Gophers Hope To Extend Season In Grand Forks

After finishing their regular season on a high-note with a blowout win over the Wisconsin Badgers on senior day at Mariucci Arena, the Golden Gophers now face the reality of needing to win the WCHA Final Five to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. The first step in that process will be a tough one as they travel to Grand Forks to take on the Fighting Sioux in the first round of the WCHA playoffs this weekend.

Thanks to last Friday’s 3-2 loss to the Badgers at the Target Center, coupled with Colorado College’s split against the Denver Pioneers, the Gophers locked themselves into their second seventh place finish in the WCHA over the last three seasons. Two years ago, when Minnesota last found themselves this close to the bottom of the WCHA, they traveled to Minnesota State and won an epic first round series against the Mavericks, so hopefully history can repeat itself again this weekend, though the Sioux will likely be a much more formidable foe than the Mavs were.

The good thing for Minnesota is that they head into this series against the Sioux with some momentum after Sunday’s 6-1 win over Wisconsin. Things looked bleak for the Gophers early in the second period as the Badgers tied the game at 1-1 and were taking over the game. But senior Ryan Flynn got tangled up with UW junior Ryan McDonagh and both got 10 minute misconducts, along with a two minute minor to McDonagh. The Gopher power play, which has been abysmal all season, suddenly exploded as they scored five power play goals, including three in the second period. Seniors Tony Lucia and Mike Carman both had a pair of goals in their final game at Mariucci Arena.

Minnesota will need that goal-scoring prowess to be on display in North Dakota this weekend against the Sioux, who will ride a seven game winning-streak into this weekend’s series. Most recently, the Sioux swept Michigan Tech in Grand Forks, though the Sioux were trailing to start the second period in both contests. However, UND stormed back in both games and put over 40 shots on net in both games.

During their current winning streak, the Sioux have not allowed more than two goals in any of those games and are really playing well defensively as they have, for the most part, all season. They were the top defensive team in the WCHA during the regular season as they allowed just 2.18 goals per game. This is even more impressive when you consider they’ve been without senior defenseman and captain Chay Genoway for much of the season. Genoway, who was checked from behind by SCSU’s Aaron Marvin in mid-November, suffered a concussion and has not returned to the ice since.

North Dakota’s top defensive pairing features sophomore Ben Blood and freshman Andrew MacWilliam. This duo was matched up against Minnesota’s top line of Zach Budish, Jacob Cepis, and Jordan Schroder when these two teams met at Mariucci Arena in January. That lines speed gave Blood and MacWilliam fits on the big ice sheet, but look for that duo to get another crack and Minnesota’s top unit again this weekend on the NHL-sized ice sheet at Ralph Engelstad Arena, which should bode well for the big bodies of Blood and MacWilliam.

Sunday’s offensive outburst notwithstanding, the main reason the Gophers find themselves in the precarious position they are in is their anemic offense, which was just seventh in the WCHA this season. One of the main issues they have when it comes to scoring goals is their power play has been awful for much of the season, and not only that, but they don’t draw very many penalties to give themselves chances with the man-advantage. Minnesota had just 115 power play chances this season, which was last in the WCHA and well below the league average of 144.8.

On the season, Minnesota’s power play finished ninth in the WCHA at 16.5 percent. Two of the main keys to playoff hockey are special teams and goaltending, and if the Gophers power play goes belly-up this weekend, it’s going to be tough for them to score enough five-on-five goals to beat the Sioux.

North Dakota’s second-half slide, which the Gophers played a part in by tying and then beating the Sioux 5-1 in January, ended when they got sophomore Brett Hextall back in their lineup from a knee injury. The Sioux have lost just one game since he returned to the lineup on Feb. 12 and he’s really jump started their power play which was riding a 0-31 streak before Hextall ended that drought in his first game back. He’s averaged a point per game since his return and will likely be a physical factor this weekend.

For the Gophers to have any shot in this series, Minnesota goalie Alex Kangas is going to have to exercise some demons when it comes to his play at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Over his career as a Gopher, he’s been brutal in said building, though his teammates haven’t done much to help him out in many instances. During his freshman he season, he won a 4-3 contest us there, but it’s been all downhill since then. Last season, he gave up 11 goals in a pair of blowout losses, and followed that up by being on the wrong end of a 4-0 season-opening loss last October. Kangas was the main reason the Gophers upset Minnesota state two seasons ago in the first round of the playoffs, and he’ll have to probably make 40-plus saves each night this weekend if the Gophers hope to keep their season alive.

