Gophers, Terriers Meet Saturday for Spot in NCAA Frozen Four

MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 7 Golden Gophers men's hockey team continues the 2024 NCAA Sioux Falls Regional as the No. 2 seed heading into Saturday's regional final matchup against No. 2 and top-seeded Boston University in the postseason sponsored by Affinity Plus.

With a spot in the NCAA Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn., on the line, Minnesota faces the Terriers at 5:30 p.m. inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The contest will be available to watch on ESPNU and streaming on ESPN+, while audio coverage for the Maroon and Gold can be heard on the Gopher Radio Network 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM.

ON THE NATIONAL STAGE
Minnesota's win over Omaha in the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional opener Thursday night was the program's 62nd all-time victory in the NCAA Tournament, the most of any college hockey program in the country. The Gophers own a 62-41 record (.602) in 41 trips to the national stage since 1953 and are making their fourth-consecutive appearance in 2024. Under the guidance of head coach Bob Motzko, the Maroon and Gold own a mark of 7-3 in the postseason event, including at least one win in each of the last four seasons, and are going for its third-straight appearance at the NCAA Frozen Four. Minnesota has 18 players on its roster that have made at least one trip to the NCAA Tournament, 16 of which have taken the ice, while six members are returning to the national spotlight for the fourth time.

SEEING NEW SIGHTS
For the first time in the 103-year history of the Minnesota men's hockey program, it will play a game in the state of South Dakota when it takes the ice Thursday in the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional. The Gophers played in Fargo, N.D., a season ago for the NCAA regional round and will travel approximately four miles less during their trip to the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in 2024 with the arena located 238 miles from campus.

SIOUX FALLS CONNECTIONS
For graduate student Jaxon Nelson, Sioux Falls, S.D., is as close to home as you can get for the postseason as the Magnolia, Minn., native grew up less than 40 miles from the largest city in South Dakota and played prep hockey at Luverne High School, 15 miles from the state's border. Nelson also played two seasons for Sioux Falls in the USHL, making 112 appearances between 2016-18. The Gophers have three other players that spent at least two years with the Stampede in Garrett Pinoniemi (2019-22), Max Rud (2020-23), and Cal Thomas (2020-22), while Rud's father, Eric, is the current head coach for Sioux Falls. The Gophers' Bob Motzko served as the general manager and coach of the Stampede during the team's first three seasons in the USHL (1998-2001) and was named the USHL General Manager of the Year in 2000.

POSTSEASON AWARD SHOW
The Gophers were well represented on the Big Ten Conference postseason awards list as a league-best 10 different players were honored. Jimmy Snuggerud headlined the group earning an All-B1G First Team selection, while Ryan Chesley, Rhett Pitlick, and Sam Rinzel were All-B1G Second Team honorees. Minnesota also had four named All-B1G Honorable Mention in Bryce Brodzinski, Justen Close, Luke Mittelstadt, and Jaxon Nelson. Rinzel was joined by fellow rookie Oliver Moore as B1G All-Freshman team picks and Carl Fish was given the B1G Sportsmanship Award. The Gophers have had 60 all-conference selections since the B1G formed 11 years ago, which is more than any other opponent.

BEST TEAM AT AVOIDING THE PENALTY BOX
The Gophers were called for double-digit penalty minutes in three-straight games during the season's first month but drastically changed that narrative the second half of the season. Minnesota now leads the nation, averaging 6.7 penalty minutes per game, sitting in the box for six minutes or less in 17 of the previous 20 outings, including a penalty-free contest in the final road test at Notre Dame (Feb. 17). That also incorporates a home win versus Robert Morris (Jan. 13) where the team's only penalty came on matching minors as it did not allow a single power-play opportunity. The Gophers were whistled for 19 penalty minutes in the first period against Penn State (Mar. 9), which was more time in the penalty box than the previous four games combined.

