The Gophers men’s hockey team entered the Big Ten tournament knowing they needed a to win the conference tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Minnesota couldn’t make it happen.
The Gophers (11-21-3) lost 6-2 to Penn State (20-12-2) on Tuesday night at Pegula Ice Arena in Pennsylvania in their tourney opener. Minnesota was seeded sixth, the first time it has been seeded lower than fifth in the Big Ten tournament. The Nittany Lions were the conference’s third seed.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Real quick in the game, we made some mistakes early,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said in a release by the team. “And our guys fought. They did until the end. I am proud as heck of what they did all season. … Most important, the five seniors left their hearts in this program. They played in a national championship game, they hung banners, they stuck together and they battled through this. Their heart and care for this program touched all the guys that are coming back.”
It caps a disappointing season in which Minnesota never won more than two straight games and finished 1-6-2 in its last nine games.
Penn State’s Charlie Cerrato opened the scoring 3:10 into the first period and Mac Godowsky made it 2-0 before the first intermission. Matt Dimarsico and Reese Laubach made it 4-0 in the second before Javon Moore scored for the Gophers at 16:34 of the second.
Aiden Fink gave Penn State a 5-1 lead in the third.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMinnesota defenseman Jacob Rombach made it 5-2, but Cade Christenson finished the scoring for the Lions.
Gophers goaltender Luca Di Pasquo made 34 saves. Penn State’s Joshua Fleming stopped 27 shots.
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