Gophers trapped by Wolverines, fall 5-4 in battle of conference leaders!

The Gophers began their game against the Wolverines much the way they started last week's game against the Pioneers...

They got on the board first and early when they scored just 30 seconds into the game on the very first shot they registered on goal, an unassisted wrister by Sunny, and then led 2-0 with 2:30 left in the first period after Blake collected the rebound of an Anders shot and put it past the Wolverine goalie.

The Gophers were riding high on the same wave of momentum that carried them to victory in consecutive conference clashes against the Sioux and Pioneers, through a seven game conference unbeaten streak, and into first place in the conference.

And this is where the wave of good fortune carrying its Golden Gopher riders weaved its way into Wolverine-infested waters.

Jake's Wolverine counterpart at #8, Zach, scored his first of three goals in the game less than a minute after Blake, and the score at the end of one was 2-1 Gophers. And although the Gophers scored twice in the opening period, they managed only five shots on goal, whereas the Wolverines peppered Gophers goalie Jake eleven times on a half dozen scoring chances.

The second period was a shooting efficiency clinic hosted by the Wolverines, who parked a quintet of unanswered goals in the Gophers' net on an octet of shots. If traditional scorekeeping kept track of shots TOWARDS the goal instead of just the ones ON goal, the Wolverines may have outshot the Gophers by 20 shots. The first goal of the period was Zach's second of the day for the Wolverines, this time on an assist from #10, Alec, who then collected his second assist of the game on Zach's hat trick goal only 6 minutes later to take a lead in the game, halfway through the second, a lead they would not relinquish.

The Wolverines' #9, Austin, scored twice unassisted in a span of 2:03 as the clocked ticked down towards the intermission, and during the fated 2nd period, the Wolverines outshot the Gophers 8 to 6 and all 4 of their goals in the period came from almost identical locations on the ice.

The 23-minute long marathon 3rd period began with the stunned Gophers down 5-2, and although the players hustled on both ends of the ice, their efforts had culminated in only 11 shots on goal through the first 30 minutes of play.

Third period action was up and down the ice with an increased sense of urgency, and the period accounted for half of the Gophers' 22 shots on goal for the game, and half of their goals as well. After battling in the final frame for nearly 8 full minutes, our own number 8 took the puck in unassisted and closed the gap to 5-3 with a wrister that went straight from tape to netting.

As 11 more minutes ticked off the clock, shot after shot was stonewalled by each team's goaltender until Woody fed Sunny in the slot, to earn the assist on Jake's third goal of the game with 4:45 remaining in regulation, and in an odd coincidence marked the 2nd hat trick by a #8 in the game.

Shift after shift fought to earn the equalizer and avoid defeat, but the Wolverines' defense denied the Gophers' assaults on their nets for the remainder of the final four minutes. Goalie Jake raced off the ice to create the 6 on 5 advantage for the final minute, and although they managed several shots, they were unable to get the game-tying goal despite valiant efforts by all.

The Gophers will seek to rebound next week in an afternoon contest against the Badgers who fell 4-2 this week to the Pioneers. They'll begin preparations tonight on Kennedy's outdoor ice in another cold weather, old-time hockey practice.