Gophers grind out a 4-2 victory, take three points on the we

[Ryan Cardinal]

Gophers grind out a 4-2 victory, take three points on the weekend

It certainly wasn’t pretty or the type of game that most Minnesota fans were hoping for after Friday’s 2-2 tie, but the Golden Gophers managed to take home three points on this weekend thanks to Saturday’s 4-2 victory over the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves at Mariucci Arena.

Just 2:13 into the first period, the Gophers took the lead thanks to a blast from the point by sophomore Cade Fairchild, who one-timed the feed from Jay Barriball past UAA goalie Bryce Christianson to make the score 1-0 Minnesota.

However, the Seawolves would reply quickly. After junior Ryan Flynn went off for a hooking penalty, UAA’s Paul Crowder beat Minnesota goalie Alex Kangas high on the blocker-side to even the game at 1-1.

The Gophers would get their second goal of the evening early in the second period, and this one came from the stick of a defenseman as well. An aggressive fore-check by senior winger Justin Bostrom resulted in Christianson being bumped into behind the UAA net. Just as the goaltender was able to get back into the crease, Fischer’s shot – a bouncer from the point – knuckled past Christianson and into the net to make the score 2-1 Minnesota. It was Fischer’s second goal of the season and was unassisted.

The game changed late in the second period when UAA’s Mat Robinson was given a five minute major for Checking from Behind on Minnesota’s Nico Sacchetti. Sacchetti was racing to get to a loose puck near the Minnesota bench, and when he got to the puck he turned just as Robinson was about to hit him. The freshman from Virginia, Minn. took a hard hit but appeared to put himself in a bad spot when he turned. In any event, the penalty was called and on the ensuing power play, freshman Jordan Schroeder hit a wide-open Barriball in front of the net for a tap-in goal, his ninth of the season, at 19:31 of the second period to make it 3-1 Minnesota.

The Seawolves would not go away without a fight, as Crowder scored a goal – his twelfth of the season – just 3:30 into the second period after an Aaron Ness turnover. The shot was another one that Kangas could probably have saved, as it went in on the short-side and he appeared to be a bit out of position on the play.

However, at the 7:26 mark of the third, Schroeder would take advantage of a fortuitous bounce in front of the net after UAA’s Nils Backstrom turned the puck over along the boards. The nation’s leading freshman scorer quickly pounced on the loose puck in the slot and buried it as Christianson was caught going the other direction.

Minnesota was once again without junior center Mike Carman, who suffered an injury in practice late in the week and sat out Friday night’s game as well. He’s expected to return to the lineup next weekend as the Gophers travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. to take on the CC Tigers.

With the three points on the weekend, the Gophers now sit alone in sixth place in the WCHA with 24 points with 22 games played. They trail St. Cloud State and Colorado College by one point but have two games in-hand on SCSU and one on CC. The Gophers are ahead of Minnesota Duluth, who they host for a pair of games in two weeks, for sixth place and, like UMD, have played 22 games.

Looking at the all-important PairWise Rankings, the Gophers moved back into the No. 13 slot after dipping to 16 last night. UMD and Wisconsin hold spots 14 and 15 while UND is currently twelfth.