University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, February 28
University Park, PA
7:30 PM
University of Minnesota
23-8-4, 14-6-3
3
at
4
Penn State
18-11-4, 9-10-4
1
2
3
OT 1
F
Minnesota
1
1
1
0
3
Penn State
0
2
1
1
4
Team Stats
MIN
PSU
Shots
34
32
PPG
1
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
2
3
Penalty Mins
4
6
Faceoffs Won
34
25
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
2
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
-1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's Hockey
Defense
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's Hockey
Goaltender
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's Hockey
Photo by: Kylie Barton
Gophers Suffer OT Loss at Penn State Friday
2/28/2025 10:30:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Two assists from freshman Ziemer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The second-ranked Minnesota men's hockey team suffered a 4-3 loss in overtime at No. 15/16 Penn State Friday night inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Golden Gophers (23-8-4 overall, 14-6-3 B1G) scored first but needed a third-period goal to force the extra session against the Nittany Lions (18-11-4 overall, 9-10-4 B1G). The Maroon and Gold now enter Saturday's regular-season finale tied atop the Big Ten Conference standings with Michigan State at 47 points.
Playing in front of a raucous, sell-out crowd, the visitors had the early jump and used all four lines to generate attack-zone pressure. The hard work paid off 2:40 into the contest when Mason Nevers banged home a rebound at the top of the crease off a Beckett Hendrickson shot and put the Gophers in front, 1-0. On the next shift, Minnesota again went on the offensive leading to Brodie Ziemer ringing a shot off the crossbar as they fired the game's first nine shots on target, covering more than five minutes. The Nittany Lion netminder needed to make another save when Erik Påhlsson found space behind the defense. The home side finally broke the surge and was able to generate chances but were denied by Gophers' goaltender Liam Souliere, making his first trip back to Pegula Ice Arena following a four-year career at PSU and the visitors held the one-goal edge into intermission.
Minnesota followed a similar trend beginning the second frame and speed through the neutral zone led to the first power play of the night, 36 seconds into the stanza. The Gophers had to fight off a shorthanded push before the man advantage expired and PSU used the penalty kill to build momentum. At the 6:38 mark, the Nittany Lions were assessed another minor penalty that was wiped away without a goal. The home side pulled even with 9:51 remaining in the period, scoring on a shot from the high slot, and moved in front 47 seconds later via a scramble in the crease.
Trailing 2-1 late in the period, Minnesota earned its third 5-on-4 opportunity of the frame and Connor Kurth buried the tying tally with 2:04 to play. His initial shot was blocked before Påhlsson retrieved it in the corner and eventually got the puck back on Kurth's stick where the junior ripped home the power-play goal. Ziemer nearly gave the Gophers the lead in the final minute as his bid was blockered aside and the teams went back to the locker room deadlocked, 2-2.
The Maroon and Gold attacked to start the final frame and forced PSU to defend and make critical saves. Oliver Moore and Matthew Wood each generated quality chances in tight to the net that were stopped in the opening five minutes. The home side pushed back and hit the crossbar before going to its first man advantage at the 6:37 mark. Souliere stayed poised in net and shut down the entire power play, but the Gophers went right back to the penalty box 11 seconds after the first expired. This time a shot from the point got through traffic, giving PSU a 3-2 margin with 10:38 left in regulation. A breakaway for the home team had to be denied with a quick pad save from Souliere, which allowed his offense to get back to work.
Luke Mittelstadt made a play to keep an initial shot inside the blue line and got a pass off Ziemer's stick to Jimmy Snuggerud, who worked with Moore for a give-and-go. Snuggerud collected the feed from Moore at the bottom of the left circle and the Gophers' leading scorer fired home his shot from a sharp angle on his off wing, getting the 3-3 equalizer with 8:16 to play.
It was a battle to the final buzzer as each side pushed for the game winner in regulation before heading into overtime. PSU won three of four faceoffs in the extra session and controlled the action before getting the game-winning goal at the 3:09 mark.
Souliere had his shutout streak against PSU snapped at 90:09, stopping the first 41 shots he saw versus his former team across two starts. The Montreal, Quebec, native still has not dropped a contest in regulation in his last 13 appearances after making 28 saves Friday.
Noteworthy
For the second time in his last three Friday appearances, Nevers found the back of net, this time with his fifth goal of the season and seventh point ... Kurth put away his 16th goal this season, fifth over the past six games, and pushed his career-best point total to 34 ... Snuggerud set a new career high, scoring his 22nd goal of the year, 19 of which have come during B1G play, and has 44 points overall ... It was the Chaska, Minn., native's 10th goal away from home as he leads the team with 19 road points, while Moore and Ziemer both now have 12 ... Hendrickson extended his career-long scoring streak to three games with an assist and the freshman now has 12 total points, eight coming over his last 13 outings ... Leo Gruba picked up his first point since Nov. 30 against Alaska, a span of 18 games, recording his fourth point this year ... Påhlsson and Ziemer each ended five-game scoring droughts by collecting assists on the power-play goal, their third points on a man advantage during the campaign ... It was the 18th point of the year for Påhlsson, while Ziemer became the seventh Gopher to reach the 20-point mark this season behind his fifth multi-point effort, reaching 21 points overall ... Moore stretched his point streak to four games and has seven points in his last six outings, increasing his point total to 27 ... Minnesota dropped to 1-4-4 in overtime games this season.
Coach Motzko's Comments
"Ninety percent of what we did tonight was outstanding," Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. "They're a good hockey team. We kept the crowd quiet, we got the lead, but we lost our focus and all three of their goals (in regulation) came on us turning the puck over."
