University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Drop Tourney Title Game to Wildcats
1/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Minnesota put a season-high 50 shots on goal, but fell to Northern Michigan 4-2 in the title game of the Dodge Holiday Classic on Sunday at Mariucci Arena.
The Gophers outshot the Wildcats 50-23 for the game and failed to win the tournament title for just the seventh time in the 19-year history of the event. Northern Michigan won the tournament for the first time after losing to the Gophers in the title games in 2004-05 and 1999-2000. The Wildcats also gained control of the Canale-Bradshaw Cup, which is a traveling trophy the teams have played for since both were members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Both teams entered the game with .500 records as Minnesota dropped to 9-10-1 overall with the loss, while Northern Michigan is now 9-8-4.
Wildcats' goaltender Brian Stewart made 48 saves and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Stewart posted a shutout Saturday against Clarkson and is the first goaltender to earn the tournament's MVP award since Minnesota's Travis Weber in 2002-03.
Northern Michigan's Ray Kaunisto had two goals in the championship game and was also named to the all-tournament team along with teammates Erik Gustafsson and Mark Olver. Minnesota's Mike Hoeffel scored a goal for the second straight game and was named to the all-tournament team along with Gophers' defenseman Cade Fairchild.
Minnesota put 18 of its shots on goal during the first period, owning an 18-7 advantage and scoring the only goal of the frame on a power play tally by Hoeffel. The junior scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season off assists from Mike Carman and Fairchild at the 5:57 mark.
Northern Michigan scored three times in the second period, including the first two goals of the period. Both came directly off faceoffs with Greger Hanson tipping in the first Wildcat goal at the 6:58 mark of the period. The goal came five seconds into a Gopher penalty as Olver won the faceoff back to Gustafsson, whose shot from the point was deflected off Hanson and into the net.
Kaunisto scored the first of his two goals for the Wildcats at the 11:46 mark with assists from Hanson and Matt Butcher. Minnesota was called for an intentional offsides penalty, bringing the faceoff into the Gophers' zone. Butcher won the draw and Kaunisto converted seconds later.
Minnesota knotted the game at the 15:13 mark with a goal from its newest player. Bowling Green transfer Jacob Cepis, who debuted on Saturday against his former team, won a scrum in front of the net when the puck popped loose to him and he lifted it into the net. Tony Lucia and Jake Hansen also had assists after poking at the loose puck in the crease following a hard shot by Patrick White from the point.
Kaunisto put the Wildcats back ahead with 12.2 seconds left in the period when he scored off assists from T.J. Miller and Olver for his ninth goal of the season. Northern Michigan scored its three goals in the period on 10 shots and despite Minnesota putting a season-high 19 shots on goal during the period. The Gophers also had three power play chances in the period and had shots from Hoeffel and White ring off the post in addition to seven shots on goal during those chances.
Minnesota outshot the Wildcats 13-6 in the final period, but Northern Michigan scored the only goal when Miller wristed a shot from the left faceoff dot at the 16:16 mark with assists from Olver and Justin Florek.
The Gophers pulled goaltender Alex Kangas for an extra attacker for the final 1:48 of the game, but were unable to get a shot past Stewart. Minnesota finished the night 1-for-7 on the power play despite 18 power play shots. Northern Michigan was 1-for-4 on the man advantage and Kangas had 19 saves for the Gophers, who host Harvard in a non-conference series next weekend.
Earlier in the day, Bowling Green captured the consolation title with a 4-3 win over Clarkson. The Falcons broke a 2-2 tie on a goal by Kyle Page with 7:34 left and then added an empty net goal before Clarkson scored with 8.2 seconds left to force the one-goal margin.
