Gophers Swept in East Lansing as Losing Streak Balloons to Seven
East Lansing, MI – First, some history: Minnesota beat Ohio State on December 4th to improve their record to 8-9-1. After a difficult start to the season, the Gophers had a chance on December 5th to get back to .500 with a win in the final game before the winter break.
Instead, they lost to the Buckeyes in overtime on 12/5 to drop to 8-10-1. That win in Columbus on 12/4 is the last time the Maroon & Gold won a hockey game.
After disappointing sweeps at Penn State and against Michigan to kick off the second half of the season, the Minnesota Gophers (8-16-1 Overall, 4-10-0 B1G) were swept once again, this time in East Lansing against the #2-ranked Michigan State Spartans (19-5-0, 10-4-0).
Luca Di Pasquo has now started four-straight games since relieving Nathan Airey after the first period of Minnesota’s 5-2 Saturday loss at Penn State. The MSU transfer has made 235 saves on 253 total shots in 2026, good for a 0.929 save percentage in six games against top 10 opponents. At this point, he is firmly entrenched as the #1 goalie for Minnesota, who is giving up 44.5 SOG per game in their 2026 doldrums.
The Gophers have had a hard time getting much of anything going offensively all season, and that trend continued this weekend against the #2 Spartans. Minnesota’s LJ Mooney potted the only goal of the game for the Maroon & Gold late in Friday’s contest to draw within two goals at 3-1, but the Gophers could not beat all-world goalie Trey Augustine again as they suffered a 3-1 defeat.
Saturday looked better early as Minnesota actually scored first, with Brody Lamb’s mid-circle writer beat Augustine 6:56 into the first period to give the Gophers a rare lead at 1-0. MSU struck back, scoring on a 5-on-3 power play 12:18 into the first to knot it at 1-1.
The Spartans took the lead early in the second on a blue-line shot that found its way through traffic and past Di Pasquo, and the score remained 2-1 throughout the second period.
Minnesota has struggled mightily in third periods in 2026, being outscored 7-2 and outshot 99-40 (16.5-6.7 per game) in the third period and overtime in their last six games. Again, more of the same Saturday in East Lansing, as Minnesota was dominated on offense with a 15-6 edge in shots in favor of the Spartans. The Gophers did score a late power play goal off the stick of Brodie Ziemer to get within one with 7:24 left in the third, but Minnesota could not crack Augustine and skated away with a 3-2 defeat.
The schedule has not been kind to Minnesota, and the Gophers face another stout test next weekend when #5 Wisconsin comes to town. The Badgers swept the Gophers early in the season in Madison.
As bleak as it seems right now, the season is not anywhere near over, and given the strength of the Big Ten, a long winning streak could still put Minnesota back in the tournament picture. The play on the ice will need to pick up drastically in order for that to happen.
As it stands, with 10 regular season games left, Minnesota needs to start winning soon to have any shot at avoiding their first losing season under coach Bob Motzko and first overall since 2009-2010. The Gophers have only lost 20+ games in a season twice in their storied history: 1997-1998 (17-22-0) and 1976-1977 (17-22-3). In both those cases, Minnesota won the NCAA title within the next four seasons – Gopher fans will need to hope that same quick turnaround can happen in the here and now.