Gophers shut out Bemidji State in North Star College Cup third-place game

In addition to the obvious spoils — a trophy, a title and in-state college hockey supremacy — the Gophers saw one more benefit to this weekend's North Star College Cup. Goaltender Eric Schierhorn said they looked at the tournament as a test run for the NCAA regionals, giving them a taste of what it would be like to play a ranked opponent at a neutral site.

Schierhorn viewed it as a personal challenge as well. After struggling earlier in the season, the sophomore wanted to show how good he could be as the stakes begin to escalate. Saturday, Schierhorn made an emphatic statement in a 4-0 victory over No. 20 Bemidji State, earning his fourth shutout of the season as the sixth-ranked Gophers captured third place.

The Gophers (15-7-2) gave their goalie an unintended test early in the game at Xcel Energy Center. A flurry of defensive mistakes led to three Bemidji State breakaways in the first minute, which Schierhorn defused with three sterling saves.

That kept the Gophers afloat until Leon Bristedt scored the only goal they would need at 45 seconds of the second period. They also got goals from Ryan Norman, Taylor Cammarata and Justin Kloos as they stopped a two-game losing streak in their final nonconference game of the season.

"[Gophers goaltending coach] Justin Johnson challenged me,'' said Schierhorn, who stopped 25 shots. "He said, 'This is what a regional is going to be like. I want to see what you've got.'

"I felt good in my positioning. I felt good right away. I've gotten back to being aggressive, not sitting back trying to be a perfect technical goaltender like I was at the start of the year. It's not going to be pretty every time, but that's what works for me.''

Pretty or not, the result was all that mattered to coach Don Lucia. A victory Saturday was important to the Gophers' position in the Pairwise Rankings, which mirror the method used to select the NCAA tournament at-large teams. And after a 3-2 loss to second-ranked Minnesota Duluth on Friday, Lucia wanted to see how his team would rebound.

He liked the answer he got, despite those rocky early minutes. Against the top defense in the nation, the Gophers were patient and opportunistic.

Bristedt scored from the left edge of the goal crease when the puck hit the glass behind the net and caromed to him. Norman's goal came on a well-executed play by the fourth line. Cammarata scored his second goal of the year, the first came on Oct. 22.

"I don't know if we forgot the game started at 4:05, or what,'' Lucia said of the Gophers' slow start. "Eric made some critical saves there and allowed us to settle in.

"When you lose to a really good team like UMD, you've got to be able to bounce back. It took us a while to get emotionally checked in, but we were able to do it. That was an important win. We found a way to grind it out.''

Bemidji State (16-11-3) lost for the fourth time in the past five games and ended its nonconference schedule 0-7-1. The Beavers were allowing 1.79 goals per game — the fewest in the NCAA — and have one of the nation's top goalies, Michael Bitzer from Moorhead, Minn.

Though Schierhorn likes plenty of action, he said it wasn't ideal to face three early breakaways. He was happy, though, to repay teammates he said had bailed him out in some earlier games. After dispatching those first few scoring chances, he remained assertive and sharp throughout the game — something he knows he must continue to do in the 12 Big Ten games left.

"It was a good weekend,'' he said. "We're not happy we didn't win a championship, but we're moving in the right direction.''