Gophers finally settle it

MANKATO - A Gophers men's hockey season that seemed to be unraveling two months ago, when Minnesota went through a horrendous scoring slump, is very much alive.

The Gophers won their biggest game so far, edging Minnesota State Mankato 3-2 on Sunday night in two overtimes to win the deciding game in their best-of-three, first-round WCHA playoff series.

Tony Lucia's rebound goal at 16 minutes, 59 seconds of the second overtime was the game-winner. The play started with Evan Kaufmann taking a shot from the right point.

An upright Mike Zacharias, who had 46 saves, appeared to have the puck in the MSU Mankato net. But Lucia saw the puck loose, lying on the ice between Zacharias' legs, and poked at it. After a short review, the referee confirmed the goal.

With the victory, the Gophers advanced to this week's Final Five at the Xcel Energy Center for the 10th year in a row.

Minnesota will play St. Cloud State on Thursday night in the opening game and, beyond that, the Gophers are probably now safely in the 16-team NCAA tournament field.

"I've never scored a bigger goal in my life," said Lucia, whose father, Don, is the Gophers coach. "Our season was riding on [this game], that's for sure. If we didn't, we knew there was no way we're going to get in" the NCAA tournament.

"There is a lot of people that had the grave dug, and dirt was being shoveled on this team all year long, but they stayed with it," Don Lucia said.

Alex Kangas had 44 saves, many improbable, fantastic, outrageous. Pick your adjective. The Gophers (17-15-9) were playing in their 15th overtime game, including all three in this series.

Minnesota had gone winless (0-4-9) in the first 13 overtime games before this weekend.

The Mavericks (19-16-4) won the opener 1-0 at the Alltel Center in two overtimes. Minnesota came back to win Saturday's game 2-1 in overtime.

Those expecting two tired-looking teams in the first overtime were fooled. MSU's Jon Kalinski ran over Kangas four minutes into the period, and who knows where the puck wound up. Officials reviewed the play and ruled: no goal, contact with the goalie.

MSU's Andrew Sackrison, from just outside the crease, hit a part of Kangas' body or equipment with 4:30 left in the period. The puck dropped straight down, and Kangas' glove was there to cover it. That play also was reviewed.

Overtime hockey is not for the weak of heart.

The Mavericks took a 1-0 lead 8:38 into the game on Mick Berge's power-play goal. His team-leading 20th goal of the season came from near the dot in the left circle and found the far corner.

The Gophers' Jay Barriball tied it at 1-1 with 1:48 left. He went top shelf from 5 feet out.

The game took an ugly turn 6:09 into the second period when Jason Wiley elbowed the Gophers' Tom Pohl to the head near the benches. There was a 13-minute delay as Pohl, who had a gash on his forehead and was bleeding from his nose, was immobilized and taken off in a stretcher. Pohl was airlifted to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and Don Lucia said he was in stable condition.

Wiley received a game disqualification and the Gophers had a five-minute power play, which was wasted.

Patrick White gave the Gophers a 2-1 lead at 13:51 of the second period on a rebound off a shot by Mike Howe. Kael Mouillierat tied it at 3:20 of the third period, scoring in front off a pass from Trevor Bruess in the corner.