University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Win Opener, Top UMass 5-3
10/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Freshman defenseman Justin Holl scored his first goal as a Golden Gopher to propel Minnesota to a 5-3 victory over Massachusetts at Mariucci Arena Friday night. Minnesota played a strong game offensively and goaltender Alex Kangas played a stellar game between the pipes to seal the victory for the Gophers.
"The team played well," said sophomore forward Zach Budish, who added an empty-net goal to guarantee the win. "It was big to get the first win on opening night."
The Gophers got off to a rough start when freshman Nick Bjugstad received a five-minute major and game misconduct for hitting Minutemen defenseman Michael Marcou from behind, just 3:57 into his collegiate career. The Gophers held strong on the ensuing penalty kill, however, thanks to a blocked shot by Tom Serratore and a diving play by redshirt senior Jay Barriball to clear the puck out of danger.
"You want to get off to a good start and that's a teachable moment for a young player like Nick," said Gopher coach Don Lucia. "The guys did a great job killing it off. We have to stay out of the box and can't play that many minutes shorthanded."
Just over six minutes after Minnesota regained full strength, Barriball opened the scoring on the power play by banging home a rebound in front of UMass goaltender Paul Dainton. Before the period ended, UMass' Colin Shea took a hooking penalty to give the Gophers a man-advantage heading into the next frame and the Gophers capitalized.
Just 12 ticks into the second period, the Gophers' returning leading goal scorer and assistant captain, Mike Hoeffel, scored off his own rebound to put Minnesota up 2-0. The two-goal cushion was short-lived, however, as Michael Pereira cut the lead in half with UMass' first goal of the season. The power-play tally was also UMass' first goal against Minnesota all-time.
With just over five minutes left in the period, Seth Helgeson helped the Gophers regain momentum by scoring the second goal of his career off a blast from the blueline that deflected off a Minuteman defenseman and through the legs of Dainton. It was the first even strength goal of the game.
Minnesota led 3-1 heading into the second intermission, but it was the final period that provided the most entertainment as the teams traded goals until the end.
Less than five minutes into the third, UMass defenseman Darren Rowe got the puck near the right hash mark and buried his team's second goal after waiting for Kangas to go down, preventing the Gophers from pulling away.
The two team's continued to pile up the shots until Justin Holl took a hard wrist shot from the slot that beat Dainton into the top right corner. As was the case for most of the game though, the pesky Minutemen would not go away.
TJ Syner edged out Minnesota defenseman Cade Fairchild on a partial breakaway, 2:40 after Holl's marker, and beat Kangas five-hole after a nifty deke. Fairchild picked up a hooking minor on the play, a penalty the Gophers would eventually kill off before Zach Budish closed out the scoring.
Both teams were effective on the power play on the night. Minnesota converted on two of its three chances, while two of UMass' three goals came with the man-advantage. Kangas played superb controlling many potent rebounds.
The two teams meet again at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at back at Mariucci Arena for the series finale.
