The Gophers men’s hockey team split yet another series at home against Long Island University Sharks.  

This is the first time in Gophers hockey history that the two programs have met. The Sharks were the first team the Gophers had no prior history playing against this season. 

Gophers head coach Bob Motzko said that when playing teams in your league, they do not change year to year, so you can prepare for them more. He added that preparing for this game was more of a challenge. 

“Ninety percent of the time you are going to worry about yourself, your systems and what you’re doing,” Motzko said. “But we did see that they are very structured and we had to tackle that this week.” 

Gophers senior captain Luke Mittelstadt said that they did a great job with the pre-scout, despite Motzko saying that it was a bit more challenging. 

“I like to play the same way no matter who I am playing, that’s my main goal,” Mittelstadt said. “They do a great job with the pre-scout and getting us ready, so they might have said it was hard, but they did a great job.”  

In the first game of the series, Gophers sophomore forward Brodie Ziemer gave the team their only lead of the game. 

The Sharks dominated the rest of the game. LIU found its momentum and kept it going, scoring four more goals against Gophers goalie Luca Di Pasquio. 

The first game in the series ended 6-2, as freshman forward Javon Moore found the back of the net for his second career goal in the third period. 

Motzko said the Sharks are scripted in the way they play, and the Sharks stuck to their game plan.

“We had a good start, and their goalie was outstanding,” Motzko said. “I mean, we had numerous chances to get in the game, make it a game and keep it going; and he just shut the door on us. And then our penalty killing fell apart.” 

The Gophers had a better understanding of LIU’s strategy going into the second game and were able to find their footing on the ice. Ziemer scored yet another opening goal against the Sharks, his third of the season. 

Gophers senior forward Brody Lamb got his seventh goal of the season, sending one past the Sharks’ goalie around 10 minutes after Ziemer. In the second period, freshman forward Teddy Townsend scored his first career goal with the Gophers after being out earlier in the season due to minor injuries. 

Gophers sophomore forward Beckett Hendrickson said it was awesome to see the goal. 

“It was probably one of the loudest I have heard the bench, so it was pretty cool, and I’m so happy for him,” Hencrickson said. 

The Sharks had a good stretch near the end of the second period where they scored two back-to-back goals, making it a one-score game going into the third. 

Motzko said the team had to keep things calm in the locker room before the third period. 

“Keep things calm, and let’s go back, first five minutes, they had a little push right off the bat and we weathered it,” Motzko said. 

The Gophers kept their lead in the second game of the series, winning 6-3. Motzko said a big emphasis going into the second game was how the team played in the offensive zone, and that they were much better on Saturday. 

The Gophers will play No. 5 Penn State at home on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22.