The No. 2 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s hockey team began their 2022-23 season this weekend at Mariucci Arena with a sweep over the visiting Lindenwood Lions, winning 4-0 on Saturday and 6-4 on Sunday.

Cooley scores twice in freshman debut

On a down night after Gophers football fell to Purdue, the men’s hockey team lifted Minnesota fans’ homecoming spirits shutting out their first opponent of the season, the Lindenwood Lions, 4-0.

Senior forward Jaxon Nelson scored the first Gophers goal of the season with a one-timer from the right circle. Freshman forward Logan Cooley also nabbed his first point of his Minnesota career by earning a secondary assist.

The future Arizona Coyote wasn’t finished in the scoring department and managed to get his first goal as a collegiate hockey player early in the second period. The Pittsburgh, Penn. product made a backhanded shot that found the back of the net, rebounding off of Rhett Pitlick’s shot. This would give Minnesota a 2-0 lead six minutes into the middle period.

Matthew Knies got in the scoring column for the first time this season also in the second, bringing the game to a dominating 3-0 lead before the final period.

In the final period, the freshman forward striked again. Cooley, utilizing the backhand once more, put the Gophers up 4-0 over the Lions. Minnesota finished the homecoming game with a 34-16 advantage in shots on goal and was successful in all three of its penalty kills while going two-for-five on their own power plays.

“We liked a lot of things we saw, there’s an arrow pointing in the direction of things we need to get better at, exciting with a couple of the young guys, but it was a good hockey game,” Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. “We’re real pleased after game one because it gives us a starting point of what we got to do moving forward.”

Faber’s first goal leads Minnesota to the sweep

Throughout the second game, Lindenwood showcased more prowess on the offensive side of the ice, scoring four goals in the contest. The Lions just couldn’t keep up defensively with the high octane offense of the Gophers though, who completed the sweep, winning 6-4 Sunday night.

Connor Kurth allocated his first goal of his career around eight minutes in, and the Gophers would take that lead into intermission.

In the second period, the scoring came fast and furious as both the Lions and Gophers chalked up four goals in the span of five minutes. Lindenwood swiped the puck away for a turnover and tied the game 2-2 on a breakaway and less than two minutes later, they secured a 3-2 lead.

Freshman forward Brody Lamb brought the Gophers back into the game quickly and soon, captain Brock Faber slinged a slapshot past the pads of Matt Ladd to vault Minnesota back in the lead.

The Lions didn’t let up, and Ryan Finnegan slid over by the right side of the net and snuck the puck in to bring this game back to a 4-4 draw. Sophomore goalie Owen Bartoszkiewicz had a rough night compared to senior Gophers netminder Justen Close on Saturday.

Luckily, Mike Koster came up clutch in the final 13 minutes, saucing up Bryce Brodzinski an assist on a tip in goal and then sending a one-timer into the net to give the Gophers a 6-4 lead, which they kept for the rest of regulation.

“Lindenwood played their tails off tonight,” Motzko said. “They blocked 35 shots and they got life, they scored some goals, nothing gets a team into it more, so it was a challenge for us. I hate lessons…teams like this have to have lessons, but thank goodness we won the game and we gotta build off it.”

Minnesota will face off against the team that has ended each of their last two seasons next weekend: The No. 5 Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks. It will be a home-and-home series with the first to be played in Minneapolis on Friday at 7 p.m. CT and the second in Mankato on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. Friday’s match will be televised on Bally Sports North.

“It was good for us … to be in a tight game like that,” said Faber on a more challenging contest versus the Lions. “We struggled … and we’re not happy with how we played but we’re happy with the outcome. Obviously next weekend is going to be a whole different pace, so we’re definitely going to get back to work this week and build on it.”