On the other end of the ice, Sioux sophomore Brad Eidsness has put together another rock solid season for Dave Hakstol’s team. His goals against average of 2.18 his second in the WCHA and his save percentage of .914 ranks him third. The Gophers put five goals on him back in January but that’s not likely to happen again this weekend, as Minnesota is going to have to win by scoring timely goals and limiting North Dakota’s chances. If the games turn into shootouts, the edge goes to the Sioux.

Up front for the Sioux, they are fairly healthy and feature three lines that can score and of course all four of their lines play a physical brand of hockey that fans are accustomed to seeing from the Green and White. The top line as of last weekend had senior Chris VandeVelde flanked by sophomore Jason Gregoire and freshman Danny Kristo. That trio combined for nine points in the two games against Michigan Tech and, for the season, those three are UND’s top scorers.

The second line of Evan Trupp, Bad Malone, and Matt Frattin has been together for a few weeks now despite not producing much last weekend has been pretty formidable and features a good blend of speed with Trupp and Frattin and a lot of grit with Malone. Hextall is the key piece to their third line along with senior Darcy Zajac and freshman Corban Knight, who has really come on in the second half.

Last Sunday against the Badgers, the Gophers got contributions from players other than the ones who play on the top line, and that will need to be the case again this weekend. Seniors like Lucia and Carman are going to have to play at a very high level in what’s sure to be a chaotic environment given the arena and the Sioux’s style of hockey. Schroeder, who has been very inconsistent this season and often disappears at times, is going to have to play with more physicality than fans are used to seeing and the team in general cannot be afraid to go to the front of the net and take some hits from UND’s defense.

The key for Minnesota all season has been holding the opposition to two goals or less; they have just one loss this season when they accomplish that feat. However, if they allow three or more, their record is terrible since scoring goals is a huge issue for this team, and it would be surprising if they put a lot of crooked numbers on the board this weekend given who and where they are playing.

Prior to this season, the Gophers vowed to be tougher to play against, and for the most part that promise hasn’t been something the team has followed through on. However, this weekend is going to be as physical of a challenge as the team will face, and they certainly have the ability to win two of three games against a good but not great Sioux team and advance to St. Paul. To do that, they are going to need to play on their toes, not back down, and execute when given chances to put the puck in the net. And, most importantly, Kangas cannot give up soft goals and may have to win a game on his own if they hope to keep their slim NCAA hopes alive for another weekend.

Gophers Win, Seniors Carry the Day

Four Goals by Seniors Help Class of 2010 go Out In Style

“Primarily I wanted us to win our last game, as seniors, at Mariucci” said player of the game Mike Carman.

“It feels good to go out on top, that’s for sure” said Tony Lucia of winning his last game on home ice.

It was a heck of a finish for the seniors playing their last home game. Just about all got involved as Carman and Lucia both potted two goals each, Brian Schack played and did a great job on defense, and Ryan Flynn got himself a misconduct penalty which sparked the team in a 6 – 1 rout of the Badgers.

Both teams played a fairly conservative and boring hockey game until the 16 minute mark. Badger backup goalie Brett Bennett couldn’t handle a shot from the point by Kevin Wehrs; Mike Carman, standing in the crease, batted the puck through Bennett. It laid there in the crease - thankfully Badger forward Patrick Johnson was there to knock the puck in for us or it’s possible Bennett could have gotten back around to freeze it.

The Badgers took control of the game for a good four to five minutes just as the second period began. After several close calls and a hit post, the Badgers finally cashed in. Derek Stephan and Michael Davies connected on a great give and go, with Davies putting a fantastic snap shot over Alex Kangas’s glove.

But just as it seemed like the Badgers were going to take control, it seemed to flip a switch for the Gophers.

“McDonough got in that wrestling match” lamented Badger coach Mike Eaves of offsetting penalties between McDonough and Ryan Flynn. “We tied the game; it looked like we were coming on, and then from there it kind of deteriorated.”

