The Minnesota Gopher hockey team won the North Star College Cup on Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center. The Gophers defeated the University of Minnesota-Duluth in a shootout.
The shootout was won by the Gophers 2-0, after the game finished in a 4-all tie.
Seth Ambroz made the clincher for the Gophers after Adam Wilcox stopped both attempts in the shootout by the Bulldogs.
Wilcox had to play another solid game in net for Minnesota, the Gophers were outshot 42-27 Saturday night, but in the game he made 38 saves again to keep the Gophers in position to win. He was named the MVP of the tournament.
It was a physical game, with a lot of penalties.
41 minutes of penalties tonight; including 14 in 3rd and OT. #NSCC
— Nate Wells (@gopherstate) January 26, 2014
Kyle Rau put the Gophers on the scoreboard first as he lit the lamp at the 10:47 mark of the first half.
The lead was short-lived though, as Caleb Herbert and Austin Farley each netted goals within the next minute to give the Bulldogs the lead.
Nate Condon evened the score before the end of the first, tying the game at two.
Early in the second, the Gophers lost one of their top players in the second period. SB Nation reports Minnesota’s Ben Marshall was given a five minute major and game misconduct penalty for a hit to the head on Farley.
It stayed that way until the third. Hudson Fasching gave the Gophers the lead at 3-2. Rau and Mike Reilly each tallied assists in the contest.
Farley beat Wilcox again in the third to even the score at three, his second goal of the game.
Travis Boyd made it 4-3 with his goal at the 11:41 mark of the third, and it looked like the game might stay that way.
However, the Bulldogs evened the score with just over two minutes to play to force overtime.
Neither team scored in the extra period, but then in the shootout Weber turned away the Bulldogs twice. Rau and Ambroz put the game away for Minnesota.
Wilcox was named the MVP of the North Star Cup.
