Gophers hockey swept by Minnesota Duluth in home-and-home series

DULUTH - No. 5 Minnesota Duluth scored two goals in the opening period Saturday night and that's all the Bulldogs needed to sweep a home-and-home series with the Gophers.

UMD won the second game 2-1 before a crowd of 7,596 at Amsoil Arena, with Bulldogs goalie Ryan Fanti stopping 28 shots, including all 13 he faced in the second period.

"I hate losing two games in a weekend, but we played a lot better tonight," said Gophers coach Bob Motzko, whose team lost 5-3 in the series opener at 3M Arena at Mariucci. "Their first goal bounced off three or four guys and went in, and they didn't have many chances while we did. Give their goaltender the nod tonight, he was definitely the best player on the ice. We had our chances."

Tanner Laderoute opened the scoring for UMD at 10 minutes, 51 seconds of the first period with his first goal of the season. Blake Biondi made it 2-0 at 17:44 with his second goal in two nights and third of the season.

Fanti, a junior from Thunder Bay, Ontario, had Minnesota shut out until Mason Nevers scored at 6:26 of the third. It was his third goal this season; he tipped in a shot from the point. Ryan Johnson and Ben Meyers had the assists. Nevers, a sophomore forward who played for Edina in high school, had a game-high six shots on net; nobody else on either team had more than three.

The Gophers pulled goalie Jack LaFontaine, who had 24 saves, but could not get the equalizer.

Minnesota was 0-for-3 on the power play, UMD 0-2.

The Gophers still hold a 135-85-18 edge in the all-time record against Minnesota Duluth in a rivalry that began in 1952. But recent history has tilted the advantage to UMD. The Bulldogs are 13-3-2 against Minnesota since both teams left the WCHA in 2013.