State College, Pa. – Penn State kept firing pucks at Gophers goalie Mat Robson and the dam finally broke in the third period.
Liam Folkes' goal at 6 minutes, 27 seconds of the final period — on the Nittany Lions' 50th shot on goal — gave Penn State a two-goal lead and they scored twice more to beat the No. 8 Gophers 5-1 on Friday night in Big Ten men's hockey.
"They won every loose race to a puck," Gophers coach Don Lucia said. "They won every physical confrontation battle. Other than our goaltender, I don't think we had much pushback at all tonight."
Until then Robson, a sophomore from Mississauga, Ontario, had kept the game competitive. At least on the scoreboard. He stopped 20 shots in the first period, 25 in the second and 10 more in the third for a career-high 55 saves before being replaced by Eric Schierhorn after Penn State's fourth goal.
Schierhorn had one save on two shots in his 8½ minutes.
The program record for saves in regulation is 61, set by Don Vaia in 1957. Robson's previous high was 38 — a number he passed midway through the second period.
Freshman Casey Mittelstadt had the goal for Minnesota, which was outshot 61-15. He scored in the middle of the first period, about four minutes after James Robinson had put the home team ahead.
Evan Barrett and Alex Limoges had Penn State's final two goals in the last nine minutes of the third.
