University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Hand Beavers First Setback in 4-1 Win
11/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Minnesota handed college hockey's last remaining undefeated team its first loss on Saturday with a 4-1 victory over Bemidji State at Mariucci Arena.
The Beavers entered the game ranked seventh in the country with a 7-0-1 record, but Minnesota limited them to just 22 shots on goal and scored four unanswered goals after an early Beavers' tally for the win. The Gophers have now won all seven meetings with Bemidji State as the teams met for the first time since 2004.
Minnesota has now won four of its last five games to run its record to 4-4-1 overall. The Gophers got a goal and assist from Hoeffel and Sacchetti and two assists from Ness in the victory. Minnesota outshot the Beavers 29-22 for the game.
The Beavers took advantage of a fortunate bounce to score their early goal just 3:03 into the game. Minnesota was pushing up the ice out of its own zone when Tony Lucia attempted a cross-ice pass that bounced off the skate of a teammate and free to Bemidji State's Jordan George, who skated in all alone on Gophers' netminder Alex Kangas and scored on a backhanded shot.
Minnesota needed less than two minutes to tie the game as Sacchetti scored his first goal of the season at the 4:29 mark. The play started with a shot from Aaron Ness at the point and the rebound bounced free. Beavers' goaltender Dan Bakala thought he had the puck covered up, but Sacchetti stayed with the loose puck and poked it into the net. Mike Hoeffel also got a stick on the puck during the scrum and gained an assist.
Hoeffel nearly put the Gophers ahead early in the second period when he took a pass from Sacchetti behind the defense for an open chance that hit off the crossbar. However, minutes later, he converted a five-on-three power play goal that gave the Gophers the lead at the 15:23 mark. Minnesota passed the puck crisply during the two-man advantage with Aaron Ness going cross-ice to Cade Fairchild, who found Hoeffel open in the slot for his fifth goal of the year. It was Minnesota's third power play goal of the season.
Bemidji State had a prime opportunity to tie the game when Minnesota was whistled for four penalties during a span of 57 seconds in the second period. Both teams were called for coincidental minors, setting up a four-on-four situation where just 12 seconds later, the Gophers were called for two penalties on the same play.
Another Minnesota penalty gave Bemidji State a power play that lasted for a total of four minutes, including two minutes, 12 seconds of a five-on-three. For all but 12 seconds of the power play Minnesota had just three players on the ice. Kangas made five saves during the Beavers' power play and got a fortunate bounce off the pipe to keep the Gophers' one-goal lead intact.
Neither team mounted many third period scoring chances until the Gophers' Jordan Schroeder notched a power play goal at the 13:35 mark of the period. Sacchetti took the initial shot that bounced out to the far side to Schroeder, who blasted in the rebound from the faceoff dot to put Minnesota ahead 3-1. It was Schroeder's first goal of the year and his first since Feb. 27.
Mike Carman also broke a long scoring drought with a blast from the opposite faceoff dot just 54 seconds later. Zach Budish assisted the goal, which was Carman's first in 18 games since Feb. 6.
Minnesota's two power play goals matched its total for the season through the first eight games as the Gophers went two-for-seven for the game. The Gophers also killed off all four Bemidji State power plays and have killed 23 consecutive penalties.
Kangas, who was last week's Western Collegiate Hockey Association Defensive Player of the Week, made 21 saves in the victory, while Bakala finished with 25 saves for the Beavers.
The two teams play again Sunday at 6 p.m. at Mariucci Arena.
