Gophers Swept by Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (GopherSports.com) – The Gopher Hockey program came up on the wrong end of a 7-5 offensive showdown on Saturday night in Ann Arbor as Minnesota suffered a weekend sweep to Big Ten Conference foe Michigan.

Seth Ambroz matched his career high for points with a goal and two assists while Travis Boyd scored twice for the Gophers (10-7-1 overall, 1-2-1-0 Big Ten) for his second career multi-goal game. But Minnesota couldn’t overcome a Michigan offense that featured six different goal scorers and an unlucky final minute of the first period that saw the Wolverines score twice.

After Boyd tallied his first of the night to give the Gophers an early lead in the game, Michigan (12-7-0, 4-1-0-0) reeled off four-straight goals to take a three-goal lead into the intermission. Boyd tallied again for the Gophers to start the second as the Maroon & Gold outscored Michigan 3-2 in the period with Ambroz and Connor Reilly also picking up goals. Connor Reilly has now tallied a point in eight-straight games and leads Minnesota with 10 goals on the season.

The two conference opponents again traded goals in the third with A.J. Michaelson netting his first of the season to close out the scoring as Michigan coach Red Berenson picked up his 800th collegiate win.

Nick Lehr made his first career appearance for the Gophers on Saturday night, playing the final 33:28 with 16 saves and two goals against. Lehr suffered the loss after relieving Adam Wilcox while Zach Nagelvoort picked up the win for Michigan after replacing Steve Racine midway through the game.

Minnesota was outshot 33-34 on the night.

The Maroon & Gold return to action next weekend as Wisconsin visits Mariucci Arena for a pair of Big Ten games.