University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Ohio State
Gophers Open Series with 4-2 Win
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
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MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) - Adam Wilcox moved into a tie for fourth all-time at Minnesota with his 64th career win on Friday night as the Gopher Hockey program skated to a 4-2 win over Ohio State on Friday night to open up a two-game series at Mariucci Arena.
Leon Bristedt, Justin Kloos, Travis Boyd and Vinni Lettieri tallied goals in the win with Boyd tallying his team-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season. Kloos and Lettieri led the Gophers with a goal and an assist each while Taylor Cammarata pocketed a pair of assists in the victory.
The win for Minnesota (13-9-3 overall, 4-2-3-0 Big Ten) now moves Wilcox into a tie for fourth all-time with John Blue at Minnesota with 64 career wins. The All-America junior made 21 saves to pick up the win and improve to 13-8-3 on the season.
In front of Wilcox, the Maroon & Gold offense found an early spark and didn't look back when Bristedt scored the first of two power-play goals for the Gophers just six minutes into the game with assists from Kloos and Ben Marshall. Kloos added to the lead at 15:33 of the first when he was set up for his ninth of the year by Ryan Collins and Lettieri.
Ohio State (7-14-2, 2-7-0-0) cut into the lead at 5:09 of the second period when Anthony Greco found the net, but the Gophers quickly responded with another pair of goals to build a three-goal lead.
Boyd lit the lamp for the 10th time this season at 8:19 of the second period during a Minnesota power play to make it 3-1. Mike Reilly and Cammarata assisted on the power-play goal as Minnesota reclaimed the nation's best power play at .273 with Friday's 2-for-4 performance. Lettieri then iced the win for Minnesota at 11:10 when the sophomore deflected a blast from Christian Isackson for the insurance goal. Cammarata and Isackson both picked up assists on the goal.
While Nick Oddo made it a two-goal game with 1:50 to play in the third, the Gophers went on to open the series with a win after outshooting their Big Ten opponent 42-23 on the night. Minnesota also went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Minnesota continues play on Saturday night, closing out the weekend series with the Buckeyes at 7:05 p.m. CT (FOX Sports North PLUS, BTN2Go, 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network).
-Pride On Ice-
