University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, February 1
3M Arena at Mariucci
5:00 PM
University of Minnesota
21-6-3, 12-4-2
4
vs
1
Wisconsin
11-14-3, 6-11-1
1
2
3
F
Wisconsin
0
0
1
1
Minnesota
0
0
4
4
Team Stats
WIS
MIN
Shots
27
26
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
5
5
Penalty Mins
18
18
Faceoffs Won
25
21
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
2
Goals
2
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
3
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
2
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
1
Players Mentioned
Defense
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's Hockey
Goaltender
/ Men's HockeyForward
/ Men's Hockey
Photo by: Sage Zipeto
'U' Dominates Late in 4-1 Win to Sweep Badgers
2/1/2025 9:00:00 PM | Men's Hockey
Single-game attendance record broken Saturday
MINNEAPOLIS - In front of the largest crowd in 3M Arena at Mariucci history, the fourth-ranked Golden Gophers scored four times in the third period to win, 4-1 and finish off a series sweep of No. 17/18 Wisconsin in Big Ten Conference men's hockey action Saturday evening.
Matthew Wood broke a scoreless tie 9:16 into the third period and Minnesota (21-6-3 overall, 12-4-2 B1G) added three more goals from that same line to secure a season sweep over the Badgers (11-14-3 overall, 6-11-1 B1G) for the first time since 2003. That all happened before an announced attendance of 10,894, which was the largest to even witness a game in the 30-plus years at 3M Arena at Mariucci for the Maroon and Gold.
After a slow start to the game Friday night, the Gophers reversed that trend Saturday, firing five shots on target in the early minutes, matching its entire first period total from the previous night. Oliver Moore's one-timer from the slot had to be turned aside as the home side tried to build on the early momentum. It was a neutral-zone battle through the middle of the frame before the Badgers generated their best chances, but netminder Liam Souliere made a pair of saves to shut down the attack. With five minutes left in the period, the visitors went to the first man advantage of the weekend for either team that was promptly erased by the Gophers and the teams went back to the locker room scoreless.
The second stanza kept the same trend from the end of the opening frame with both defenses making plays to limit zone time until Minnesota sustained a forecheck and tested the Wisconsin goalie. Luke Mittelstadt got two shots through traffic that were stopped, and the home team maintained its offensive pressure. After a turnover by the Gophers, the Badgers pounced for a 3-on-2 rush and were stymied again with a pad stop from Souliere. The Maroon and Gold fought to start an odd-man rush of its own on the next shift, but Wood's shot went wide.
The Gophers drew their first power-play of the series during the attack at the 9:56 mark and tested the goaltender with a pair of shots but could not find the opening tally. Following an icing on Minnesota, Wisconsin put together a surge late in the period before the home team moved back to a man advantage in the final three minutes. The opportunity was wiped away and the Badgers used a generous whistle to go on another power play that carried over into the final frame as the game remained 0-0 through two periods.
Minnesota killed off the remainder of the 5-on-4 chance beginning the third period and again got to work in the offensive zone, utilizing its speed through the neutral zone. The shots came from distance and were handled by the Wisconsin goalie until a penalty to the Gophers sent the visitors to a power play at the 6:32 mark. The advantage was short lived when the Badgers took a run at Souliere behind the net and were sent to the box. One second after the power play expired, the Maroon and Gold finally broke through in front of its jam-packed student section, sending the record crowd into a frenzy. Wood was in the perfect spot in the slot to collect a loose puck and fired it under the glove to give Minnesota a 1-0 edge.
Souliere and his defense had to be at their best the very next shift as the Badgers pushed for the equalizer and came inches away via a scramble in the goal crease. Two minutes later, a harmless-appearing shot by Kurth from the point deflected off a Wisconsin player and slipped under the goalie's pads as the Gophers doubled their lead with 8:39 to play in regulation.
Facing a two-goal deficit, the Badgers threw everything they had into a comeback bid only to be shut down every time by Minnesota's staunch defense. That led to a chance the other way and Moore joined his linemates with third-period goals. The sophomore raced up the left wing and buried a wrister over the shoulder from the left faceoff dot, giving the home side breathing room ahead 3-0 with all three goals coming during a five-minute stretch.
