PENN STATE SPOILS GOPHERS' HOME OPENER
Oct. 13, 2017
MINNEAPOLIS - No. 7 Gopher Hockey opened its home and Big Ten conference seasons suffering a 3-1 defeat against No. 11 Penn State on Friday evening at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
Junior goaltender Eric Schierhorn matched a program record with his 78th consecutive start between the pipes for the Maroon & Gold, making 26 saves on the day. Junior Ryan Norman tallied his first goal of the season in the third for Minnesota's lone score of the game, assisted by junior Darian Romanko and sophomore Ryan Zuhlsdorf.
Penn State grabbed the offensive advantage early, holding Minnesota without a shot on goal for the first 11:05 of the game. The two teams traded penalties shortly thereafter as the Gophers came away with nearly 75 seconds of 4-on-3 skating, but they could not break the scoreless tie with the Nittany Lions locking down of defense. As the penalties subsided, the Gophers surrendered a pair of breakaways, and while Schierhorn turned away the first, Penn State capitalized at 15:03 of the first to pull ahead 1-0 as Andrew Sturtz netted his first of the year, unassisted.
With Minnesota assessed a bench minor for too many skaters early in the second, the Nittany Lions stretched their lead to two as Denis Smirnov scored at 3:06 into the frame, assisted by Erik Autio and Alex Limoges. The Gophers received a five-minute major penalty for checking-from-behind and a game misconduct to senior Leon Bristedt at 8:47 of the period, with Penn State capitalizing on a short 5-on-3 opportunity as Nikita Pavlychev made the score 3-0 with Smirnov and Colt Hults tallying assists. Minnesota would clear the final four minutes of penalty kill time without further damage. The Gophers had four of their seven shots on goal in the second come in the final five minutes thanks in large part to a powerplay of their own.
The Maroon & Gold broke through on the scoreboard at 8:57 of the third, with Norman sliding in the tenth goal of his career while falling to his back just to the right of Nittany Lions goaltender Peyton Jones. The Gophers pulled Schierhorn for an extra attacker with 1:21 remaining the contest, and a late hooking call against Penn State gave Minnesota a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 26 seconds, but Jones continued to shut the door, finishing the day with 21 stops. The Lions out-shot the Gophers 26-21 for the game and 12-8 in the third period.
The same two teams will wrap up their first Big Ten series on Sunday at 3M Arena at Mariucci, beginning at 3:00 p.m. Single-game tickets, season tickets and flexible Pick-Your-Packs are currently available at GopherSports.com, by calling 1-800-U-Gopher or by stopping by the ticket office at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-hockey/recaps/101317aac.html
Oct. 13, 2017
MINNEAPOLIS - No. 7 Gopher Hockey opened its home and Big Ten conference seasons suffering a 3-1 defeat against No. 11 Penn State on Friday evening at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
Junior goaltender Eric Schierhorn matched a program record with his 78th consecutive start between the pipes for the Maroon & Gold, making 26 saves on the day. Junior Ryan Norman tallied his first goal of the season in the third for Minnesota's lone score of the game, assisted by junior Darian Romanko and sophomore Ryan Zuhlsdorf.
Penn State grabbed the offensive advantage early, holding Minnesota without a shot on goal for the first 11:05 of the game. The two teams traded penalties shortly thereafter as the Gophers came away with nearly 75 seconds of 4-on-3 skating, but they could not break the scoreless tie with the Nittany Lions locking down of defense. As the penalties subsided, the Gophers surrendered a pair of breakaways, and while Schierhorn turned away the first, Penn State capitalized at 15:03 of the first to pull ahead 1-0 as Andrew Sturtz netted his first of the year, unassisted.
With Minnesota assessed a bench minor for too many skaters early in the second, the Nittany Lions stretched their lead to two as Denis Smirnov scored at 3:06 into the frame, assisted by Erik Autio and Alex Limoges. The Gophers received a five-minute major penalty for checking-from-behind and a game misconduct to senior Leon Bristedt at 8:47 of the period, with Penn State capitalizing on a short 5-on-3 opportunity as Nikita Pavlychev made the score 3-0 with Smirnov and Colt Hults tallying assists. Minnesota would clear the final four minutes of penalty kill time without further damage. The Gophers had four of their seven shots on goal in the second come in the final five minutes thanks in large part to a powerplay of their own.
The Maroon & Gold broke through on the scoreboard at 8:57 of the third, with Norman sliding in the tenth goal of his career while falling to his back just to the right of Nittany Lions goaltender Peyton Jones. The Gophers pulled Schierhorn for an extra attacker with 1:21 remaining the contest, and a late hooking call against Penn State gave Minnesota a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 26 seconds, but Jones continued to shut the door, finishing the day with 21 stops. The Lions out-shot the Gophers 26-21 for the game and 12-8 in the third period.
The same two teams will wrap up their first Big Ten series on Sunday at 3M Arena at Mariucci, beginning at 3:00 p.m. Single-game tickets, season tickets and flexible Pick-Your-Packs are currently available at GopherSports.com, by calling 1-800-U-Gopher or by stopping by the ticket office at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-hockey/recaps/101317aac.html
