University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Minnesota Duluth
UMD Holds Off Gophers Rally
1/27/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
SAINT PAUL, Minn. (GopherSports.com) - Brent Gates Jr. scored a pair of power-play goals, but it was just short of enough as the No. 6 Gopher Hockey program fell to No. 2/1 Minnesota Duluth by a 3-2 margin on Friday night in North Star College Cup semifinal action at Xcel Energy Center.
The Gophers (14-7-2 overall, 6-2-0-0 Big Ten) will play No. 20 Bemidji State on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT in the tournament's third-place game while the Bulldogs will face St. Cloud State at 7 p.m. for the event title.
Gates pushed the Maroon & Gold to an early lead with a power-play strike at 5:05 of the first period off a nice feed from Vinni Lettieri. Steve Johnson also earned an assist on the goal for his 10th point of the season - tying his career high.
But Minnesota Duluth (16-5-4, 11-4-1-1 NCHC) scored three unanswered goals to pull ahead and then weathered a furious final period by Minnesota. Riley Tufte forced a turnover and evened the game with an unassisted goal at 18:51 of the first, and Alex Iafallo put the Bulldogs up by a goal with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 6:48 of the second. Avery Peterson scored the eventual game winner with a shorthanded breakaway at 8:34 of the third. Peterson's goal was one of only two shots by the Bulldogs in the third period as the Gophers pummeled the net with 22 shots in the final stanza.
Gates brought the Maroon & Gold back within one on an extra-attacker, power-play goal at 19:21 from Leon Bristedt and Jake Bischoff, but the Gophers failed to find the equalizer. The sophomore forward's pair of tallies on the advantage put Minnesota at 2-for-6 on the power-play while the penalty kill went 3-for-4 on the night.
Eric Schierhorn suffered the loss for Minnesota, making 26 saves to move to 14-7-2 on the season. Hunter Miska made 37 saves for UMD to move to 15-4-2. The Gophers outshot the Bulldogs 39-29.
St. Cloud State (2), Bemidji State (1) | Box Score
Defending North Star College Cup champion St. Cloud State opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over No. 20 Bemidji State on Friday. Jacob Benson and Blake Winiecki put the Huskies up by two and then held off a late push from the Beavers including Zach Whitecloud's lone goal for BSU.
-Pride on Ice-