NELLY GETTING "HOT IN HERRE"
Jaxon Nelson has been nearly unstoppable for the Golden Gophers of late with a goal in five of his last seven games, including four multi-goal performances, and has 10 of his career-best 18 goals over that span. After his two-goal effort versus Omaha, he became the fifth Gopher to reach 30 points this year, the most points of his career. He had 10 points and a plus-8 rating during a season-long, five-game point streak and also won double-digit faceoffs in each of those outings (64-of-102), a 63 percent success rate. Against No. 16 Michigan to close the regular season, Nelson totaled six points via five goals and an assist on his way to a B1G First Star of the Week (Mar. 5) honor, the first weekly award of his five-year career. He recorded his first collegiate hat trick in Friday night's win, scoring once in each of the three periods. The Magnolia, Minn., native followed that with his third, three-point performance of the season the next night as he tallied two goals and an assist in the third period to help the Gophers overcome a three-goal deficit. No stranger to the big stage, Nelson has recorded a point in five-straight NCAA Tournament games and has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 10 career NCAA outings over the past four years.

CLOSE THE SHUTOUT STAR
Justen Close was named a Mike Richter Award semifinalist for the second-straight year thanks to a 2.32 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage, and four shutouts this season and made the 100th appearance of his career Thursday against Omaha. The graduate student was nothing short of brilliant for the Gophers in the quarterfinals sweep of Penn State where he allowed three goals on 69 shots and made a career-high 46 saves in the finale. He was named the B1G First Star of the Week for two-consecutive weeks (Feb. 6 & 13) after not allowing a goal, stopping all 66 shots, against the Nittany Lions during a weekend sweep and extended his career-long shutout streak to more than 190 minutes. Close posted consecutive shutouts for the third time in his career and second time this season. In a split at No. 4 Wisconsin, he held the opposition to one goal each night on his way to weekly accolades, stopping 62-of-64 shots. He picked up the honor for the first time on Oct. 24 after turning away 57-of-59 shots faced against No. 5 North Dakota, including a 25-save shutout Oct. 20 and remains the only goalie this season to blank UND. The Kindersley, Saskatchewan, native used the back-to-back shutouts of Penn State to tie the all-time shutouts record in Minnesota history with the 13th of his career and recently increased his career win total to 61, sitting sixth in program history. Close owns a 6-2 record in eight NCAA Tournament appearances with a 2.08 goals-against average and 206 total saves.

HUGLEN COMING UP HUGE
Forward Aaron Huglen is putting together his best offensive run as a Gopher late in the year, picking up a point in seven of the past 10 games, totaling nine points. The junior scored a goal in three-straight contests from Mar. 2-9, the longest streak of his career, with nine of his career-best 12 total goals coming over the previous 16 outings. He became the ninth Minnesota player to reach the 20-point mark after tallying the game-winning goal against Penn State in the B1G quarterfinals (Mar. 9). Thanks to his first collegiate multi-goal outing against the Nittany Lions (Jan. 10), Huglen surpassed his previous career best in goals at eight. He also tacked on an assist in the series opener to finish with three points during the weekend and earned B1G Third Star of the Week honors (Feb. 13), his first weekly award as a Gopher. Since Jan. 20, the Roseau, Minn., native is tied for the NCAA lead in game-winning goals as he has four in that stretch. In eight NCAA Tournament appearances, Huglen has accounted for five points and reached the scoresheet in four of those outings.

HISTORY WITH THE TERRIERS
Minnesota leads the all-time series with BU, 13-12-2 (.519), after picking up a 6-2 victory in the most recent meeting at the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four. This will be the 10th matchup to take place in the NCAA postseason where the Gophers have claimed six of the previous nine games. It was Luke Mittelstadt's two goals in a span of two minutes during the third period that helped the Maroon and Gold take down the Terriers in Tampa, Fla., a season ago. He and fellow freshman Logan Cooley each had three-point performances, aided by Cooley's pair of empty-net goals, as Minnesota advanced to the NCAA title game.

