Gophers Drop NCAA Opener to UMass, Refs

ByChris Eckes

Fargo, ND – It’s an age-old tradition that the referees “swallow the whistle” in the 3rd period and overtime, in an effort to not influence the outcome of the game too much.

In Minnesota’s opening NCAA match, it was that lack of calls that factored in the UMass overtime victory.

Immediately after a blatant trip on a rushing Ryan Chesley, UMass turned the puck back up the ice and scored on the ensuing rush, moving on to the regional final and burying the Minnesota Gophers in a weird, wild, ultimately infuriating 5-4 game.

The Gophers took the lead on a Jimmy Snuggerud powerplay snipe midway through the first, but the lead didn’t last long. 20 seconds later, UMass scored to tie it at 1-1.

Brody Lamb scored off the faceoff late in the period to give Minnesota a one-goal lead heading into the locker room at 2-1.

The second period was a dogfight, with both teams playing good hockey. The Gophers expanded the lead to 3-1 after Connor Kurth’s patient toe-drag past UMass goalie Michael Hrabel at 14:07 of the second.

In the third, Minnesota seemed content to just sit back and shell, which is never a winning strategy. Luke Mittelstadt was hauled down in the defensive corner by a UMass player (uncalled), and the ensuing pass out front found a Minuteman in the slot who buried a wrister past Gopher goalie Liam Souliere to give UMass life at 3-2.

Less than two minutes later, things got even weirder. Souliere had an equipment issue, but instead of letting him get it taken care of, the referees made Nathan Airey enter the game. The first shot Airey faced went into the net (on a beautiful tip play by UMass) to tie the game at 3-3.

Souliere came back into the game once his equipment issue was fixed, but UMass scored again at 15:07 to take their first lead of the game at 4-3. Minnesota’s Jimmy Snuggerud wasn’t going down that easy, though. Snuggerud fired a low wrister from the mid-slot through traffic at 16:24 to tie the game and send it to overtime.

The OT didn’t last long, as UMass scored their goal just 4:49 into the extra session. As previously mentioned, the goal came immediately after a textbook trip went uncalled on a Ryan Chesley rush. UMass took advantage of the non-call, getting the puck into the Gopher zone and completing a nifty passing play to beat Souliere at the backdoor. See for yourself:

It’s the end of the season for the Gophers, who had a good year but faltered down the stretch when it mattered the most. We’ve probably seen the last game in Maroon and Gold from Jimmy Snuggerud, and we’ll see who else chooses to leave early – Sam Rinzel, Matthew Wood, Oliver Moore, Ryan Chesley are all potential leavers.

Gopher Hockey fan since birth. Avid golfer. Fantasy Sports enthusiast.

One Comment

  1. I’m sorry to have to say this but the uncalled high stick, cross check, and general fouldemoral to Middelstat behind the net and then the flat out uncalled trip on Chesley were places in the game where I would now ( at this late age of 82 ) call the team together and have a vote as to whether or not to immediately call for a forfeit of the game. I would want my players to be on notice as to why they prefer to play hockey rather than continue with what some might call “refereeing.” My bewilderment after both of those non-calls matched the long look on Coach’s face.

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