‘U’ Drops In-State Series Opener to Mavs
MINNEAPOLIS – Brent Gates Jr. scored a power-play goal for the Gophers for the second-straight game but it wasn’t enough as the No. 4 Minnesota came out on top of Friday’s series opener against No. 8/10 Minnesota in a 5-1 contest.
After Minnesota State jumped out to an early lead off the stick of Dallas Gerard at 5:56 of the opening period, Gates pocketed the equalizer on the power play at 14:33. Clayton Phillips picked up his fifth assist of the season on the goal while Tommy Novak added his second of the year.
The tie wouldn’t last long, however, as Charlie Gerard scored just over a minute later at 15:41 to start a string of four unanswered goals for the Mavericks (6-1-0 overall, 2-0-0 WCHA). Minnesota State scored within the first minute of the second period (Nick Rivera at 0:32) and the third period (Marc Michaelis at 0:59) before Michaelis added his second of the night with a shorthanded tally at 16:36 of the final period.
Mat Robson took the loss for the Gophers with 17 saves on 21 shots in 50:38 of work while Eric Schierhorn came in for a relief appearance, making one save on two shots in his first regular-season action of the year.
The Gophers (1-2-1, 0-0-0-0 Big ten) outshot the Mavericks 25-23 in the game – the first time this year Minnesota has outshot its opponent. The Maroon & Gold went 1-for-7 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Among other notable stats in the game, senior forward Jack Ramsey took his first penalty in nearly two years with a cross checking call in the third period. Ramsey’s last penalty came against Minnesota on Nov. 18, 2016.
The Gophers and Mavericks close out their in-state showdown series on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Mankato, Minn.