounced right to Howe, who slammed it in for a 1-0 lead.
Gophers' freshman goaltender Alex Kangas had 32 saves and stopped several outstanding chances in the first two periods. St. Cloud State finally broke through with a power play goal from Roe at 16:21 of the second period. Minnesota was unable to clear the puck and it came out to Roe 20 feet in front of the net. The freshman blasted a shot that Kangas originally stopped, but it trickled through to tie the game.
Kangas came up big in the opening moments of the third period, stopping a breakway by the nation's leading scorer, Ryan Lasch, in the first 15 seconds. Kangas stopped another Huskies' shot before Minnesota took over. The Gophers had a power play chance a short time later and controlled play even after the penalty expired.
Minnesota's Blake Wheeler broke free with just under four minutes left, but was brought down by the Huskies' Garrett Raboin, resulting in another power play opportunity. The Gophers put two shots on goal during the man-advantage to finish their streak of 17 straight shots and, 10 seconds after the penalty expired, St. Cloud State took advantage of a misplay by the Gophers at the blue line. Andreas Nodl and Roe came in on a two-on-one and Nodl made a late pass to Roe, who finished the play for his 13th goal of the game.
The Gophers pulled Kangas in the final minute, but were unable to get a shot on goal. Nodl intercepted a puck and skated into the Gophers' zone before sending in the empty net goal.
St. Cloud State finished with a 35-31 edge in shots despite Minnesota's 17-5 advantage in the third period. Weslosky made 30 saves for the Huskies, who were one-for-four on the power play. The Gophers were stopped on all three power play chances.
The teams meet again on Saturday at 7:07 p.m. in St. Cloud. It is the first of five straight road games for the Gophers, who end the year with nine of their last 15 regular season games away from home.