“It stoked the fire” said coach Lucia of the scrum. And it not only resulted in a series of Badger penalties, the Gophers took back the lead and extended it. Pat White faked a shot and from the point, passed it crisply to Tony Lucia who won his battle in front of the Badger net. Lucia’s tip found its way inside the post and Bucky began to sag a bit.

Jake Cepis followed up with a power play tally of his own, his 7th goal as a Gopher, pouncing on a rebound to the side of Bennett, and he had all day to tap it home.

Tony Lucia finished off the Gopher scoring in the period, with their third straight on the power play. After a dump in, Tony Lucia took the puck through two Badger defenders and sniped a wrister through traffic, perfectly placed into the upper corner.

“We've gone a month without scoring five power play goals” reflected coach Lucia of his team’s sudden specialty team’s prowess.

Things got pretty chippy in the waning moments of the second period, and into the third. Both teams had a fairly steady stream of players heading to the box, although the Badgers did have more power play time, including about 45 seconds of a 5 on 3.

The Gophers gained a 5 on 3 with about 8 minutes left as Badger captain Blake Geoffrion lost his cool and took a double minor. Nick Leddy capitalized just as a Badger was coming out of the box to ice whatever chance the Badgers had of coming back.

Mike Carman finished off the scoring with another power play goal, the first time since 2006 that the Gophers have scored five power play goals in a game.

Well, it’s off to North Dakota. Not the WCHA finish any of us wanted or hoped for. But perhaps the way this team has played the last few weekends (aside from the Saturday Duluth game), they can go up to Grand Forks and make a series of it. The Sioux are hot right now, winning their last seven games, but traditionally they have allowed lesser teams than the Gophers to stick around in the first round when they are hosting.

“There’s no bigger rivalry in our mind, than North Dakota” said Tony Lucia. Summed up what should be a nice week of buildup before the opener on Friday night.

The games will be on FSN all weekend, however the Friday game could be tape delayed unless FSN decides to move the Wild game. Stay tuned to Gopher Puck Live for any updates.

Badgers Best Gophers 3-2

If Gopher fans know nothing else by this point of the season, it’s that this Minnesota team is very inept offensively and thus they need to get breaks to win games. On this night, playing in the odd atmosphere of the Target Center, Minnesota had two goals waved off and, not surprisingly, lost 3-2 to the Wisconsin Badgers.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say there was a full moon tonight,” said Badger Head Coach Mike Eaves of the game, which featured two reviews and several stoppages in play to fix the poor ice. That, combined with the fact that the facility is less than ideal for hockey and the high number of penalties on both sides, made for a very choppy contest.

“It was a funny game … didn’t have the same feel,” Eaves added.

The Badgers dominated the first period and scored on two of four power play attempts in the opening stanza. However, Minnesota got on the board first, thanks to a turnover at the UW blueline by Badger freshman Justin Schultz. Minnesota senior Ryan Flynn picked up the loose puck and broke in alone on Badger goalie Scott Gudmandson, and score his second goal of the season, the first that wasn’t into an empty net.

However, that lead would be short-lived, as UW freshman Craig Smith would get his first of the night to knot the game at 1-1 just over two minutes later while on the power play. The goal, his fifth of the season, came via a two-on-one rush after a Mike Hoeffel tripping penalty.

Later in the first, after Zach Budish’s second penalty of the first period, Schultz would atone for his turnover earlier in the period as he was the beneficiary of a great passing play by the Badgers than ended with Schultz one-timing the puck over the glove of Minnesota goalie Alex Kangas for his third tally of the season.

There was no scoring in the second period and the Badgers had just two shots during said period, but there was plenty of action. Most of the action came in the Badger end, as Minnesota found themselves with a two-man advantage for over a minute early in the period. Hoeffel appeared to tip home a Cade Fairchild point shot past Gudmandson, but after a review, it was ruled that Hoeffel was in the crease and thus the goal was waved off.

“We got that third goal twice,” Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia said afterward. “But unfortunately both were disallowed.”

The second disallowed goal that Lucia, who was visibly frustrated both during and after the game, came from the stick of Budish, who jammed home a shot from the side of the Badger net in the third period, but the net was kicked off its moorings by Gudmandson before the puck went over the line.

