Box Score / Pictorial
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota scored three goals in the third period, including the game-winner at 18:49 while enjoying a five-minute man-advantage, to defeat Rensselaer, 4-3, in the first round of the Ice Breaker Invitational in front of 14,127 fans at the Xcel Energy Center.
Rensselaer, which is now 1-1, faces #2 Boston College, which fell to #9 Michigan, 4-3, in overtime in the opening game, in the third place game on Saturday at 4:30pm (CST). Minnesota, which is now 1-0, plays the Wolverines in the championship game.
The Gophers got the game-winner when Kyle Okposo (St. Paul, MN/Des Moines) squeezed the puck across the goalline with time winding down.
Junior forward Matt Angers-Goulet (St. Augustin, PQ/Notre Dame Hounds) put the Engineers ahead in the first period when he chipped a backhander over Minnesota junior netminder Jeff Frazee (Burnsville, MN/USNDT) at 9:36. Angers-Goulet, who was tied up by a defenseman while driving down the center of the ice, took a pass from freshman Tyler Helfrich (Calgary, AB/Prince George Spruce Kings) from the right corner and scored from just outside the crease. Junior Andrei Uryadov (St. Petersburg, Russia/South Kent) was credited with the secondary assist. The Engineers outshot the Gophers, 11-6, in the frame.
The Engineers made it 2-0 when with a power play goal at 11:49 on a deflection from freshman forward Chase Polacek (Edina, MN/Academy of Holy Angels). Senior forward Andrew Lord (West Vancouver, BC/Vernon Vipers) started the play by passing the puck from the bottom of the right circle to the middle of the blueline, where freshman defenseman Bryan Brutlag (Lakeville, MN/Academy of Holy Angels) was stationed. Brutlag sent a shot toward the net and Polacek tipped the puck into the corner of the net from the slot.
Lord made it 3-0 with an unassisted goal at 15:12 before Minnesota tallied on the power play at 16:44. Lord’s marker came from the slot after he intercepted a clearing attempt. The Gophers got their goal from junior forward Ryan Stoa (Bloomington, MN/USNDT), who slammed the puck in from the crease. Tic-tac-toe passing by Okposo and Jay Barriball (Prior Lake, MN/Academy of Holy Angels) set up the goal, which came at 16:44 of the second period.
Minnesota cut its deficit to one with a four-on-four goal by junior center Blake Wheeler (Plymouth, MN/Green Bay). Derek Peltier (Plymouth, MN/Cedar Rapids) earned the lone assist on the goal, which was scored at the 4:32 mark. The Gophers tied the score 8:20 later with their second power play goal of the night when Evan Kaufman (Plymouth, MN/River City) shoveled an Okposo pass into the back of the net while driving through the slot.
Junior Mathias Lange (Klagenfurt, Austria/New York Apple Core) suffered the loss for RPI, making 24 saves. Frazee made 25 saves on the opposite end.
