Throughout the 2021-2022 season, junior Jonny Sorenson has played on various lines, skated in games as the extra skater, and has even been a healthy scratch finding himself out of the lineup.
With junior Jaxon Nelson and freshman Matthew Knies making their return to the forward corps for Minnesota, Sorenson found himself in the extra skater slot in Friday’s matchup against Wisconsin. However, he still made his mark on the game as he scored the game’s opening goal 6:08 into the first period en route to a Gophers’ 5-0 victory over the Badgers in front of an electrifying crowd that remained loud all night long at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
“Wisconsin played really good early in the game. Put a lot of pressure on us,” Gophers head coach Bob Motzko said. “The first period, it was a battle for us to get out of it. [In] the second period, we got off our game…we regrouped in the third period, we shortened our shifts, and really got on top of our game.”
As the No. 4 Gophers pounced the Badgers, junior Justen Close backstopped the Gophers to victory after recording 20 saves to earn his first career shutout and 10th win between the pipes this season.
Close’s first-career shutout comes at a crucial time as the Gophers (22-11) have sprung into first place in the Big Ten standings with 52 points, surpassing Michigan (51) as Minnesota extended their win streak to seven.
“[Close’s] got a lot of heart. He’s a really good goalie. All the boys love him. We love playing for him. It was awesome,” Nelson said of Close’s performance between the pipes.
It was junior co-captain Ben Meyers’ show in the third period. He scored three goals in the final frame en route to recording his fourth multi-goal game of the season and first career hat trick to help cement Minnesota’s victory. He leads the team with 14 goals and 32 points this season. Since returning from Beijing, he has had three goals and three assists in two games.
“[Ben] is a big part of our team and obviously a great leader,” Nelson said. “We have needed him throughout the whole season and he’s been there for us.”
After missing 13 games due to injury, Nelson made his return to the lineup and made his presence felt, impacting both sides of Minnesota’s special teams. He helped the team’s penalty kill go a perfect 2-2 on the night in a span of 5:18 in the second period.
Then, when the Gophers earned their third and final power play of the night with 36.6 remaining in the middle frame, he deflected junior Jackson LaCombe’s shot into the back of the night just 6.9 seconds later to extend their lead to 2-0 heading into the second intermission.
“It’s huge for [Nelson],” Meyers said of Nelson scoring in his return to the lineup. “We’re gonna need him a lot down the stretch, so for him to get that first one under his belt and just welcome him back into our lineup, everybody’s happy for him.”
While LaCombe added the primary assist on Nelson’s tally, he also added a secondary assist on Meyers’ third goal of the night to earn his sixth multi-point game this season. His two assists have throttled him to a career-high 23 points this season.
Alongside LaCombe, sophomores Mike Koster (two assists) and Mason Nevers (two assists) each recorded multi-point nights for the Gophers.
With the win and one game remaining this season, the Gophers control their destiny in winning the Big Ten regular-season title. It all comes down to Saturday night when they face off against the Badgers in their season-finale at 7 p.m. at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
“[We] control our destiny. We just got to worry about how we play the game [Saturday],” Motzko said. “It’s all on how we play and how we prepare ourselves to play.”