The goal would have put Minnesota in the lead thanks to Nick Larson’s fourth goal of the season, which came early in the third period. He tipped a Kevin Wehrs point shot past Gudmandson at 2:36 of the third. Nico Sacchetti also assisted.

The Badgers came into the game with the highest-scoring offense in the WCHA, so keeping them under three goals was going to be a chore for the Gophers. And sure enough, with just under five minutes to go, Smith found himself alone in the slot and sniped a shot past Kangas high on the glove side to put Wisconsin in front for good by a 3-2 score.

“I thought our guys played terrific,” Lucia said. “We went toe to toe if that’s one of the top teams in the country.

With the loss and Colorado College’s win at Denver, the Gophers will finish in seventh place in the WCHA and the season-ending game on Sunday against the Badgers back at Mariucci won’t affect Minnesota’s WCHA standing. Who they play next weekend in the first round of the WCHA playoffs is still up in the air. They will play at North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth, or St. Cloud State and the Gophers will know their fate when Saturday night’s games conclude.

The Gophers played a solid game on Friday night and held Wisconsin, who put up nearly 120 shots in their two games at Michigan Tech last weekend, to only 23 on this night. However, Minnesota again gave up two power play goals and didn’t convert on their own man-advantages, though they waved off goals certainly hurt their cause in that regard. The Gophers are now riding a 0-14 power play streak into Sunday’s game, which gets underway at 1 p.m. and will air live on FSN.

Gophers Host Clarkson in a One-And-Done NCAA Regional Game
Provided by the University of Minnesota

MINNESOTA SET FOR NCAA REGIONAL COMPETITION
The No. 3 University of Minnesota women’s hockey team hosts No. 6 Clarkson in a NCAA Regional game, Saturday, March 13, at 4 p.m. The Golden Gophers and Golden Knights met for a series earlier this year, the only meeting in school history between the two teams.

FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
Fans can follow the Gophers through gophersports.com as Brian Schulz and Laura Halldorson provide the color and play-by-play. An audio stream from the Gold Zone on gophersports.com this weekend as well as on the radio, KLBB 1220 AM. Live results for the game can also be found on gophersports.com.

WIN OR GO HOME
Saturday’s game is a one-and-done event. The winner of the game will compete at the 2010 Frozen Four, while the other ends its season on Saturday.

MINNESOTA SET TO HOST 2010 FROZEN FOUR
The NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Committee selected the University of Minnesota and Ridder Arena as the site of the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four. The 2010 tournament marks the third time in 10 years the Golden Gophers will host the Women's Frozen Four and the first time in Ridder Arena. Minnesota hosted the inaugural Women's Frozen Four in 2001 and again in 2006 in Mariucci Arena. Mariucci Arena was the site of the 2001 and the 2006 Frozen Fours. In the two-day championship in 2006, Minnesota drew 7,577 fans. The university opened the doors to Ridder Arena at the start of the 2002-03 season. Ridder Arena, which seats approximately 3,400 people, has been host to a variety of events, including six WCHA conference championships and the Minnesota state girls’ tournament in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The only arena in the nation built solely for a women’s hockey team, Minnesota’s largest single-game attendance came on January 6, 2007, when 3,251 fans entered the doors.

FROZEN FOUR TICKETS AVAILABLE
Tickets are available for the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four, which can be purchased through the Gopher ticket office. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 612-624-8080 (1-800 UGOPHER) or on the gopher website: gophersports.com. Game times for the semifinals are at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on March 19 and the championship game is set for noon on Sunday.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Rewarded for its 23-11-5 record, Clarkson earned an at-large bid into the 2010 NCAA Women’s Hockey Tournament. The Golden Knights, guided by second-year co-head coaches Shannon and Matt Desrosiers, will play in the first NCAA postseason game in the program’s seven-year history. Dominique Thibault leads the Golden Knights in scoring with 21 goals and 19 assists for 40 points, while Juana Baribeau ranks second on the team in scoring with 17 goals and 19 assists for 36 points. Clarkson earned conference awards as Britney Selina was named the ECAC’s best defensive forward; she ranks third in scoring with 35 points. Senior defenseman Carlee Eusepi was named the ECAC’s best defensive defenseman. Goaltender Lauren Dahm has played in 38 of 39 games for Clarkson and holds nine shutouts with a record of 23-10-5. She ranks eighth in the nation in goals against average (1.56), seventh in save percentage (.933) and 10th in winning percentage (.671).

