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'U' Claims Top Two BIG Weekly Stars
12/6/2022 10:30:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Close, Cooley honored for performance at MSU
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Justen Close and Logan Cooley of the Minnesota men's hockey team were named Big Ten Conference First and Second Star of the Week, respectively, after leading the Golden Gophers to a road sweep at nationally-ranked Michigan State.
Close held the Spartans without a goal for the first five periods played at Munn Ice Arena, recording his third shutout of the year Friday night when he turned away 25 shots. He continued to excel in goal Saturday as he registered a career-high 40 saves to finish off the Gophers' third sweep of the campaign. A product of Kindersley, Sask., he tallied a .956 save percentage during the series and posted a 1.50 goals against average.
The senior leads the league with a 2.12 GAA this season and has won seven of his last nine starts. In conference play, Close is the only goaltender that has a sub-two GAA as he sits at 1.95 in eight games, while his .933 save percentage ranks second.
Cooley paced Minnesota with five points during the weekend sweep of the Spartans, including the game-winning goal Friday night in the first period. That kicked-off his second three-point performance of the season as he added an assist later before capping the scoring with his seventh goal of the year. He followed that by recording a pair of assists during Saturday's victory and finished the trip with a +5 rating.
The Pittsburgh, Pa., native is now tied for the team lead with 14 assists and has 21 points in 17 total games. Cooley is riding a career-long, five-game point streak where he has multiple points in all those outings.
It was the second weekly honor of the year for each player as Cooley earned the First Star Oct. 4 and Close was the Second Star Nov. 8.
Next Up: Home vs. Wisconsin (Dec. 9)
For the first time in nearly a month, the Gophers return to 3M Arena at Mariucci when they host rival Wisconsin for a B1G series presented by M Health Fairview. The action starts Friday night at 8 p.m. during First Responders Night live on the Big Ten Network with audio coverage on the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM / AM 1130.
Close held the Spartans without a goal for the first five periods played at Munn Ice Arena, recording his third shutout of the year Friday night when he turned away 25 shots. He continued to excel in goal Saturday as he registered a career-high 40 saves to finish off the Gophers' third sweep of the campaign. A product of Kindersley, Sask., he tallied a .956 save percentage during the series and posted a 1.50 goals against average.
The senior leads the league with a 2.12 GAA this season and has won seven of his last nine starts. In conference play, Close is the only goaltender that has a sub-two GAA as he sits at 1.95 in eight games, while his .933 save percentage ranks second.
Cooley paced Minnesota with five points during the weekend sweep of the Spartans, including the game-winning goal Friday night in the first period. That kicked-off his second three-point performance of the season as he added an assist later before capping the scoring with his seventh goal of the year. He followed that by recording a pair of assists during Saturday's victory and finished the trip with a +5 rating.
The Pittsburgh, Pa., native is now tied for the team lead with 14 assists and has 21 points in 17 total games. Cooley is riding a career-long, five-game point streak where he has multiple points in all those outings.
It was the second weekly honor of the year for each player as Cooley earned the First Star Oct. 4 and Close was the Second Star Nov. 8.
Next Up: Home vs. Wisconsin (Dec. 9)
For the first time in nearly a month, the Gophers return to 3M Arena at Mariucci when they host rival Wisconsin for a B1G series presented by M Health Fairview. The action starts Friday night at 8 p.m. during First Responders Night live on the Big Ten Network with audio coverage on the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM / AM 1130.
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