The Gophers men’s hockey season ended after an overtime loss against the University of Massachusetts in the NCAA Fargo Regional semifinals on Thursday.
The Gophers (25-11-4) were the No. 2 seed in the tournament while UMass (20-13-5) was the No. 3 seed.
Minnesota did not play a game for 18 days before going to the regionals. This led to a lot of preparation from the team and coaches to make sure they were ready to play the Minutemen.
Gophers Coach Bob Motzko said the break means the team is well-rested, but they will most likely be rusty at the start.
“We have a great group and they have been getting after it,” Motzko said. “They have been motivated to push each other, that’s all we can do is push each other in practice.”
Motzko said that the big thing going into the game against UMass was making sure the team did not shoot itself in the foot early in the game. The Gophers found their momentum early on.
Both Minnesota and UMass showed strong offensive and defensive skills at the beginning of the first period. With about seven minutes remaining in the first period, one of UMass’s players received a two-minute penalty for hooking, leading to a Minnesota power play.
Using the momentum of a one-man advantage, Gophers forward Jimmy Snuggerud scored the first goal of the game, putting Minnesota ahead 1-0.
The Minutemen quickly fought back, and not even a minute later, they scored a goal to tie the game. UMass then got a power play a minute later, but could not utilize it.
With less than two minutes left in the first period the Gophers pulled forward with a goal by forward Brody Lamb. Minnesota ended the first period with a 2-1 lead.
Gophers defenseman Sam Rinzel said before the game against UMass that the team was hungry.
“We’re hungry to play, we’re excited,” Rinzel said. “Two weeks off feels like a month. We’re pumped up, we’re ready to go.”
This hunger was seen throughout the rest of the game. With a strong performance from Gophers goalie Liam Souliere and their defensive plays, Minnesota was able to hold UMass to zero goals in the second period.
However, around 14 minutes into the period, the Gophers scored another goal against the Minutemen. Gophers forward Connor Kurth furthered the lead, ending the second period 3-1.
Despite the two-point lead, the Gophers still had a long game ahead of them.
Going into the third period, the Minutemen were ready to fight. Around seven minutes in, UMass scored its first goal of the period, pulling them to a one-score game.
After the goal, the Gophers put in Nathan Airey for Souliere. This change did not do much, as not even a minute later, UMass scored another goal, tying the game 3-3.
Minnesota then put Souliere back on the ice for the rest of the game. After a few minutes of strong defensive plays from both teams, UMass scored a goal to take the lead over Minnesota for the first time in the game.
With only five minutes left in the game, the Minutemen were leading the Gophers, 4-3. However, Minnesota would not go down without a fight.
With over three minutes remaining, Snuggerud scored his second goal of the game and gave Minnesota a chance to win. This goal brought Snuggerud to 51 total points this season, his career-best at Minnesota.
After multiple failed shots by Minnesota, UMass found an opening and scored its final goal of the game with 15 minutes remaining in overtime.
Despite the 5-4 loss, this year marks the fifth straight year the Gophers made an NCAA tournament appearance.
