MINNEAPOLIS — When Minnesota sophomore goaltender Mat Robson made his collegiate debut earlier this month, it was not an ideal start.
After missing most of the first half of the season due to an eligibility issue, Robson was between the pipes as the Golden Gophers suffered their third consecutive loss on the road at Big Ten foe Ohio State, 4-1. It marked the end of a difficult first half of the season for Minnesota.
On Saturday, Robson had another shot and this time, it was a much more positive outcome. The sophomore stopped 25 of 26 shots. With the Gophers putting in four goals, Robson and No. 9 Minnesota left the ice Saturday at Mariucci Arena with a positive feeling as the Gophers defeated the Black Knights, 3-0, to complete the weekend sweep.
Coming into the weekend, Minnesota coach Don Lucia had decided Robson would get another shot in goal. After Gopher senior goaltender Eric Schierhorn posted a shutout against Army on Friday, Robson stepped in and continued Minnesota’s staunch defensive effort.
“You could make the argument that after Eric got a shutout last night, he should’ve played tonight,” Lucia said. “But it was predetermined Mat was going to play. They both played great. If they both play well, they’ll both continue to play. There’s some good competition there.”
Both Schierhorn and Robson benefited from strong offensive outputs that were started by Gophers captain Tyler Sheehy. The junior forward scored in the first period for the consecutive night Saturday by converting on a well-placed pass from Tommy Novak.
“Those are the kind of goals we’ve seen (Sheehy) score,” Lucia said. “He was able to catch it, release it and pick a corner.”
The Gophers’ offensive effort was driven by a concerted effort from Minnesota’s defenseman to get pucks to the net. This was proven by a number of goals this weekend, including the Gophers’ second goal, which came when Tyler Nanne tipped in a shot from freshman defenseman Sam Rossini.
“We want pucks to the net,” Rossini said. “Our goal is to get 10 shots per game as a defensive unit. I think we did a pretty good job tonight. We had a lot more room to get shots off.”
Though Army does not have the firepower of other teams, such as Ohio State, the Black Knights doubled their shot total on Saturday. This provided an extra test to Robson, who managed the Army attack. The Black Knights’ lone goal came on a backhand shot from sophomore forward Brendan Soucie.
The Army goal came after a long scoring drought that included a number of missed chances with the man advantage. The Black Knights were 0-for-4 on the power play Saturday.
“The biggest thing for us was just sharing the clear,” Robson said. “We spent a lot of time this week about each person’s assignments on the kill. I think we executed to a ‘T’ this weekend.”
In the end, Minnesota ended the weekend with two wins where the offense scored at least three goals in each contest. It’s a welcome change for a team that came in averaging 2.65 goals per game.
“When you’re an offensive player and you’re not scoring, you press and squeeze the stick a little bit tighter,” Lucia said. “When you score, it’s a lot more relaxing”
Aside from more players contributing offensively, this weekend allowed Lucia and Minnesota to try out different things. Freshman Clayton Phillips made his collegiate debut, while Nanne moved up to forward for the third time this season.
Any positive change will be welcomed as Minnesota moves forward. The Gophers’ next challenge will be a home-and-home with in-state rival St. Cloud State. With Minnesota coming off two wins and awaiting the return of sophomore defenseman Ryan Lindgren and freshman forward Casey Mittelstedt from the World Junior Championship, the Gophers will look to compete with the No. 1 Huskies.
“We’re a confident group,” Robson said. “It was nice to get a sweep under our belts and be able to smile going into this week.”
