The Gophers men's hockey team might have let its guard down over the weekend in Tempe, Ariz.
Robert Mastrosimone scored on a breakaway 3 minutes, 10 seconds into overtime, and Arizona State came from behind to stun the second-ranked Gophers 6-5 on Saturday night before an announced 5,153 at Mullett Arena.
The Gophers (11-5) had faced six consecutive ranked opponents before their weekend trip to the desert. But after they salvaged a 3-2 victory despite what coach Bob Motzko considered a poor performance Friday, they blew a late lead Saturday and fell to 7-1 all-time against the Sun Devils (8-7).
Dylan Jackson scored the tying goal for Arizona State with 3:09 remaining in regulation. In overtime, Josh Doan found Mastrosimone with a long pass, and Mastrosimone skated in and beat Gophers goalie Justen Close, who gave up six goals on 24 shots.
Mastrosimone and Doan each had two assists. Ryan Alexander scored twice for Arizona State and TJ Semptimphelter made 26 saves.
Matthew Knies and Rhett Pitlick scored in the first period for the Gophers, which ended with the visitors up 2-1. Arizona State scored two goals 1:21 apart in the second period to take a 3-2 lead, but Brock Faber soon tied it with his second goal of the season.
Alexander and Jimmy Snuggerud traded goals before the period was over. John Mittelstadt put the Gophers up 5-4 with an even-strength goal 3:17 into the third, but the Gophers failed to hang on from there.