Next Up: Away at No. 15/16 Penn State (March 1)
The Gophers and Nittany Lions put the finishing touches on the 2024-25 regular season Saturday night at 7 p.m. (CT) live on Big Ten Network and the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK.
The Golden Gophers (23-8-4 overall, 14-6-3 B1G) scored first but needed a third-period goal to force the extra session against the Nittany Lions (18-11-4 overall, 9-10-4 B1G). The Maroon and Gold now enter Saturday's regular-season finale tied atop the Big Ten Conference standings with Michigan State at 47 points.
Playing in front of a raucous, sell-out crowd, the visitors had the early jump and used all four lines to generate attack-zone pressure. The hard work paid off 2:40 into the contest when Mason Nevers banged home a rebound at the top of the crease off a Beckett Hendrickson shot and put the Gophers in front, 1-0. On the next shift, Minnesota again went on the offensive leading to Brodie Ziemer ringing a shot off the crossbar as they fired the game's first nine shots on target, covering more than five minutes. The Nittany Lion netminder needed to make another save when Erik Påhlsson found space behind the defense. The home side finally broke the surge and was able to generate chances but were denied by Gophers' goaltender Liam Souliere, making his first trip back to Pegula Ice Arena following a four-year career at PSU and the visitors held the one-goal edge into intermission.
Minnesota followed a similar trend beginning the second frame and speed through the neutral zone led to the first power play of the night, 36 seconds into the stanza. The Gophers had to fight off a shorthanded push before the man advantage expired and PSU used the penalty kill to build momentum. At the 6:38 mark, the Nittany Lions were assessed another minor penalty that was wiped away without a goal. The home side pulled even with 9:51 remaining in the period, scoring on a shot from the high slot, and moved in front 47 seconds later via a scramble in the crease.
Trailing 2-1 late in the period, Minnesota earned its third 5-on-4 opportunity of the frame and Connor Kurth buried the tying tally with 2:04 to play. His initial shot was blocked before Påhlsson retrieved it in the corner and eventually got the puck back on Kurth's stick where the junior ripped home the power-play goal. Ziemer nearly gave the Gophers the lead in the final minute as his bid was blockered aside and the teams went back to the locker room deadlocked, 2-2.
The Maroon and Gold attacked to start the final frame and forced PSU to defend and make critical saves. Oliver Moore and Matthew Wood each generated quality chances in tight to the net that were stopped in the opening five minutes. The home side pushed back and hit the crossbar before going to its first man advantage at the 6:37 mark. Souliere stayed poised in net and shut down the entire power play, but the Gophers went right back to the penalty box 11 seconds after the first expired. This time a shot from the point got through traffic, giving PSU a 3-2 margin with 10:38 left in regulation. A breakaway for the home team had to be denied with a quick pad save from Souliere, which allowed his offense to get back to work.
Luke Mittelstadt made a play to keep an initial shot inside the blue line and got a pass off Ziemer's stick to Jimmy Snuggerud, who worked with Moore for a give-and-go. Snuggerud collected the feed from Moore at the bottom of the left circle and the Gophers' leading scorer fired home his shot from a sharp angle on his off wing, getting the 3-3 equalizer with 8:16 to play.
It was a battle to the final buzzer as each side pushed for the game winner in regulation before heading into overtime. PSU won three of four faceoffs in the extra session and controlled the action before getting the game-winning goal at the 3:09 mark.
Souliere had his shutout streak against PSU snapped at 90:09, stopping the first 41 shots he saw versus his former team across two starts. The Montreal, Quebec, native still has not dropped a contest in regulation in his last 13 appearances after making 28 saves Friday.
Noteworthy
For the second time in his last three Friday appearances, Nevers found the back of net, this time with his fifth goal of the season and seventh point ... Kurth put away his 16th goal this season, fifth over the past six games, and pushed his career-best point total to 34 ... Snuggerud set a new career high, scoring his 22nd goal of the year, 19 of which have come during B1G play, and has 44 points overall ... It was the Chaska, Minn., native's 10th goal away from home as he leads the team with 19 road points, while Moore and Ziemer both now have 12 ... Hendrickson extended his career-long scoring streak to three games with an assist and the freshman now has 12 total points, eight coming over his last 13 outings ... Leo Gruba picked up his first point since Nov. 30 against Alaska, a span of 18 games, recording his fourth point this year ... Påhlsson and Ziemer each ended five-game scoring droughts by collecting assists on the power-play goal, their third points on a man advantage during the campaign ... It was the 18th point of the year for Påhlsson, while Ziemer became the seventh Gopher to reach the 20-point mark this season behind his fifth multi-point effort, reaching 21 points overall ... Moore stretched his point streak to four games and has seven points in his last six outings, increasing his point total to 27 ... Minnesota dropped to 1-4-4 in overtime games this season.
Coach Motzko's Comments
"Ninety percent of what we did tonight was outstanding," Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. "They're a good hockey team. We kept the crowd quiet, we got the lead, but we lost our focus and all three of their goals (in regulation) came on us turning the puck over."
Next Up: Away at No. 15/16 Penn State (March 1)
The Gophers and Nittany Lions put the finishing touches on the 2024-25 regular season Saturday night at 7 p.m. (CT) live on Big Ten Network and the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK.
2025-26 Non-Conference Schedule
Monday, August 11
Herb Brooks Statue
Wednesday, August 06
Meet the Newcomers: Teddy Townsend
Friday, July 18
Meet The Newcomers: Jacob Rombach
Friday, July 11