HOW THEY GOT HERE
Clarkson started its trek to the NCAA quarterfinal with a three-game series win over St. Lawerence, Feb. 26-28. The Golden Knights defeated the Saints 5-0 in the first game, fell in a 2-1 decision the second game, and won 4-1 in the third to advance to the ECAC semifinals. Clarkson then earned a 3-2 win over No. 4 Harvard last Friday, but fell to Cornell 4-3 in overtime last Saturday for the tournament championship.

Minnesota found its way to the NCAA quarterfinal with a two-game series sweep over Minnesota State University, Mankato, Feb. 26-27. The Gophers then defeated Ohio State, 5-4 in double overtime to advance to the WCHA Championship game last Saturday, where they fell 3-2 to Minnesota Duluth.

THE LAST TIME OUT
Clarkson and Minnesota competed in their first-ever meeting earlier this year over Thanksgiving weekend (11/27-28). Minnesota earned a series sweep over Clarkson with 4-0 and 2-0 wins. In the first game, Minnesota and Clarkson were scoreless after one. Terra Rasmussen ended the game’s scoreless drought when she scored at 11:53 in the second. Kelly Seeler, Brittany Francis and Emily West all scored in the third period to put the game at 4-0. In the Saturday game, West scored back-to-back goals in the first period (a game-winner and a short-handed goal) to give the Gophers a 2-0 win. Noora Räty played in both games and earned back-to-back shutouts, facing 41 shots on goal.

Bulldogs Drop Gophers, Take WCHA Title

Early Hole Proves Too Deep in 3-2 Defeat

Minnesota knew that they had to maintain their composure heading into Sunday’s WCHA championship game versus Minnesota-Duluth. That proved easier said than done, as the Gophers (25-8-5, 18-6-4 WCHA) took three penalties in the first two minutes, lost the momentum, and spent much of the opening period pinned in their own end and being outshot 13-5.

The Bulldogs (28-8-2, 20-6-2 WCHA) jumped to a 2-0 lead on an unassisted goal by Jessica Wong and an Emmanuelle Blais powerplay goal.

“We got in that penalty trouble, and that didn’t help, so we were playing the same group of kids there in some pretty tough situations four-on-threes, five-on-threes,” Coach Brad Frost said. “I looked up at the clock at least halfway through the period, I don’t think we had a shot yet, and we were on the PK for most of it.”

Coming off the emotional high of a double-overtime win the day before, Minnesota wanted to be the team that got off to a fast start.

“That’s a fine line that we kind of need to figure out, because we were pumped up, we were ready to go,” captain Brittany Francis said. “The first period, I guess we took it a little too far.”

Francis helped the Gophers climb back into the contest when she set up Sarah Erickson with a goal-mouth feed. Erickson scored both Minnesota goals on the day with Francis assisting both times.

“We knew pucks were going to go in if we get shots on net,” Erickson said. “That’s what we talked about coming into the game – shoot, shoot, shoot, and get your bodies to the net while you do. That’s going to be our main focus here coming into the rest of the playoffs is get the puck to the net.”

Erickson’s goals twice halved two-goal deficits, pulling the Gophers within 3-2 late in the second period, but they couldn’t find the net once more to gain a tie.

Audrey Cornoyer scored a pivotal goal to put UMD ahead 3-1 at 11:21 of the middle frame.

“We just let them gain the zone too easily, and she takes a nice, quick shot from the hash marks, it ramps off our D’s stick, and Noora [Räty] doesn’t have time to react,” Frost said.

UMD claimed their fourth WCHA tournament title.

“Well obviously, it was a great game,” Bulldog coach Shannon Miller said. “Two very good teams going head to head, and going end to end hockey. It was great hockey, it was a fast game, a physical game.”

Minnesota now looks ahead to the start of the NCAA tournament. They will host Clarkson at 4 P.M. on Saturday. The Golden Gophers and Golden Knights met in a series earlier this season, with Minnesota taking 4-0 and 2-0 decisions.

“I’m looking forward to next week,” Erickson said. “I’d like to obviously see us advance and win a national championship, and that’s all I’m worried about right now.”