The Gophers accomplished something they haven’t since Oct. 9 Saturday.

No. 11 Minnesota (9-5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) swept Michigan State by winning Saturday 4-2.

When the score was all tied up and tensions were running high in the third period, Michigan native and Minnesota forward Brent Gates Jr. scored the go-ahead goal, and what eventually became the game winner.

Gates had six shots of Minnesota’s 34 overall in the game.

Minnesota goaltender Eric Schierhorn put up another strong performance Saturday and saved 17 of 19 shots faced.

The Gophers fell behind early in the game yet again, just like they did Friday night. Michigan State forward JT Stenglein scored both opening goals over the weekend.

Defenseman Jake Bischoff started the comeback for the Gophers, and scored the first goal of the game for Minnesota on his only shot of the game mid-way through the second period.

From there, Minnesota would add a power play goal from forward Rem Pitlick, and an empty-net goal securing the win from forward Tyler Sheehy.

Sheehy is Minnesota’s top scorer this season. With the empty-net goal Saturday he has points in eight consecutive games for the Gophers, bringing his season total to 23 points in 16 games.

Minnesota hadn’t swept Michigan State on the road since the 1978-79 season.

The Gophers now head into the winter break with a string of wins, and a few weeks of rest leading into the Mariucci Classic at the end of the calendar year.