Gophers hold off Notre Dame 3-2, advance to Big Ten semifinals
Blake McLaughlin was named the Big Ten's Second Star of the Week after getting 3 points in Minnesota's series at Notre Dame last weekend. ((credit: University of Minnesota))
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota men’s hockey team advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals after holding off Notre Dame 3-2 Sunday night at 3M at Mariucci Arena.
The Gophers might still have some work to do to solidify their spot in the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Bob Motzko said in the week leading up to the series against the Fighting Irish to expect a series that went three games and “a long, hard weekend.”
He was right. After the Gophers lost 1-0 Friday night, their season hung in the balance the remainder of the weekend. Minnesota beat Notre Dame 2-1 Saturday night to force Sunday’s winner-take-all Game 3. All three games were tightly-contested, one goal games.
Down 1-0 in the second period Sunday, the Gophers rallied with three goals to take a 3-1 lead into the third period. Ben Meyers tied the game 1-1 with a power play goal at the 10:18 mark, then 44 seconds later, Sampo Ranta found the net to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead. Meyers scored his second of the game, on the power play at the 16:03 mark, to give the Gophers a two-goal lead at the second intermission after taking advantage of a Notre Dame five minute major penalty.
The Fighting Irish scored at 10:36 of the third period to cut the Gophers’ lead to 3-2, but Jack LaFontaine stood tall the last 10 minutes and finished with 23 saves in net for Minnesota. He improved to 9-9-6 on the season and has allowed two goals or fewer in five straight games.
The Gophers (16-14-7) travel to Penn State on Saturday for a single elimination Big Ten semifinal. The winner advances to the Big Ten title game. Both Penn State (7) and Ohio State (11) are ahead of the Gophers, who sit at No. 16 in the PairWise Rankings.
The Gophers are 0-3-1 in four games against the Nittany Lions this season.