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Photo by: Bjorn Franke
Gopher Pair Lands BIG Weekly Awards
2/13/2024 10:30:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Close, Huglen lead 'U' to sweep of Penn State
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Minnesota's Justen Close and Aaron Huglen were rewarded for their performances during a home sweep of Penn State as they were named the Big Ten Conference Men's Hockey First and Third Star of the Week, respectively.
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Close could not have been any better in goal for the Golden Gophers as he stopped all 66 shots and shut down the Nittany Lions' 10th-ranked scoring offense the entire weekend. He posted a shutout in back-to-back outings for the second time this season, while Penn State was blanked in consecutive games for the first time in their program's history. The graduate student tied the all-time record for shutouts in Minnesota history with the 13th of his career Saturday, coming in just 84 career starts.
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A native of Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Close made 36 saves in Friday's win, including a 19-save effort in the second period. Ten of those saves came while shorthanded as the Gophers killed off nearly four minutes of a 5-on-3 penalty kill. He closed the series by turning away 30 shots in the finale and moved to 4-0-1 in his last five outings behind a 0.59 goals-against average and a .981 save percentage. Close is the first Minnesota player to win back-to-back first star honors since Eric Schierhorn on Nov. 7 and 14, 2017.
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Huglen shined in the Maroon and Gold's win Saturday as he recorded the first multi-goal effort of his career and finished with three points during the series to earn his first weekly award with the Gophers. The junior scored twice in a 3:22 span early in the second period to break a scoreless tie and tallied his third game-winning goal in the last seven outings.
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The Roseau, Minn., product started the weekend by picking up the primary assist on Connor Kurth's third-period insurance marker in game one and finished the series with a plus-3 rating. He has a goal in five of his last nine games played, with all five goals coming in the second game of a series and has 10 points over his last 14 appearances.
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A player representing the Maroon and Gold has been honored with a weekly award in six-straight weeks. Coming from eight different players, a total of 13 B1G accolades have been earned by the Gophers during the 2023-24 campaign, the most of any team within the league: Justen Close (Feb. 13, Feb. 6, Oct. 24), Aaron Huglen (Feb. 13), Oliver Moore (Jan. 30), Rhett Pitlick (Jan. 23, Dec. 5, Nov. 7), Sam Rinzel (Jan. 16), Jimmy Snuggerud (Jan. 10, Oct. 17), Bryce Brodzinski (Nov. 28), and Brody Lamb (Nov. 14).
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Close could not have been any better in goal for the Golden Gophers as he stopped all 66 shots and shut down the Nittany Lions' 10th-ranked scoring offense the entire weekend. He posted a shutout in back-to-back outings for the second time this season, while Penn State was blanked in consecutive games for the first time in their program's history. The graduate student tied the all-time record for shutouts in Minnesota history with the 13th of his career Saturday, coming in just 84 career starts.
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A native of Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Close made 36 saves in Friday's win, including a 19-save effort in the second period. Ten of those saves came while shorthanded as the Gophers killed off nearly four minutes of a 5-on-3 penalty kill. He closed the series by turning away 30 shots in the finale and moved to 4-0-1 in his last five outings behind a 0.59 goals-against average and a .981 save percentage. Close is the first Minnesota player to win back-to-back first star honors since Eric Schierhorn on Nov. 7 and 14, 2017.
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Huglen shined in the Maroon and Gold's win Saturday as he recorded the first multi-goal effort of his career and finished with three points during the series to earn his first weekly award with the Gophers. The junior scored twice in a 3:22 span early in the second period to break a scoreless tie and tallied his third game-winning goal in the last seven outings.
Â
The Roseau, Minn., product started the weekend by picking up the primary assist on Connor Kurth's third-period insurance marker in game one and finished the series with a plus-3 rating. He has a goal in five of his last nine games played, with all five goals coming in the second game of a series and has 10 points over his last 14 appearances.
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A player representing the Maroon and Gold has been honored with a weekly award in six-straight weeks. Coming from eight different players, a total of 13 B1G accolades have been earned by the Gophers during the 2023-24 campaign, the most of any team within the league: Justen Close (Feb. 13, Feb. 6, Oct. 24), Aaron Huglen (Feb. 13), Oliver Moore (Jan. 30), Rhett Pitlick (Jan. 23, Dec. 5, Nov. 7), Sam Rinzel (Jan. 16), Jimmy Snuggerud (Jan. 10, Oct. 17), Bryce Brodzinski (Nov. 28), and Brody Lamb (Nov. 14).
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