Gophers men's hockey wins on the road; women fall in OT

The No. 11 Gophers chased Notre Dame starting goalie Matthew Galajda early — with three goals in a five-minute stretch of the opening period — en route to a 5-1 victory over the host Fighting Irish, ranked No. 10, on Friday night in Big Ten men's hockey.

Grant Cruikshank, Tristan Brosz and Blake McLaughlin had the first three goals for Minnesota (15-10), which got Galajda pulled 11 minutes, 5 seconds into the game. He finished with two saves; Ryan Bischel had 17 the rest of the game.

"They've been off for a week too, and we might have caught them. It's not going to be that way [Saturday]," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. "Cruikshank buries the first one, and it's an important goal. Probably one of the more important teams to score first against is Notre Dame, and we got it tonight."

Cruikshank scored on Minnesota's first shot on goal.

The victory was the Gophers' fifth straight over Notre Dame and their seven straight in the Compton Family Ice Arena, three of which came against other teams in the Big Ten tournament last year.

Sammy Walker scored early (:37) and McLaughlin late (19:22) in the second period for the Gophers, who had eight players with assists, including Jackson LaCombe with two. Justen Close made a season-high 28 saves for the win.

Trevor Janicke had the lone goal for the Fighting Irish (17-8) on a power play in the second.

Liz Schepers, one of seven Minnesotans on the roster for No. 3 Ohio State, scored with 1 minute, 31 seconds left in overtime to give the Buckeyes a 2-1 victory over the Gophers in WCHA women's hockey Columbus, Ohio. It was the 10th goal of the season for Schepers, a graduate student from Mound.

"A heck of a hockey game here tonight," Gophers coach Brad Frost said. "Both teams laid it on the line. Unfortunately, we didn't get the win, but our team played really well.

"Lauren Bench was exceptional in net and played really well to give us a chance. We're disappointed with the result, but we know when two good hockey teams play, someone has to take the loss. We're looking forward to regrouping and getting back after it tomorrow."

Senior forward Taylor Heise gave the No. 2 Gophers (19-7-1) a 1-0 lead halfway through the second period with her 18th goal of the season.

Madison Bizal, a senior defenseman from Elk River, tied the score at 1-all on a 4-on-3 power play with 8:53 in the third.

The Gophers have lost six straight games to the Buckeyes going back to last season and are 0-3 in overtime games this season.

Gophers senior Gable Steveson, the nation's No. 1-ranked heavyweight, dominated No. 4 Mason Parris of Michigan 18-8 for a major decision in a wrestling dual meet in Ann Arbor. But the No. 4 Wolverines beat No. 11 Minnesota 20-14, winning six of the 10 matches. Michigan is 7-1, 3-1 in the Big Ten.

Other individual winners for the Gophers (3-4, 2-3) were Jake Bergeland at 141 pounds — he upset No. 4 Stevan Micic 4-2 — Michael Blockhus at 149 and Brayton Lee at 157.

• On the opening day of a two-day tri-dual meet with Iowa, Northwestern and Purdue, Gophers senior Max McHugh won the 100-yard breaststroke in 50.58 seconds — the best time in the nation this season — at Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

• Abigail Schaaffe won the 600-meter run (1 minute, 29.42 seconds) for the No. 23 Gophers in the nine-team Rod McCravy Memorial track and field meet in Lexington, Ky.