Behind the load of penalty minutes and misconducts handed out in Saturday night's exhibition, the Gophers hockey team learned that the freshmen will be a big part of their scoring efforts.

Freshmen Hudson Fasching, Michael Brodzinski and Taylor Cammarata each scored goals as the Gophers defeated Lethbridge of Alberta 5-1 at Mariucci Arena.

Fasching scored the game's first goal off a rebound, assisted by Kyle Rau and Ben Marshall. It was one of the few open looks Lethbridge goaltender Dylan Tait surrendered early on. The Gophers' offensive pressure rarely let up and eventually found holes.

Forwards Travis Boyd and Ryan Reilly also contributed goals. Freshmen Fasching and Justin Kloos accounted for two of the Gophers' nine assists.

"Especially, Day 1, [the freshmen] didn't look like they had any jitters," said Boyd, who also had an assist. "But they still definitely have some work to do as does the whole team."

Several scoring opportunities for the freshmen came during power plays. The two teams combined for 74 penalty minutes and three misconducts in the second period. Lethbridge eventually had three players pulled from the game with misconducts. Gophers redshirt freshman Connor Reilly was also issued a misconduct.

Gophers hockey forward Travis Boyd was impressed with the freshmen in the team's 5-1 exhibition win over Lethbridge.
Video (01:21): Gophers hockey forward Travis Boyd

Rau and Fasching looked good skating together on the Gophers' first line. They played physical and took 11 of the Gophers' 46 shots on goal.

The Gophers' toughness won't be in question heading into next weekend, but coach Don Lucia didn't care for the overly physical preseason warm-up. It kept him from the player evaluation he was hoping for out of an exhibition.

"The part I didn't like about that, then all the sudden you can't get some guys out there, and that was a big part of the game," Lucia said. "It was a good dry run for us."