Gophers Drop Series Finale to Ferris State

Gophers Drop Series Finale to Ferris State

MINNEAPOLIS – Despite a season-high 46 shots on goal, the Gopher Hockey closed out 2018 with a 3-2 loss to Ferris State on Saturday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci – settling for a split in this weekend’s nonconference series.

Special teams were the story of the night as both teams pocketed a pair of power-play goals to go 2-for-4 while on the advantage with the lone even-strength goal for Ferris State coming soon after a power-play opportunity.

Minnesota (6-7-4, 3-2-3-0 Big Ten) suffered just its second loss in the last nine games while Saturday’s finale marked the first time this season the Gophers lost when leading after two periods (5-1-1).

For the second night in a row and fourth time in the last five games, Brent Gates Jr. found the back of the net for the Maroon & Gold. The senior captain fired home a one-timer on the power-play at 5:22 of the first period for his sixth goal of the year after being set up by Tommy Novak and Rem Pitlick.

Ferris State (5-14-1, 2-9-1-0 WCHA) answered with a power-play goal of its own from Corey Mackin at 13:13 of the second period only for Nathan Burke to add his third goal of the season less than two minutes later to reclaim a lead for the Gophers. Burke’s power-play tally at 15:09 of the second stanza was assisted by Tyler Sheehy and Novak with Novak recording his first multi-point game of the season. Sheehy and Pitlick have both posted points in each of the last eight games with both Gophers tying their longest career scoring streaks.

But the Bulldogs rallied for a second time with an even-strength goal from Coale Norris at 1:47 of the third period before Mackin notched his second power-play goal of the night for the eventual game winner at 11:20.

Eric Schierhorn suffered the loss for Minnesota in his 108th career appearance, making 30 saves on 33 shots to move to 2-4-0 on the year. The senior goaltender is now tied for fourth all-time in appearances at Minnesota with Alex Kangas – only Adam Hauser (151), Kellen Briggs (132) and Adam Wilcox (115) have played in more games for the Maroon & Gold. Roni Salmenkanga made 44 saves to pick up the win for Ferris State, moving to 4-12-1 on the year.

The Gophers return to Big Ten play next weekend with a two-game series against Penn State at 3M Arena at Mariucci.