For the second night in a row, the Badgers elected to pull the goalie late in the game, this time with five minutes to play. It paid off as the visitors broke the shutout bid with 3:56 remaining, making it a two-goal deficit. Wisconsin sent out an extra attacker again trying to claw back, but it was Kurth that iced the sweep as he buried a goal into an empty net and a 4-1 margin for the Gophers as the clock showed 2:15. The victory gave Minnesota three important points in the B1G standings as it remains just two points behind Michigan State for the top spot with six games to go in the regular season.
Souliere (10-4-1) closed the night by turning away 26 shots and is unbeaten over his last three starts. He also reached double-digit wins for the third-straight season of his NCAA career.
Noteworthy
Wood put home his 10th goal of the campaign and is the fifth Gopher to record double-digit goals ... The junior added an assist on the game winner to reach 29 points this season ... For a team-high sixth time in 2024-25, Kurth recorded three or more points in a single game, this time with his first multi-goal effort since a hat trick on opening night ... The Lindstrom, Minn., native has 13 goals and 18 assists for the season and is the second Gopher to cross the 30-point mark ... Kurth also extended his NCAA-leading plus-minus total to plus-28 and is now the only Minnesota player to score three game-winning goals, getting his first since Oct. 19 at Minnesota Duluth ... Moore matched a career high of three points Saturday with a goal and two assists for his sixth multi-point outing of the season ... After tying his career long of eight games without a point entering the night, Lamb finally found the scoresheet as he collected the primary assist on Wood's goal ... The junior has 21 points this season on 13 goals and eight assists ... Koster picked up a helper for the third-straight contest, his longest point streak since a four-game stretch in February of 2023, and has 14 points overall ... Eleven different players blocked a shot for the Gophers Saturday as the team was committed to getting in shooting lanes, totaling 17 blocks overall, the most since registering 20 versus Michigan State (Dec. 13) ... The Maroon and Gold closed the weekend with seven third-period goals, three more than any other series this season ... In addition to the single-game attendance record, Minnesota also set a new all-time series record as 21,641 fans came to 3M Arena at Mariucci to watch the two-day Border Battle.
Coach Motzko's Comments
"Start to finish, our guys were committed to their shifts. It's all we asked; be committed to your shift, play the right way and they did from start to finish," Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. "Liam was great in goal for us, played the puck, and stopped it. And then how about our crowd? I mean, it was incredible. It's a pretty cool atmosphere to be in front of. Our students are unbelievable."
Next Up: Away at No. 13/12 Michigan (Feb. 14-15)
Minnesota has its final bye week of the regular season next weekend before a road trip to Ann Arbor, Mich., Feb. 14-15 to face the nationally-ranked Wolverines of Michigan.
Matthew Wood broke a scoreless tie 9:16 into the third period and Minnesota (21-6-3 overall, 12-4-2 B1G) added three more goals from that same line to secure a season sweep over the Badgers (11-14-3 overall, 6-11-1 B1G) for the first time since 2003. That all happened before an announced attendance of 10,894, which was the largest to even witness a game in the 30-plus years at 3M Arena at Mariucci for the Maroon and Gold.
After a slow start to the game Friday night, the Gophers reversed that trend Saturday, firing five shots on target in the early minutes, matching its entire first period total from the previous night. Oliver Moore's one-timer from the slot had to be turned aside as the home side tried to build on the early momentum. It was a neutral-zone battle through the middle of the frame before the Badgers generated their best chances, but netminder Liam Souliere made a pair of saves to shut down the attack. With five minutes left in the period, the visitors went to the first man advantage of the weekend for either team that was promptly erased by the Gophers and the teams went back to the locker room scoreless.
The second stanza kept the same trend from the end of the opening frame with both defenses making plays to limit zone time until Minnesota sustained a forecheck and tested the Wisconsin goalie. Luke Mittelstadt got two shots through traffic that were stopped, and the home team maintained its offensive pressure. After a turnover by the Gophers, the Badgers pounced for a 3-on-2 rush and were stymied again with a pad stop from Souliere. The Maroon and Gold fought to start an odd-man rush of its own on the next shift, but Wood's shot went wide.
