Gophers Drop Friday Opener in Grand Forks
Grand Forks, ND – In Friday’s much-anticipated heavyweight bout between two old rivals, it was the home team that landed the late punches to send the crowd away happy.
Rekindling a historic rivalry, the Minnesota Gophers (1-3-1 Overall) dropped a 5-2 contest against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks (3-0-0) in front of a packed Ralph Engelstad Arena crowd of 11,634 hockey fans.
The Gophers scored first in this game, on Mason Moe’s first goal in the Maroon and Gold just 2:19 into the opening frame. North Daktoa’s Dylan James struck back just over four minutes later to tie it up at 1-1. Minnesota took yet another early lead, this time on a shorthanded goal by Tanner Ludtke at 8:27 of the first period to go up 2-1, but the Hawks again answered back quickly on EJ Emery’s goal at 11:09 to knot it at 2-2.
The 2-2 score would hold through the rest of the the first period and all of the second, but the Hawks pulled away in the third. EJ Emery scored his second of the night 2:25 into the final frame, but the real nail in the coffin was Dylan James’ shorthanded goal with just under 6 minutes left in the period. North Dakota tacked on a late empty netter to take game 1 by a 5-2 score.
Nathan Airey got his third-straight start in net, but we should expect to see Luca Di Pasquo between the pipes Saturday as coach Bob Motzko plans to rotate his goalies early.
While the first period of this one was fun and competitive, the Gophers were blitzed in the last two periods, being outshot 19-6 in the final 40 minutes including a miserable 11-2 drubbing in the winner-take-all third period. Minnesota may be a second-half team this season with so many new faces and new roles, but right now the group is still trying to find their sea legs.
As usual in college hockey, the Gophers will have a chance to avenge their defeat when the two teams take the ice again Saturday night. The 6:07 puck drop is being televised on Fox 9+ in the Twin Cities.
Short comment from coach Motzko courtesy of the Uof〽️.