University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Alaska
Gophers Top Nanooks 6-3
10/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Oct. 9, 2016
Tickets on Sale for Home Opener vs. St. Cloud State
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (GopherSports.com) - Thirteen Gophers tallied points including an assist by Anchorage native Eric Schierhorn and two goals from Tyler Sheehy as the No. 11/13 Gopher Hockey program closed out the weekend with a 6-3 win over Alaska Fairbanks on Sunday.
The Gophers (2-0-0 overall, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) notched six goals for the second game in a row after opening the season with a 6-0 victory over Alaska Anchorage on Friday night.
Schierhorn, whose assist stands as his second career point with the Maroon & Gold, also made 17 saves to move to 2-0-0 on the season.
In a game that saw the Gophers take six penalties for 12 minutes, Minnesota actually outscored the Nanooks 2-1 while on the penalty kill. Sheehy opened the night with a short-handed goal and team captain Justin Kloos, who tied for the NCAA lead last year with eight short-handed points and led the Big Ten with four short-handed goals, notched the eventual game winner while on the penalty kill.
In a first period that saw five penalties between the two programs, Minnesota and Alaska Fairbanks exchanged goals less than 30 seconds apart.
Two nights after tallying three assists, Sheehy put the Maroon & Gold up by a goal with his first strike of the season - a short-handed tally at 12:48 that was set up by Schierhorn. The Nanooks (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) answered right back with a power-play goal from Zach Frye at 13:14 however.
After one goal in the first by the Maroon & Gold, the Gophers tripled their offensive production in the second period with goals from Brent Gates Jr., Vinni Lettieri and Kloos. Gates scored his third goal of the weekend to match his freshman season total after being set up by Ryan Norman and Jake Bischoff at 6:13 of the second stanza while Lettieri lit the lamp for his first of the year at 8:29 following a nice feed from Rem Pitlick. Alaska Fairbanks cut the lead back to one soon after when Austin Vieth put a dancing puck into the net at 9:50.
Minnesota got an extra bump late in the period though when Kloos netted the team's second short-handed goal of the night. The team captain recorded his first point of the season with the tally while Mike Szmatula picked up an assist for his first point with the Gophers.
The Nanooks would cut the lead down to one yet again in the third period when Troy Van Tetering found the net at 13:14, but Ryan Zuhlsdorf and Sheehy put the icing on the cake with late goals. Zuhlsdorf pushed the lead to 5-3 with his second goal in as many college games at 14:15 after being set up by Taylor Cammarata and Szmatula while Sheehy put in an empty-net tally for his second of the night at 19:30 with assists from Tommy Novak and Leon Bristedt.
The Gophers outshot the Nanooks 27-20 on the night.
The Maroon & Gold return to action with an exhibition game against the U.S. Under-18 Team at Mariucci Arena on Oct. 14 before the official regular-season home opener against St. Cloud State on Oct. 21. Tickets for this year's Gopher Hockey campaign can be purchased through MyGopherSports.com, by visiting the Mariucci Arena Ticket Office or by calling 1-800-U-Gopher.
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