INSIDE LOOK AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
The Terriers have won eight of their last nine games overall with only a loss to top-ranked rival Boston College in the Hockey East championship game as the lone setback. BU used a 6-3 win over RIT Thursday to advance to the regional final powered by its stars as Hobey Baker finalists Lane Hutson and Macklin Celebrini each tallied a goal and an assist. It was Celebrini's team-leading 32nd goal of the season, the second-most of any player in the nation, as he crossed the 60-point mark. He's driven the NCAA's fifth-highest scoring offense as the Terriers average 4.1 goals per game and also rank in the top 10 allowing just 2.4 goals per game to their opposition. Goaltender Mathieu Caron has started all 38 games for BU and tallied a 2.35 goals-against average, .916 save percentage, and two shutouts.

BRODZINSKI SET NEW PROGRAM RECORD
There is a new leader in all-time games played in Minnesota men's hockey history after Bryce Brodzinski took the ice for the 183rd time in the B1G Tournament, passing Larry Olimb (1988-92). He has not missed a game since Jan. 30, 2021, playing in 130-straight contests. The fifth-year senior remains the NCAA's active leader in games played (184) and is third in goals (59), while sitting eighth among Division I players with 117 career points. The Blaine, Minn., native joined an elite company as the 61st Minnesota player to reach the 50-goal milestone when he scored twice in a home win over Minnesota Duluth (Nov. 3). He is the first Gopher to hit the scoring mark since Tyler Sheehy did so on Dec. 8, 2018, and is one of five to score 50 goals since 2010. He reached 100 career points with the game-winning goal at Penn State (Dec. 1), the first Gopher to reach the milestone since Blake McLaughlin in 2022, and the 88th player to hit the century mark for career points with the Maroon and Gold. Brodzinski is tied for second among active NCAA Tournament participants with 10 career points, thanks to his first collegiate hat trick and four points in last year's regional win over Canisius. That performance helped land him a spot on the NCAA Fargo Regional All-Tournament Team, where he was voted the Most Outstanding Player.

ANOTHER YEAR WITH 20
It's the fourth-consecutive season under head coach Bob Motzko that Minnesota has won at least 20 games during the season and 10th time over the past 13 campaigns. The sustained success of the Gophers has been a point of emphasis as the program has reached the 20-win mark 41 times in 51 years dating back to 1973-74, a year when the Maroon and Gold claimed the first of its five national championships.

EATING PUCKS
Minnesota is one of four NCAA teams this season with two players that have blocked 64 or more shots as Ryan Chesley (75) and Cal Thomas (67) have both reached that mark. As a team, the Gophers rank ninth nationally by blocking a conference-best 532 shots, including a season-high 34 during a home win over Penn State (Mar. 9), which was the second-most from an NCAA team in a single game this year. It's been a full team effort to get bodies in shooting lanes and 17 different players have double-digit blocks for the year with six of them totaling 35 or more.

PUTTING IN THE CLASSROOM WORK
Not only have the Gophers shown success on the ice during the 2023-24 season, the student-athletes have put in work in the classroom as well, leading to 15 Academic All-Big Ten selections. To be eligible for the honor, students must have been enrolled full time at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. Last fall, Minnesota set a program record as the squad boasted a semester GPA of 3.45.

SHOWCASING THE STATE OF HOCKEY
With five of the six members of the Gophers freshman class hailing from the State of Hockey as well as graduate transfer Nick Michel, the 2023-24 roster now features nearly 90 percent homegrown talent. Of the 26 players on the team, 23 grew up and played youth hockey inside the state lines, including all 22 skaters. Even more impressive is the fact that 17 of the Minnesotans on the team are from within 40 miles of campus. In total, 233 student-athletes on NCAA rosters are from the Land of 10,000 Lakes, nearly 100 more than any other state in the country.

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Players Mentioned

Bryce Brodzinski

Ryan Chesley

Justen Close

Logan Cooley

Carl Fish

Aaron Huglen

Nick Michel

Luke Mittelstadt

Oliver Moore

Jaxon Nelson

Garrett Pinoniemi

Rhett Pitlick

Sam Rinzel

Max Rud

Jimmy Snuggerud

Cal Thomas