'U' Downed by Late Tally at Michigan Tech Sunday

Upcoming Events

Schedule

Oct 16

7:00 PM

Men's Hockey

at Minnesota Duluth

Oct 17

6:00 PM

Men's Hockey

at Minnesota Duluth

Oct 22

7:00 PM

Men's Hockey

vs North Dakota

Team	1	2	3	F
Minnesota	0	0	1	1
Michigan Tech	0	1	2	3

Minnesota

Michigan Tech

HOUGHTON, Mich. - The No. 14/18-ranked Golden Gophers men's hockey team pulled even in the third period before allowing a pair of goals in the final three minutes to end with a 3-1 loss at No. 19/20 Michigan Tech from John MacInnes Student Ice Arena Sunday afternoon.

Mason Moe scored a power-play goal for Minnesota (0-2-0 overall, 0-0-0 B1G) to tie the game in the middle of the third period. The Huskies (2-0-0 overall, 0-0-0 CCHA) answered back on their own man advantage with 2:46 to play in regulation before adding an empty-net tally to close the series sweep.

It was four minutes of non-stop action up and down the ice to begin the Sunday matinee before a save by netminder Luca Di Pasquo halted play. Di Pasquo needed to be sharp along the goal line, stopping a pair of Tech chances as the home side pinned the Maroon and Gold inside its own zone. The Gophers were finally able to generate their own offensive pressure with shots coming from Wyatt Cullen and Brodie Ziemer in the middle stages of the opening period.

A post-whistle penalty on Minnesota with 7:42 remaining in the first frame gave the Huskies a power-play opportunity. The visitors got bodies and sticks in lanes to disrupt the man advantage and erase the two-minute minor. Momentum stayed with MTU for the rest of the period, only to be denied by Di Pasquo, and the teams went to the locker room in a scoreless tie.

Early in the second period, a drive up the ice from John Whipple led to a quality scoring chance in the slot by Jacob Kvasnicka that hit the outside of the post. At the 6:12 mark, the Gophers got caught chasing in their zone, leaving an open Huskies forward at the bottom of the right circle for a one-timer goal and fell behind, 1-0. As the game reached the midpoint, Minnesota increased its attack to push for the equalizer at the same time as the physicality picked up for both sides.

The Maroon and Gold had a brilliant opportunity to pull even late in the middle stanza when Ziemer found a streaking Cullen, but the freshman's breakaway hit the post. MTU held off the surging visitors and in the final two minutes of the period, moved to its second power play. Di Pasquo was the best penalty killer and stopped three shots to keep it a one-goal deficit through 40 minutes.

The Gophers wiped out the final 20 seconds of the MTU man advantage beginning the final frame before Beckett Hendrickson raced up his off wing for a shot from the circle that was turned aside. A dangerous hit from behind 3:28 into the period led to a five-minute major penalty on the Huskies, giving the visitors their first power play.

Minnesota tested its former goalie with five shots to start the man advantage and finally broke through with 16 seconds remaining on the 5-on-4. Axel Löfgren pushed a pass across the top of the circles where Moe jumped into the play and wired home a wrister over the glove to tie the game, 1-1, with 11:48 left in regulation. With the contest now deadlocked, every rush brought the crowd to its feet as the intensity ramped up on both benches.

A late, tight penalty called on the Gophers proved costly in the closing minutes as the Huskies scored on a rebound at the netfront to move ahead 2-1 with less than three minutes to play. After Minnesota pulled its goalie in the last 90 seconds, the home side sealed the win, 3-1, on an empty-net goal with 1:09 showing on the clock.

Noteworthy
Moe picked up his first goal of the campaign with his first collegiate power-play tally ... Last season, the Eden Prairie, Minn., native scored in his third outing, while it only took until game two for him to reach the scoresheet in 2026-27 ... Of Moe's seven career goals, four have been scored on the road ... Di Pasquo was a bright spot for the Maroon and Gold on Sunday making 23 saves to keep the Gophers within striking distance ... For the second-straight contest, Löfgren found his name in the point column, collecting his second assist of the year ... Coming off a career-high 30 points last season at Minnesota State, Murr picked up his first helper of his senior season ... Minnesota went 1-for-2 on the power play Sunday, while the Huskies ended the game 1-for-3 ... The Gophers allowed the game's first goal for the second-straight contest.

Coach Larson's Comments
"Unfortunately, we were inconsistent. I guess not totally unexpected with 13 new guys and 13 returners with a very brief time to prepare," Minnesota head coach Brett Larson said. "I loved the flashes when we looked good and got some concerns about the areas where we really need to focus on getting better this week."

Next Up: Away at No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 16-17)
Minnesota will continue its four-game road stretch to begin the campaign following a bye week as it heads to Duluth, Minn., to face the fifth-ranked Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth Oct. 16-17. Audio coverage for both contests will be available via the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK.

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Wyatt Cullen

Luca Di Pasquo

Beckett Hendrickson

Jacob Kvasnicka

Mason Moe

John Whipple

Brodie Ziemer

Mason Moe

Axel Löfgren

Evan Murr

Brodie Ziemer

Upcoming Events

University of Minnesota Athletics