Trailing 3-1 in the second period, the No. 5/6 Gophers men’s hockey team hunkered down and scored three unanswered goals en route to a 4-3 overtime victory over No. 10/9 Massachusetts Friday evening in the first round of NCAA play to advance to the Worcester Regional final.

Skating in his 100th game in a Minnesota uniform, junior co-captain Ben Meyers continues to show up for the Gophers (25-12) when they need him.

Meyers ended the Minutemen’s season and continued Minnesota’s onward when he one-timed freshman Aaron Huglen’s feed past Massachusetts’ goaltender Matt Murray 8:31 into the extra frame.

Big Ten Player of the Year Meyers recorded his team-leading fifth game-winning goal this season while recording his fifth multi-point performance in his last six contests, where he has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) over that span.

Freshman Tristan Broz started the three unanswered goals comeback for Minnesota. He scored his sixth goal of the season after deflecting junior Jaxon Nelson’s pass into the back of the net with 2:51 remaining in the second period, cutting the Gophers’ deficit to 3-2.

With the Gophers on a man advantage needing an equalizer in the third period, Broz’s first-year counterpart freshman Matthew Knies batted down a clearing attempt from the Minutemen in the offensive zone and fired a wicked wrister past Murray to knot the game at 3-3 with 6:43 remaining in the game.

However, Minnesota had a slow start to their NCAA slate as Massachusetts scored the game’s first two goals 59 seconds apart past the halfway point of the first period.

While the referees whistled down junior Ryan Johnson for cross-checking, the Minutemen continued to control the puck in the offensive zone. Eventually, Reed Lebster fired the puck past junior goaltender Justen Close with 5:51 remaining in the first period.

Then Massachusetts went to the man advantage and converted their only power play of the evening, as Garrett Wait scored just 50 seconds after Lebster’s opening goal.

Johnson stopped the bleeding for the Gophers as he scored their first goal of the game with 1:58 remaining in the first frame of play. His goal marked his third this season, which comes as a career-best in a single season for the junior.

For the Minutemen, Lebster added his second goal of the night early in the second period (1:24 into the period) before the Gophers started their comeback victory.

Minnesota is now 5-0-0 all-time against the Minutemen.

The Gophers will face Western Michigan in the Worcester Regional Final on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at 3 or 5:30 p.m.