Gophers Jump Out Early, But Need Big Comeback to Defeat Pioneers 5-3

The Gophers jumped out to an early 2 goal lead against the Pioneers Sunday on an unassisted goal by Zach, and a rebound assist from Jonathon to Joe, and after outshooting their opponents 12-2 in the opening period, it looked as if they'd run away with this game.

But this game was far from over.

The intensity picked up steam like a runaway locomotive, and it was apparent that each Gophers' player would have to dig deep and bring his best effort to the ice until the final buzzer in order to secure a victory against a hungry conference rival.

The Gophers' defensive hustle was on display early in the 2nd period, as the Pioneers' #26 Alex broke away with the puck at the blue line in transition and saw nothing between him and the Gophers' net but 60 feet of Hastings ice and his counterpart at #26, Jake Dale.

Jake edged out of the crease, cutting off the angle as Alex gained speed, but a maroon jersey was suddenly streaking along with him, stride for stride. It was Garrett, determined not to allow the breakaway to go unchallenged. Number 3 was a half stride behind Alex but was reaching as far ahead with his stick as he could, poke-checking with all his might, leaning forward in the effort as he gave all he could to get there defensively and help Jake in keeping any shot out of the net.

No shot was able to be attempted.

Garrett poked the puck away 15 feet from the net, and the rest of the Gophers' defense recovered and the puck was cleared from the zone. And so it went for several minutes, as the Pioneers mounted rush after rush toward the Gophers' zone, and the defense of the Gophers prevented the shot or broke up the pass time after time.

Jonathon also had another big game for the maroon and gold, getting a goal and an assist in the game. His first point of the contest came as he skated the puck toward the Pioneers' goal from near the right face-off circle and flipped a wrister to the glove side. The rebound was collected by Joe who took no time at all in depositing it into the mesh, and earning Jonathon the helper.

After trailing 2-0 through the 1st, the Pioneers got on the board halfway through the 2nd with #10 Dylan putting in an open look off a rebound.

And this is where the momentum changed.

Suddenly the Pioneers were energized. After spending most of the first half of the game in their defensive zone and being outshot in the first two frames by a count of about 22-7, they picked up their intensity, skated harder, and their passes were hitting tape, and their offsides whistles of the first period and a half dissolved into 2 on 2 and 3 on 2 rushes.

Dylan scored the equalizer in the 3rd on a goal the gophers' goalie Jake had in his sights from a long ways out. But this is hockey, where anything can happen, and as Jake went down to cover, the puck somehow found a hole and squirted through! Dylan earned a natural hattrick not long after for his 3rd goal. The Pioneers celebrated and the Gophers found themselves down for the first time in the game, 3-2, and on the wrong side of the momentum swing.

And this is where the game endured another shift in intensity.

Up until 6 minutes to go in the final period, a 22 minute marathon of endurance, the Gophers had only registered a couple shots on goal and were being outshot by a considerable margin in the period. And then they unleashed a barrage of backhands and a flurry of forehands and Jake "Don't call me Sunny D" Sundheim scored a monster goal on a wrap-around to tie the game with just over 4 minutes remaining in regulation.

Jonathon's Game Winning Goal came off a rebound from Zach's shot with only :50.4 left in the game and another Gopher goal was added by Mike on a pretty centering feed through traffic from Jake S. with just :27.4 left to seal the victory and earn 2 conference points, adding to their conference-leading total of 12.

And so the Gophers did it their way again: With defense, teamwork, smart play on both ends of the ice, and solid goaltending. Every Gopher played his heart out in Sunday's game and should be proud. Five different Gophers scored (Zach, Joe, Jacob, Jonathon, Mike) but all 12 players contributed to this win. From Anders, Garrett, Kannon, Sunny and Zach skating down Pioneer wingers from behind, creating turnovers and making great timely passes; to Payton, Brett and Blake playing great team hockey and getting multiple shots on goal. Jake D. regrouped after taking a tough goal, and stood tall in the net, turning away all attempts by the Pioneers at retaking the lead. And other than the fluke 2nd goal that defied logical probability, both goals scored against him were rebound goals that were put in by trailing skaters. Jake has only allowed ONE conference opponent to score more than 3 goals in a game and will carry an outstanding 2.30 GAA into next week's game against: The last conference team to put more than 3 shots behind him. But clearly, this is not the same Gophers team that played that Sunday...

In other action, the Pioneers' next opponent, the Badgers, earned their first victory of the season, a 4-3 non-conference win over Inver Grove Heights; and the Wolverines (7-2-1 overall) defeated the Sioux 2-1 to remain just a point behind the Gophers in the conference points standings.

The Wolverines' two losses have both come at the hands of the Pioneers, and the Wolverines are also the only team the Gophers have not yet beaten this season, having fallen to them in the opening game of the season 6-3, and having earned a 3-3 tie just before Christmas.