Gophers Sweep Colonials In Saturday Sports Recap

The University of Minnesota got a 4-1 win over Robert Morris to earn a weekend sweep of the Colonials in Men's Hockey. Mason Nevers and Mike Koster each scored for the first time this season in the win. The Colonials couldn’t muster much against the Gophers' defense and netminder Justen Close only had to make 16 saves to secure the win.  Minnesota will take on Ohio State next weekend.

MEN’S COLLEGE HOCKEY:

-- St. Cloud State bounced back from Friday’s loss to the University of Denver getting the win Saturday in a shootout.  The Huskies took a 4-2 lead late into the third period but then Zach Okabe would get a five-minute major penalty for contact to the head. Denver would score twice in those five minutes to tie the game and send it overtime. After a scoreless OT, the game ended in a 4-4 tie and went to the shootout where St. Cloud would win. The victory keeps SCSU in first place in the NCHC.

--St. John’s stood tall against No.8 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Saturday and skated to a 1-1 tie with the Pointers. Noah Finstrom got St. Stevens the 1-0 lead when he scored just over three minutes into the game. St. John’s Jack Wandmacher would tie things up with his goal with just over 5 minutes to play in the first. Johnnies' junior goaltender Bailey Huber would carry the team from there making save after save. He would finish the game with 44 saves to help the Johnnies get the tie. St. John’s returns to action on Thursday against Hamline.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE HOCKEY

-- Ohio State beat up on the Gophers for a second night downing the Gophers 6-1 to get the sweep. The game was close early on as neither team could score in the first period. Ohio State then turned it on in the 2^nd period scoring 5 times. Madison Kaiser scored Minnesota’s only goal; it was the first time the Gophers have been swept since October of 2021.

-- SCSU rebounded from Saturday's loss to Minnesota State-Mankato and beat the Mavericks 4-2. The Huskies jumped out to a first-period lead on goals by Ella Anick and Avery Farrell. Mackenzie Bourgerie would score on her former teammates in the 2^nd period to cut the lead to 2-1 and then the Mavericks would tie it on a goal by Whitney Tuttle. Anick would get a late-period goal to put St. Cloud back on top 3-2, and Laura Zimmerman would score in the 3^rd to give the Huskies the 4-2 win.  St. Cloud plays a home-and-home series against the University of St. Thomas next weekend.

-- No. 2 Gustavus Adolphus proved too much for the Bennies again on Saturday taking St. Ben’s down 6-1. The Gusties came out firing on all cylinders and took a 3-0 lead after the first period. Sami Boerboom would net her 10^th career goal to cut the lead to 3-1 but that is all the Bennies could muster in the game. Gustavus would outshoot St. Ben’s 38-14 in the game. The loss drops St. Ben’s to 7-6-2 overall and 3-3-2 in conference play.

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

-- St. Cloud State lost to the University of Minnesota-Duluth 75-66 on Saturday. The Bulldogs got up early but SCSU used a 17-4 run in the first half to get up by 9 points.  Duluth battled back and took a 3-point lead into halftime.  The 2^nd half started out close with the two teams trading the lead but Duluth got up by double digits about five minutes in and then never looked back. Jamir Allen’s 15 points led the Huskies. The loss drops SCSU to 3-7 in the conference and 7-9 overall.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

-- SCSU had no problems with the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday toppling the Bulldogs 64-47. The Huskies got up early and took an 8-point lead by the end of the first quarter and would be up ten points at the half. They continued to dominate in the second half of the game to finish with a 17-point win. Jada Eggebrecht led the way with 20 points in the game.

-- A career-high 20 points from Kira Young was not enough as St. Ben’s lost to St. Catherine’s University 86-75 in double overtime. The Bennies jumped on St. Kate’s early and were up by 12 at halftime. St. Catherine’s rallied in the second half to tie the game 63-63 at the end of regulation.  St. Kate’s was up by three with 31 seconds left in the first OT before a three-point play by Megan Morgan would knot things up at 70 and force a 2^nd OT. St. Kate’s would take command in the 2^nd OT and outscore the Bennies 16-5 in the extra frame to secure the win. In addition to Young’s 20 points, St. Ben’s got 14 points from Lydia Hay and 12 points from Morgan.

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JUNIOR HOCKEY

--The Granite City Lumberjacks had no problems with Willmar on Saturday as they took down the Warhawks 6-2. The Jacks got 2 goals from Edan Cho, and single goals from Carson VanZueilen, Finn Greeley, Nolan Widman, and Thomas Gerum. The Lumberjacks are now 23-6-0-2.

-- The St. Cloud Norsemen did not fair as well against Minot on Saturday losing to the Minotauros 5-1. St. Cloud’s only goal was scored by Kyle Miller in the first period. The Norsemen are 15-11-2-7 and return to action next weekend with a home-and-home series against the Minnesota Wilderness.

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