The Gophers drew their first power-play of the series during the attack at the 9:56 mark and tested the goaltender with a pair of shots but could not find the opening tally. Following an icing on Minnesota, Wisconsin put together a surge late in the period before the home team moved back to a man advantage in the final three minutes. The opportunity was wiped away and the Badgers used a generous whistle to go on another power play that carried over into the final frame as the game remained 0-0 through two periods.
Minnesota killed off the remainder of the 5-on-4 chance beginning the third period and again got to work in the offensive zone, utilizing its speed through the neutral zone. The shots came from distance and were handled by the Wisconsin goalie until a penalty to the Gophers sent the visitors to a power play at the 6:32 mark. The advantage was short lived when the Badgers took a run at Souliere behind the net and were sent to the box. One second after the power play expired, the Maroon and Gold finally broke through in front of its jam-packed student section, sending the record crowd into a frenzy. Wood was in the perfect spot in the slot to collect a loose puck and fired it under the glove to give Minnesota a 1-0 edge.
Souliere and his defense had to be at their best the very next shift as the Badgers pushed for the equalizer and came inches away via a scramble in the goal crease. Two minutes later, a harmless-appearing shot by Kurth from the point deflected off a Wisconsin player and slipped under the goalie's pads as the Gophers doubled their lead with 8:39 to play in regulation.
Facing a two-goal deficit, the Badgers threw everything they had into a comeback bid only to be shut down every time by Minnesota's staunch defense. That led to a chance the other way and Moore joined his linemates with third-period goals. The sophomore raced up the left wing and buried a wrister over the shoulder from the left faceoff dot, giving the home side breathing room ahead 3-0 with all three goals coming during a five-minute stretch.
For the second night in a row, the Badgers elected to pull the goalie late in the game, this time with five minutes to play. It paid off as the visitors broke the shutout bid with 3:56 remaining, making it a two-goal deficit. Wisconsin sent out an extra attacker again trying to claw back, but it was Kurth that iced the sweep as he buried a goal into an empty net and a 4-1 margin for the Gophers as the clock showed 2:15. The victory gave Minnesota three important points in the B1G standings as it remains just two points behind Michigan State for the top spot with six games to go in the regular season.
Souliere (10-4-1) closed the night by turning away 26 shots and is unbeaten over his last three starts. He also reached double-digit wins for the third-straight season of his NCAA career.
Noteworthy
Wood put home his 10th goal of the campaign and is the fifth Gopher to record double-digit goals ... The junior added an assist on the game winner to reach 29 points this season ... For a team-high sixth time in 2024-25, Kurth recorded three or more points in a single game, this time with his first multi-goal effort since a hat trick on opening night ... The Lindstrom, Minn., native has 13 goals and 18 assists for the season and is the second Gopher to cross the 30-point mark ... Kurth also extended his NCAA-leading plus-minus total to plus-28 and is now the only Minnesota player to score three game-winning goals, getting his first since Oct. 19 at Minnesota Duluth ... Moore matched a career high of three points Saturday with a goal and two assists for his sixth multi-point outing of the season ... After tying his career long of eight games without a point entering the night, Lamb finally found the scoresheet as he collected the primary assist on Wood's goal ... The junior has 21 points this season on 13 goals and eight assists ... Koster picked up a helper for the third-straight contest, his longest point streak since a four-game stretch in February of 2023, and has 14 points overall ... Eleven different players blocked a shot for the Gophers Saturday as the team was committed to getting in shooting lanes, totaling 17 blocks overall, the most since registering 20 versus Michigan State (Dec. 13) ... The Maroon and Gold closed the weekend with seven third-period goals, three more than any other series this season ... In addition to the single-game attendance record, Minnesota also set a new all-time series record as 21,641 fans came to 3M Arena at Mariucci to watch the two-day Border Battle.
Coach Motzko's Comments
"Start to finish, our guys were committed to their shifts. It's all we asked; be committed to your shift, play the right way and they did from start to finish," Minnesota head coach Bob Motzko said. "Liam was great in goal for us, played the puck, and stopped it. And then how about our crowd? I mean, it was incredible. It's a pretty cool atmosphere to be in front of. Our students are unbelievable."
Next Up: Away at No. 13/12 Michigan (Feb. 14-15)
Minnesota has its final bye week of the regular season next weekend before a road trip to Ann Arbor, Mich., Feb. 14-15 to face the nationally-ranked Wolverines of Michigan.
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