MINNEAPOLIS- Taking the long road to his home debut, Minnesota sophomore goaltender Mat Robson did not waste any time getting his first collegiate win.
Robson, who sat out a year and a half of college sandwiched around a stint in the BCHL, made 25 saves on Saturday as the Gophers defeated Army 4-1 to sweep the Black Knights at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
“I’m really happy for Mat Robson,” Gophers head coach Don Lucia said about his goaltender, ineligible the first semester and playing in his second game. “He made a lot of really great saves.”
Freshman defenseman Sam Rossini scored a third-period goal and added an assist for his first career multi-point game.
After Tyler Sheehy got Minnesota (12-9-1, 4-7-1-1 Big Ten) started for a second straight night, the Gophers took a 2-0 lead in the closing seconds of the first period. Rossini’s shot was tipped by sophomore Tyler Nanne, playing at forward instead of defense for the third time this season.
“We had a lot more time than yesterday and we also found the lanes,” said Rossini, who has 3 goals in 10 career games. “Teams are good at blocking shots and getting in lanes nowadays. As the season goes on and we practice more and more, I think we’re going to get better.”
#6 Minnesota (9-5-1, 3-3-1-1 Big Ten) at #4 Notre Dame (11-3-1, 5-0-0-0 Big Ten)
Date: November 25, 2017 Time: 7:00 pm ET/6:00 pm CT Place: Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Indiana TV: None Stream:NBC Sports (FREE) Radio: Hot 102.5; 1130 KTLK-AM will join in progress (Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco)
Nate is covering for tonight: The Athletic/Zone Coverage/Wellsociated Press Last night's recap:Gophers drop Notre Dame opener 1-0
Note: You can follow me on Twitter @gopherstate for live, in-person coverage.
Harvard (2-3-0, 2-3-0 ECAC) at #7 Minnesota (7-4-1, 3-2-1-1 Big Ten)
Date: November 17, 2017 Time: 7:00 pm CT Place: 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, MN TV: Fox Sports North PLUS/TSN5 in Canada Stream: BTN2Go/Fox Sports Go Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM (Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco)
Nate is covering for tonight: The Athletic/Zone Coverage/Wellsociated Press
Said by Don Lucia earlier this week, the Gopher head coach was responding to the question "how do you pull the positives all together?" Minnesota has found success on defense, allowing 2 and 1 goals against in back-to-back weekends, as well as offense, scoring 10 goals in 2 games.
However, the two have yet to go together in the same weekend.
Three weeks from Friday the Minnesota men will be kicking off 2017-18 against Minnesota Duluth.
So long summer. Hello hockey.
The previews and features will be ramping up, both here and with other outlets, the closer it gets to the Ice Breaker. To kick things off, however, I wanted to start with something simple before diving into the deep end. Introduce the new Gopher players. Point out their names, their numbers, their size and maybe find out which junior teams were off in their measurements.
I say new players, not freshmen, because goaltender Mat Robson is officially a sophomore (and sitting out half a year). Connor Hurley, who enrolled this fall at Minnesota to begin classes, is a senior. The size and numbers are below for all except Hurley, who is not included due to sitting out the year as a transfer.
Thanks to the one who gives me the opportunity to do what I love. Couldn't have done this without you and dad❤️ CLARK CUP CHAMPS. pic.twitter.com/HQ6PWiCEIg
The last of Minnesota's commits had his season end Tuesday.
(There remain a few in the pros. Phil Kessel and Pittsburgh play Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight. Former Gopher defensemen Michael Brodzinski and Ben Marshall's AHL teams are in their league semis although both players only appeared in a handful of playoff games.)
Brannon McManus became Tuesday the first person committed to Minnesota to hoist the USHL Clark Cup since Nico Sacchetti in 2008 when Chicago defeated Sioux City 2-1 in overtime of winner-take-all Game 5.
A few days earlier Penticton, with Gopher commits Mat Robson (goalie) and Sam Rossini (defense), ended its season two wins short of taking home the RBC Cup, the highest prize in Canadian Junior A. The BCHL league champions lost 3-1 Saturday to eventual RBC Cup winner Cobourg.
Both the upcoming Canadian Junior A and USHL championships will be contested by players heading to the University of Minnesota.
Brannon McManus, Mat Robson and Sam Rossini all advanced over the weekend. Garrett Wait, meanwhile, can join them tonight (May 9, 2017) when Waterloo (USHL) faces Sioux City in a winner-take-all Game 5.
Whichever team wins advances to the Clark Cup Final to face McManus' Chicago Steel team in a best-of-five series. (5/9 9:40 pm CT Update: Sioux City took Game 5 and the series with a 8-3 victory.)
Chicago earlier defeated Dubuque 3 games to 1 to take the USHL Eastern Conference title. The 5'9", 181 lbs forward continued his scoring streak after notching the game-tying and game-winning goals in Game 1. McManus, who split the season between Omaha and Chicago, finished the four game series with four goals and an assist.
Here is McManus (#15) scoring in Chicago's 7-3 Game 4 win (starts at 1:19 mark).
Robson and Rossini, teammates with Penticton, already won the BCHL championship. They will get a chance to compete for the Canadian Junior A championship after advancing to the RBC Cup with a 3-2 win over Chilliwack to grab the second spot.
The Vees were one of two teams to come out of the Western Canada Cup, made up of the four western Canadian league champions (and BCHL runner-up Chilliwack since Penticton doubled as host).
Robson, who signed a letter of intent to play at Minnesota last month, has shined in net in single-elimination situations this postseason. Penticton had five Game 7s or must-win games, including needing to win twice in the Western Canada Cup. In those the Toronto native stopped 107 of 112 shots, finishing with a .955 save percentage, 0.97 GAA and a pair of shutouts in five victories.
Rossini, a defenseman from Inver Grove Heights, is getting his legs back following a season debut in Game 7 of the BCHL Final (also against Chilliwack - somehow those two teams played each other 11 times in a season).
The RBC Cup begins this weekend in Cobourg, Ontario. Teams will play a round-robin tournament with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals.
Any champion this season would join fellow Minnesota commit Blake McLaughlin in claiming a title. McLaughlin helped lead Grand Rapids to the Minnesota Class AA boys hockey title. He also skated for the Steel following Grand Rapids' season, but did not play in the series against Dubuque.
Seven Minnesota commits were selected over two USHL Drafts Monday and Tuesday. Three went in the first round with one, Chaska D Michael Koster, selected with the second overall pick.
USHL Phase 1
-Michael Koster, D - Tri-City (Round 1, 2nd Overall)
-Kaden Bohlsen, F - Des Moines (Round 1, 10th Overall)
-Jake Boltmann, D - Bloomington (Round 2, 22nd Overall)
-Nik Norman, F - Tri-City (Round 6, 94th Overall)
All four 2001-born players currently committed to the Gophers were chosen in the first 100 picks. Additionally, Rem Pitlick's brother Rhett went 102nd to Bloomington.
