University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Bemidji St
Gophers Sweep Beavers in Home Opener
10/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
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MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) - Kyle Rau scored his 50th career goal as the Gopher Hockey program picked up the first official sweep of the season on Saturday night in a 5-3 win over Bemidji State at Mariucci Arena.
Rau was one of four Gophers to tally multiple points in the win, adding an assist while Travis Boyd and Justin Kloos each pocketed a goal and an assist and Mike Reilly picked up two assists.
Minnesota (4-0-0 overall, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) remains undefeated on the season while Adam Wilcox moved to 4-0-0 on the year with a 19-save performance tonight.
Bemidji State jumped out to the early 1-0 lead at 2:16 of the first when Markus Gerbrandt caught a lucky bounce off the boards and found the back of the net to put the Gophers down for the first time this season.
But Minnesota would respond - twice - in the second half of the period. Connor Reilly scored his second goal of the year during a 5-on-3 power-play at 12:31 of the stanza thanks to assists from Travis Boyd and Justin Kloos while Rau found the net at 15:07 for his third of the year after being set up by Mike Reilly.
After the Gophers outshot BSU 15-6 in the first, the visitors responded with an 11-3 advantage in the second period. The Beavers also flipped the scoring with a pair of goals from Matt Prapavessis and Gerbrandt's second of the night. Down a goal, Kloos made it all square heading into the third period with his second of the year at 16:40 when Mike Reilly and Sam Warning set up the equalizer.
And in the third it came down to Travis Boyd power-play goal for the game winner. The senior, who tallied his first multi-goal game as a Gopher on Friday night, slammed home a loose puck for his third of the year and third of the weekend while Rau and Taylor Cammarata picked up assists.
Brad Skjei added an empty-net goal with 18 seconds left in the third to seal the deal for his first goal of the season. Minnesota ended the night 2-for-4 on the power play, 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and outshot the Beavers 30-22.
Minnesota returns to nonconference action next weekend with a home-and-home series against St. Cloud State. The series opener is set for Friday, Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. in St. Cloud (FOX Sports North PLUS, 1500 ESPN) while the Maroon & Gold return to Mariucci Arena on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. (FOX Sports North, BTN2Go.com, 1500 ESPN).
-Pride On Ice-
