{"id":134161,"date":"2022-03-25T22:58:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-26T03:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=134161"},"modified":"2022-03-25T22:58:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-26T03:58:00","slug":"meyers-caps-minnesotas-rally-in-overtime-as-gophers-get-past-umass-in-ncaa-first-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2022\/03\/25\/meyers-caps-minnesotas-rally-in-overtime-as-gophers-get-past-umass-in-ncaa-first-round\/","title":{"rendered":"Meyers caps Minnesota’s rally in overtime as Gophers get past UMass in NCAA first round"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Matthew Knies, Ben Meyers and Jaxon Nelson celebrate Minnesota’s tying goal by Knies in the third period against Massachusetts on Friday (photo: Rich Gagnon).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WORCESTER, Mass. — Minnesota coach Bob Motzko knows that college hockey games in March aren\u2019t easy, especially when the defending national champions are sitting on the other bench.<\/p>\n

It took overtime in Friday night\u2019s second Worcester Regional semifinal at the DCU Center, but the Gophers ensured that a new champion will be crowned in two weeks\u2019 time in Boston as they clinched a 4-3 win over Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Senior captain Ben Meyers scored at 8:31 of the extra session to win the game and advance Minnesota (25-12-0) to Sunday\u2019s regional final against top-seeded Western Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud of our group because we battled tonight,\u201d Motzko said. \u201c… The only way you beat UMass is to match their grit. We like a little prettier hockey, but we\u2019ve got to learn to win games like that. We\u2019re growing as a team. … We kind of adapted to the game as it went on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stationed in the slot, Meyers took a pass from freshman linemate Aaron Huglen in the right corner and sent a one-time shot over the shoulder of UMass graduate goaltender Matt Murray (20 saves) for the deciding tally.<\/p>\n

The goal was Meyers\u2019 fifth game-winner and second in overtime this season. It followed goals by Ryan Johnson, Tristan Broz and Matthew Knies; the latter had a power-play strike at 13:17 of the third to send the game to overtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a really smart player,\u201d Meyers said of Huglen, who was a new addition to his line. \u201cI thought he played great all game, but to set up that play at the end was great. I thought our line played well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The win took a come-from-behind effort as UMass swung the game open with two goals in a 56-second span in the first period.<\/p>\n

Reed Lebster scored twice, Minnesota transfer Garrett Wait added a power-play marker and Ryan Ufko and Cal Kiefiuk had two assists apiece to help the Minutemen take 2-0 and 3-1 leads.<\/p>\n

UMass ended its season with a 22-13-2 record and a second straight Hockey East championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel like we lost momentum in the game,\u201d UMass coach Greg Carvel said. \u201cIf you would have asked me just how our team played, would I be happy with it? 100 percent. I thought we played a really good hockey game and played well enough to deserve to find a way to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lebster scored on a delayed penalty at 14:09 before former Minnesota skater Garrett Wait doubled the MInutemen advantage on the ensuing power play. The goals beat Justen Close, who finished with 20 saves, including four in overtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it was ideal (to take an early lead),\u201d UMass senior Anthony Del Gaizo said. \u201cWe were super opportunistic and got ahead 2-0 there. It was exactly what we wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson got one back for the Gophers with 1:58 left in the first. Murray made a save on his one-timer, and the rebound caromed in off UMass defender Colin Felix.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the message was that there\u2019s a lot of game left,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cObviously it was unfortunate, but one goal happened 6-on-5 and the other was on the power play. We felt like we could really do some damage 5-on-5 and we stuck to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Lebster corralled a loose puck to extend the UMass advantage 1:24 into the second, Minnesota turned up the pressure — posting 10 of their 24 total shots in the period — and Broz made it a one-goal game for the second consecutive intermission. Broz redirected Jaxon Nelson\u2019s pass at the 17:09 mark.<\/p>\n

Knies snapped off the game-tying goal on the power play, beating Murray into the top right corner from the left dot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat goal that Knies scored, it\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Carvel said. \u201cHe looked like Auston Matthews. He grabs the puck and drops it into the top shelf. What do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Knies and Meyers had a goal and an assist apiece. Nelson had two helpers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The win took a come-from-behind effort as UMass swung the game open with two goals in a 56-second span in the first period.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":134139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[949],"tags":[812,1682],"coauthors":[1683],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMeyers caps Minnesota's rally in overtime as Gophers get past UMass in NCAA first round - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The win took a come-from-behind effort as UMass swung the game open with two goals in a 56-second span in the first period.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134161\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meyers caps Minnesota's rally in overtime as Gophers get past UMass in NCAA first round - 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