Photo Credit: Michigan Tech

MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 2 Minnesota Gophers scored a pair of first period power play goals to defeat Michigan Tech 3-0 Sunday (Nov. 16). The Gophers (6-0-4, 5-0-3) finished the day 2-9 on the man advantage and the Huskies (2-7-1, 1-6-1) were 0-5. Tech finished with a 38-27 advantage in shots in the game.

“Penalties played a huge problem for us tonight,” said head coach Jamie Russell. “We had nice plays by the offense and we had good plays by the defense but in the end the penalties killed us.”

Junior Ryan Stoa found the back of the net on the first Minnesota power play, putting the hosts up 1-0 at the 9:39 mark in the first. He was assisted on his ninth goal of the season by junior Jay Barribal and sophomore Cade Fairchild.

Less than thirty seconds later, Minnesota extended their lead to 2-0 with another power play goal, this time by junior Tony Lucia. The left winger was assisted on his third goal of the season by a pair of juniors - David Fischer and Mike Carman.

Barribal recorded his second assist of the game when freshman center Jordan Schroeder made the lead 3-0 for the Gophers. Stoa also tallied an assist on Schroeder’s fourth goal of the season.

The Black and Gold had their fair share of chances, including a near short handed goal by senior right winger Alex Lord midway through the second frame and a shot that rang off of the pipe for junior defenseman John Kivisto. There were a number of loose pucks in front of the Minnesota net that the Huskies couldn’t secure in order to try and mount a second comeback in as many nights.

Senior goaltender Rob Nolan (1-6-1) made 24 saves on 27 shots, while Minnesota’s sophomore netminder Alex Kangas (6-0-5) made 38 saves in the shutout.
 
The Michigan Tech Huskies will return to Houghton Friday and Saturday (Nov. 21-22) to play host to the Mavericks of Minnesota-State Mankato. The puck drop is slated for 7:07 p.m. during the weekend series.