Weekly Wrap-Up Gophers sweep Badgers in the Border War

Tony Lucia (pictured above) and the Minnesota Golden Gophers had a great weekend against rival Wisconsin with a weekend sweep of the Badgers. Lucia got his first goal on Sunday, a go-ahead goal that put Minnesota ahead 2-1.

The first game however was a offensive struggle for both teams. Wisconsin goaltender Brian Elliott made 35 saves while his counterpart Kellen Briggs stopped 25 shots on goal. Defensemen Alex Goligoski got the game started with his fourth goal on the season scored on the power play. After a scoreless second period, the teams came right back on the ice for a solid third period. Jay Barriball scored his ninth on the season as the Gophers took a 2-0 lead. Wisconsin made it 2-1 late in the third with a goal by Ross Carlson his first of the season, but it was not enough as the Gophers took a 2-1 victory.

The next game saw Wisconsin take to a 1-0 lead at the 14:37 mark of the second period with a goal by Ben Street. Wisconsin who outplayed the Gophers for 2/3 of the game but could not hold their one goal lead. Minnesota tied it at one with a goal from Ryan Stoa on a breakaway. After back and forth action for over nine minutes, Tony Lucia, the son of Gopher head coach Don Lucia scored his first goal of the year and the game winner at the 14:17 mark. Blake Wheeler added an empty netter as the Gophers took the second game and a weekend sweep against the Badgers 3-1.

While Minnesota is on a roll, the Badgers are struggling and have now lost five in a row, a totaly unexpected start by the defending National Champions.

The other big series this weekend was Notre Dame and Michigan State in a CCHA battle. The Irish took the first game against the Spartans. Three goals by Notre Dame in the second period help the Fighting Irish get a 4-1 victory. Notre Dame goaltender David Brown made 26 saves in the victory. Michigan State took the second game to gain a split in a battle of top five teams. Bryan Lerg and Tim Crowder scored the only two goals of the game. Goaltender Jeff Lerg stopped all 25 Notre Dame shots on goal as the Spartans gained a victory at Munn Ice Arena.

In other college hockey action this past weekend:

Boston College defeated Maine 4-3 in overtime at Orono. BC forward Joe Rooney scored two goals including the game winner. BC will move up this weekend while Maine will probably move down a few spots after they lost their second in a row.

Quinnipiac got a weekend sweep of upstate New York teams Colgate and Cornell.

Miami swept Nebraska-Omaha

And the big surprise of the weekend was Alaska-Anchorage who swept #3 North Dakota.

This upcoming slate of the top five games include:

The College Hockey Showcase featuring Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State
Michigan State vs Michigan tommorrow night
Boston College vs New Hampshire Wednesday night
Dartmouth vs Quinnipiac
Clarkson vs Miami

Since games are happening all week the weekly preview will come out tommorrow and the Hobey Watch will come out on Wednesday (one week only). More exciting action coming up as we inch closer to the halfway mark on the college hockey season.