For the second-straight weekend, the Minnesota menâÄôs hockey team spoiled homecoming for its opponent as the Gophers picked up three Western Collegiate Hockey Association points against Wisconsin. After coming back from a two-goal deficit Friday night to tie 2-2 in overtime, Minnesota tallied five goals Saturday in a 5-2 tie for its highest goal production in 2008. The last time the Gophers scored five in a game was Jan. 4-5 when Minnesota swept now-defunct Wayne State at Mariucci Arena. Minnesota (3-0-1 overall, 3-0-1 WCHA) moved into sole possession of first place in the conference, while the Badgers remain winless this season through six games. Minnesota coach Don Lucia knows just how hard it is to come out of the gate poorly; his Gophers opened WCHA play 0-4 last season. âÄúYou just bury yourself at the beginning of the season and itâÄôs hard to come back from thatâÄù Wisconsin (0-5-1, 0-3-1) and the Gophers combined for 60 penalties over the weekend; including 17 at the 10:02 mark of the third period Saturday night. The fracas climaxed with Badgers junior forward Ben Grotting taking down sophomore forward Patrick White and landed a handful of punches to the head, a move that prematurely sent the Birmingham, Ala. native to the locker room for game misconduct. âÄúWeâÄôll take the win, they can win the fight,âÄù Lucia said. âÄúThatâÄôs whatâÄôs going to happen. We donâÄôt really like each other,âÄù sophomore goalie Alex Kangas said. âÄúItâÄôs a rivalry series, and nobody likes to lose.âÄù Six seconds for Stoa Senior forward Ryan Stoa opened the flood gates for Minnesota on Saturday night by scoring just six seconds into the contest. StoaâÄôs goal was just one second from tying for the fastest goal in Gophers history; Bill Klatt scored in five seconds in 1968. âÄúItâÄôs always good to start like that,âÄù Stoa said. âÄúIt just kind of takes the wind out of their sails âÄî shuts the crowd up. You canâÄôt ask for a better start.âÄù Stoa made it 2-0 eight minutes later during a Minnesota power play âÄî the GophersâÄô only special teams score in 17 chances all weekend. âÄúHeâÄôs our best player,âÄù Lucia said. Lofquist scores at home Minnesota freshman defenseman Sam Lofquist scored his first career goal in memorable fashion; he also learned a lesson from Lucia that he would be wise to not forget. The Wisconsin native tied Friday nightâÄôs game at 2-2 with 3:29 remaining before reminding the crowd of 13,184 what team he now played for. Doing his best imitation of Phil Kessel, another Wisconsin product that chose the Gophers and one who Lofquist âÄúidolizedâÄù growing up, the Somerset, Wis. native proudly displayed the M on his jersey while raising his hand to his ear. The display silenced Badgers fans but not Lucia. âÄúHe heard about it right after the game,âÄù Lucia said. âÄúI mean, I’m happy for him, he scored, but that will be the last time anybody does that âĦ LetâÄôs just say he heard from me first thing, right when I went in the locker room.âÄù âÄúI guess IâÄôm not supposed to do that,âÄù Lofquist said. âÄúI learned my lesson.âÄù
Minnesota leaves Madison with three points
![fe0214-pb](https://mndaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/p1hk1027.jpg)
Image by Paul Bangasser
fe0214-pb
Published October 26, 2008