Quick Start Keys Gophers in 5-2 Saturday Sweep of Mercyhurst

Minneapolis, MN – Against last-place in the Pairwise Mercyhurst Friday night, the Lakers kept the game close for long stretches, drawing within one goal in the second period before Minnesota pulled away late in the game.

Saturday evening, the Gophers jumped on the Lakers right from the puck drop.

Matthew Wood scored 9 seconds into the game to set the tone as the Minnesota Gophers (17-3-2 Overall (1-1 OT), 7-1-1-1 B1G) left no real doubt against the Mercyhurst Lakers (2-17-3 (1-1), 1-10-2-1 AH), building a 4-0 lead before closing the game out at a 5-2 final score.

Wood’s goal came just 9 seconds after the opening draw. Minnesota created a turnover in the Mercyhurst zone, and the puck squirted out to Wood in the high slot. Wood glided into the mid-slot before wristing the puck past Laker goalie Michael Chambra low stick side for the early 1-0 Gopher lead.

Just a couple minutes later, Jimmy Snuggerud potted a Nick Michel pass to make it 2-0 at 2:21 of the first. Snuggerud is up to 11 goals on the season now, second on the team behind Brody Lamb’s 13. Ryan Chesley added his sixth of the year from a seeing-eye wrister at 7:59 of the first to make it 3-0 Minnesota, and Nick Michel’s first goal as a Gopher made it it 4-0 for the home team by the 15:22 mark of the first.

Mercyhurst had actually played a decent hockey game up until this point (the shots were nearly even), but they buckled down after being down 4-0 (or Minnesota took the foot off the gas), and the game was competitive from there on out. The Lakers’ Jared Sych scored late in the first to give Mercyhurst some hope and head into the first intermission down 4-1.

Neither team scored in the middle stanza, but the Gophers’ Beckett Hendrickson scored on a breakaway at 1:19 of the 3rd period (a minor miracle for this Gopher team that hasn’t scored in a shootout in 5 years) to take much of the drama out of the game and give Minnesota a big 5-1 lead.

Mercyhurst’s Spencer Smith scored at 8:28 to close out the scoring at 5-2.

Liam Souliere was between the pipes for the Gophers, making 27 stops on 29 shots to improve to 7-3-0 on the season in the win. Michael Chambre took the loss for Mercyhurst, making 39 saves on 44 Minnesota shots.

Chesley (1G-2A), John Mittelstadt (2A), Michel (1G-1A) and Jimmy Snuggerud (1G-1A) were the multiple point-getters for the Gophers in this game. Snuggerud’s 28 total points on the season are currently second-place in the nation, one behind Wisconsin’s Quinn Finley. Minnesota has three players (Snuggerud 28, Connor Kurth 24, and Wood 24) in the top 10 of the country in scoring, while Brody Lamb is tied for second nationally with 13 goals.

The Gophers have completed their non-conference schedule and return to Big Ten action next weekend, traveling to face the Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State is the only Big Ten team that Minnesota has not yet faced this season. The Buckeyes are an under-the-radar 14-4-1 on the season, currently 9th in the Pairwise.

After the game, Minnesota’s Bob Motzko was optimistic that the Gophers may be able to fill out a full roster soon, indicating that several players might be cleared to practice as early as this week. Forwards Mason Nevers and August Falloon have been out with lower-body injuries for long stretches this season. Minnesota also looks forward to the return of forwards Oliver Moore and Brodie Ziemer, who will play for gold in the World Juniors Sunday night. Minnesota is also missing defenseman Cal Thomas, no news on his status heading into the home stretch of the season.