Hockey rolls over Minnesota
Brady Olson
Staff Writer
It might not have been pretty, but the Mavericks got the job done as the men’s hockey team completed a sweep of the Minnesota Golden Gophers with a 2-1 win this past Saturday night.
The series began Friday night in Minneapolis, where the Golden Gophers struggled to get anything started on the offensive end.
After trading goals early in the first period, junior forward Charlie Gerard hit what would end up being the game deciding goal with about four minutes remaining in the 1stperiod.
Senior Nick Rivera was able put another score on the board less than a minute into the 2ndperiod.
After that, the scoring would go dry for the rest of the period. Scoring was capped off in the 3rdperiod by a pair of goals from junior forward Marc Michaelis, one of which was shorthanded.
The Saturday game was held in front of a crowd of 5,131, one of the largest crowds in Verizon Center history.
There wasn’t much to celebrate early on, however, as the Gophers scored the only goal of the 1stperiod.
MSU struggled to get anything going offensively, getting off five shots in the period.
Then, at the 3:46 mark in the 2ndperiod, junior forward Parker Tuomie tied things up just seconds into a power play. Almost immediately after the goal, Minnesota went on a power play.
Despite being down a man, sophomore forward Jake Jaremko got on a breakaway. He missed the shot, but it rebounded off of a Gopher’s skate, past the goalie, and into the net for a goal. Jaremko was credited with an unassisted goal.
MSU dialed up the heat in the 3rdperiod, taking 11 shots on goal to Minnesota’s seven shots, but both defenses stood strong and the clock wound to zero without any more scores.
Senior goaltender Mathias Israelsson finished the game with 13 saves on 14 opportunities.
Based on what other teams did over the weekend, don’t be surprised if the Mavericks either stay put in 4thor leap over Providence to take No. 3.
The team has next week off before a series at home against Ferris State. Those games will be played on Nov. 16 and 17 at the Verizon Center.
Feature photo by Kjerstin Hall | MSU Reporter.