Gophers advance to Big Ten semifinals with 3-2 win over Notre Dame

The No. 19 Gopher Hockey program punched its ticket to the 2020 Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament semifinals with a 3-2 win over Notre Dame on Sunday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Minnesota rallied with two-straight wins in the best-of-three series to set up a single-game semifinal matchup at Penn State next Saturday.

Minnesota (16-14-7) also rallied from a one-goal deficit in the deciding contest with three-straight goals in the second period. After a scoreless first period, Notre Dame (15-15-7) struck first with a goal from Alex Steeves at 5:25 of the second period. But the Maroon & Gold answered quickly with a power-play goal from Ben Meyers at 10:18 and then claimed the lead 44 seconds later when Sampo Ranta scored his 12th of the year at 11:06. Blake McLaughlin and Robbie Stucker set up the equalizer while Scott Reedy and Brannon McManus picked up assists on Minnesota’s second goal.

Meyers found the net for the second time in the game with another power-play goal at 16:03 of the second period – this tally standing as the eventual game winner. Sammy Walker and Reedy pocketed assists on the deciding tally as Meyers notched his first career multi-goal game. The Gophers finished the night 2-for-3 on the power play, finding the back of the net twice in a game for the first time Dec. 6, 2019 – a span of 19 games for the Maroon & Gold.

The Irish made a game of it with a power-play goal from Cam Morrison at 10:36 of the third period, but the Gophers shut the door the rest of the way to advance to the Big Ten semifinals for the second year in a row.

Jack LaFontaine improved to 9-9-6 on the year with a 23-save performance in goal for Minnesota while the junior has now allowed two goals or less in four-straight games. Cale Morris fell to 12-14-7 after making 18 saves for the Irish.
Minnesota was outshot 25-21 on the night but held the Irish to just 11 shots in the first 40 minutes of play.

Up Next: Big Ten Semifinal at Penn State

Minnesota continues the 2020 Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament next weekend with a single-game semifinal matchup at Penn State on Saturday, March 14 at 6:00 p.m. CT.

(Courtesy: University of Minnesota)