Here is a slightly edited story on the Gophers' game from the U of M men's hockey sports information director: Opening the season against one of its biggest rivals, Minnesota was unable
to generate any spark in a 4-0 loss at North Dakota on Friday in Grand
Forks, N.D.

North Dakota scored twice on the power play and once short-handed in improving
to 3-0. The Gophers lost their season opener for
the first time in three years. (Remember Minnesota started last season 7-0-4 and was the No. 1-rated team in the nation for two weeks.)

The Fighting Sioux outshot the Gophers 43-22 for the game as Minnesota
goaltender Alex Kangas finished with 39 saves, including several
outstanding stops. North Dakota scored one goal in each of the first two
periods and added two more in the third. It was a similar result as a pair
of lopsided defeats the Gophers suffered last year at North Dakota with 6-3
and 6-1 setbacks.

North Dakota struck on the power play at 2:17 of the first period when
Jason Gregoire poked in a loose puck out of the crease that Minnesota was
unable to cover up. Chris VandeVelde took the original shot that was saved,
but the rebound stayed free in the crease and Gregoire slid it underneath
Gophers' goaltender Alex Kangas. David Toews also had an assist on the
play.

The Sioux added a short-handed goal at 4:21 of the second period from
Derrick LaPoint. Brad Malone took the original shot that bounced off
Kangas' pad out to Evan Trupp above the faceoff dot. Trupp passed to
LaPoint cutting down the slot for a wide open shot that got past Kangas.
The Sioux outshot Minnesota 30-17 through two periods, including a 19-9
advantage in the second stanza.

Chay Genoway put North Dakota ahead 3-0 with a power play goal at the 5:56
mark of the third period. The Gophers had just killed off a brief
five-on-three and were unable to clear the zone. Joe Gleason kept the puck
in the zone and passed to Trupp in the corner. Trupp cycled out to Genoway
at the point and the senior ripped a shot through a pair of Gopher
defenders for the goal.

The Fighting Sioux made it 4-0 less than three minutes later with a goal
from Mario Lamoureux at 8:18 of the third period. Lamoureux and Darcy Zajak
busted out on a two-on-one. Kangas made a pad save on Zajak's shot, but
Lamoureux put home the easy rebound goal. Carter Rowney added an assist on
the goal.

Minnesota, meanwhile, created few offensive chances for the game. One of
the Gophers' best chances came on a second period power play when Jay
Barriball ripped a high slap shot that Sioux goaltender Brad Eidsness was
able to glove. Eidsness finished with 22 saves.

The Gophers had a power play for the final 4:03 when
North Dakota's Gleason was called for a major penalty and game misconduct
for checking Barriball into the boards from behind. Minnesota managed
one shot over the final man advantage.

North Dakota also controlled faceoffs with a 42-26 advantage, including a
15-4 margin in the first period. The Sioux were two-for-six on the power
play, while Minnesota was unable to score in five chances.
Here are a slightly edited reports on the St. Cloud State game on Friday from the Huskies' men's hockey sports information guy and the UMD-MSU game from the Mavericks SID:

St. Cloud State 3, Union College 3, tie

No. 19-rated St. Cloud State (0-2-1) skated to a 3-3 overtime tie with visiting Union College (2-0-1) of the ECAC on Friday before 6,171 fans at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

The Huskies led for most of the contest before two goals by the Dutchmen in the closing five minutes tied the contest. Last week SCSU lost a 3-2 OT decision at Miami University. Sophomore forward Jordy Christian of Moorhead gave St. Cloud State a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal at 2:29 of the first period after a turnover in the Union zone. The Dutchmen then tied the game at 4:42 on a goal by Brian Yanovitch. SCSU took a 2-1 lead at 9:04 of the first period on a power play goal by junior forward Tony Mosey of Prior Lake. The Huskies went ahead 3-1 at 18:02 of the first period when senior forward Ryan Lasch (Lake Forest, Calif.) grabbed a rebound and pushed it passed UC netminder Corey Milan. After a scoreless second period, Union closed the gap to 3-2 at 17:21 of the third period with a tally by Greg Coburn. After the Dutchmen pulled their goalie Adam Presizniuk tied the game at 18:39. In the nets, freshman goalie Mike Lee of Roseau had 34 saves for the Huskies while Milan had 33. On the power play, SCSU was 1-of-4 and Union was 0-of-3. The two teams play again at 5:07 p.m. today, Oct. 17 with a 5:07 p.m. UMD 5, Minnesota State Mankato 2 Minnesota-Duluth handed Minnesota State its first loss of 2009-10 season by beating the visiting Mavericks 5-2 Friday in a WCHA game at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.

The Bulldogs got on the board first on a short-handed goal from sophomore Mike Connolly at 13:12 of the opening stanza. Connolly beat MSU sophomore Austin Lee with a shot low on the stickside. The Mavericks responded shortly thereafter when freshman Evan Mosey scored during a scramble on the right side of the UMD net at 15:13. UMD was able to regain its one-goal edge at 18:59 after Jack Connolly put a nice feed from Justin Fontaine past Lee at 18:59.

UMD owned a 24-9 advantage in shots on goal in the second period, but neither team was able to score.

The Bulldogs made it 5-1 on a power play goal by Justin Fontaine at 8:07 of the third period. The Mavericks closed out the scoring at 16:21 on a rebound goal by senior forward Geoff Irwin.

UMD (2-1-0 overall, 1-0-0 WCHA) outshot MSU by a 48-36 margin. The Mavericks (2-1-0, 0-1-0) got 43 saves from Lee in the loss.

The two teams play again at 7 p.m. Saturday in Duluth.