The No. 12 Gophers men’s hockey team lost both games against the No. 18 University of Minnesota-Duluth, bringing their season record to 2-5-1. 

In the first game of the series, the Bulldogs shut the Gophers out 3-0. This is the first time in over 100 straight games that the Gophers did not get at least one goal. It is also the first time since 2020 that the Gophers have been shut out at home. 

The Gophers and the Bulldogs have a long history of playing against each other. There have been 67 games between the two Minnesota schools since the 1997-1998 season. 

The Gophers lead their history with 33 wins, 26 losses and 8 ties. The Bulldogs narrowed that gap this past series. 

Gophers head coach Bob Motzko said the team played well for the first four minutes. 

“The next 56 were not very good for us,” Motzko said. “We couldn’t catch passes, we couldn’t make passes, we lost wall battles. We couldn’t shift any gear.”

One of the big things Motzko was looking to improve on before the next game in the series was the execution of players. He said that their effort has been good, but to get going, the team needs to work on their execution. 

Gophers fans saw a bit more of that execution on Saturday when freshman forward Tate Pritchard got the first and only goal for the Gophers during the second period of the Saturday matchup. 

Pritchard’s goal helped keep the game within reach for the Gophers. Midway through the third period, however, the Bulldogs found their momentum again and scored two more goals. 

The Bulldog’s goalie, sophomore Adam Gajan, started both games of the series and made a total of 45 saves. Gophers transfer goaltender Luca Dipasco started the first game of the series and made 21 saves. Junior Gophers goaltender Nathan Airey made 20 saves during the second game of the series. 

Motzko said a lot of guys stepped up during the second game. 

“It was very noticeable how much different we were tonight than the night before,” Motzko said. “Unfortunately, we made a couple of young mistakes.” 

The majority of the Gophers hockey team is underclassmen, with 15 of 25 players either freshmen or sophomores. 

Veteran presence was lacking in the second game of the series, as neither junior forward Tanner Ludtke nor senior defenseman Cal Thomas played. 

Gophers senior defenseman Luke Mittelstadt said after tough games, you have to remind the younger guys that it is never going to be easy. 

“Having a performance like that in front of people who bought tickets to come watch you, it’s unacceptable,” Mittelstadt said. “They’ll learn. It’s not on the young guys, it’s everyone.” 

The Gophers play border rivals No. 17 Wisconsin in Madison on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, their first conference series of the season.