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Photo by: Matt Krohn
First Star Honors to Gophers' Close
10/24/2023 10:30:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Third-straight year earning a first star
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Behind another brilliant weekend between the pipes for No. 1 Minnesota men's hockey, goaltender Justen Close was named the Big Ten Conference First Star of the Week Oct. 24.
The graduate student turned away 57-of-59 shots faced against No. 5 North Dakota for a 1.01 goals-against average and a .966 save percentage during the road series. Twenty-five of those saves came Friday night in his second-consecutive shutout as he silenced the over-capacity crowd of UND fans. The streak was snapped at 153 minutes, 58 seconds following a goal in the second period Saturday.
The Kindersley, Saskatchewan, native's shutout Friday was the 11th of his Gophers' career, and he sits two shy of the program record held by Kellen Briggs and Adam Wilcox. Close helped backstop a penalty kill that was a perfect 6-for-6 Saturday and 10-for-10 during the weekend series.
It's the first time Close has been honored by the league office this season and sixth time in his career, including a first star in each of the last three seasons. The Gophers have had the top honor of the weekly awards in consecutive weeks after Jimmy Snuggerud earned the accolade Oct. 17.
The graduate student turned away 57-of-59 shots faced against No. 5 North Dakota for a 1.01 goals-against average and a .966 save percentage during the road series. Twenty-five of those saves came Friday night in his second-consecutive shutout as he silenced the over-capacity crowd of UND fans. The streak was snapped at 153 minutes, 58 seconds following a goal in the second period Saturday.
The Kindersley, Saskatchewan, native's shutout Friday was the 11th of his Gophers' career, and he sits two shy of the program record held by Kellen Briggs and Adam Wilcox. Close helped backstop a penalty kill that was a perfect 6-for-6 Saturday and 10-for-10 during the weekend series.
It's the first time Close has been honored by the league office this season and sixth time in his career, including a first star in each of the last three seasons. The Gophers have had the top honor of the weekly awards in consecutive weeks after Jimmy Snuggerud earned the accolade Oct. 17.
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