University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Falls to Minnesota State, 3-2
12/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Minnesota lost its first road contest of the year on Friday night, falling to Minnesota State 3-2 at Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, Minn. The No. 17 Gophers, playing with first-line winger Mike Hoeffel out due to an illness, put forth a valiant effort to tie the game in the final minutes of regulation, but Mavericks goaltender Phil Cook stood tall with 33 saves to give MSU its third WCHA victory.
In the opening minutes of the game, Gopher forwards Jake Hansen and Jay Barriball missed chances in alone on Cook, allowing Minnesota State to become the first team to take a lead on the Gophers away from Mariucci Arena this season.
Just more than six minutes in, MSU defenseman Ben Youds faked a slapshot from the blueline before letting go a wrist shot that went through traffic and beat Minnesota goaltender Alex Kangas up high to give the Mavs a 1-0 lead.
The Gophers answered quickly, though.
Less than two minutes after falling behind, Kevin Wehrs took a shot from the point that squeaked through Cook, who thought he had the puck. With the puck sitting inches in front of the goal line, freshman Nick Bjugstad fought through Youds' attempt to tie him up outside of the crease and made a diving play to knock in his second career goal.
Before the end of the opening frame, Minnesota State answered with another goal and regained the lead when Michael Dorr scored on the only power play of first period, slapping home an Andrew Sackrison rebound.
The Mavericks added to their lead in the early stages of the second period when Adam Mueller stepped out from behind the net and slid a backhander through the legs of Kangas. Mueller's goal came three minutes after he rang a shot off the post.
MSU killed a 5-on-3 penalty in the second period, but the Gophers scored just over a minute after the man-advantage expired when Nick Larson buried a Nico Sacchetti rebound.
Youds had an opportunity to help the Mavericks reclaim the two-goal lead with a chance in alone on Kangas with 2:38 left in the second period, but Kangas made a quick pad save and covered the puck to keep the Gophers in the game.
The Mavs had another great chance when their captain Rylan Galiardi came in on a shorthanded breakaway with 13:44 remaining in the third period, but Kangas came up big again, this time with a glove save, to keep the Gopher deficit at one.
The Gophers appeared to tie it later on the power play when Taylor Matson poked at a puck that was crammed between Cook's skate and the post, but the puck never crossed the goal line. The play was reviewed, but the original call stood and the score remained 3-2.
Minnesota controlled play in the last few minutes of the game, but Cook and the Mavericks' bend-don't-break defense wouldn't allow the Gophers to send the game to overtime, killing off a Youds interference penalty that lasted the final 1:25 of the contest.
Minnesota will look to salvage a split against Minnesota State tomorrow night when the two teams meet at 7 p.m. at Verizon Wireless Center.
