Headline: GOPHERS REBOUND TO BEAT SCSU
Publish Date: 03/06/1995
Matthew Cross
Staff Reporter
 
The way the Gophers hockey team played on Saturday at St. Cloud
State's National Hockey Center, fans, players, and media alike had to
wonder if the squad which started the season by winning six straight
would ever play that well again.
 
Minnesota suffered from an inability to create chances offensively,
and was beaten in terms of physical aspects of the game.
 
But all questions were answered in the third period of Sunday's 5-3
Gophers victory over St. Cloud State.
 
After skating to a dismal 3-0 loss at SCSU, Minnesota found a way to
break its scoring frustrations with three goals in the third period
alone.
 
Most notably, senior co-captain Justin McHugh scored twice in the
game.
 
McHugh hadn't scored a goal since Feb. 4, and in the seven games
since, he had only two assists.
 
``I was getting the opportunities,'' McHugh admitted. ``I was just
thinking too much. Hopefully (not scoring) will never happen again.''
 
McHugh's offensive struggles mirror the Gophers' offensive
ineptitude, because the senior is counted on heavily to score.
But he said his goals were secondary to the Minnesota triumph.
``It's nice to get a couple goals, but the way things have been going
lately I was just happy to get the win,'' McHugh said.
 
The main difference between Saturday's game and Sunday's was the
Gophers' ability to play physically, and the effectiveness of role
players like Nick Checco, Jed Fiebelkorn and Greg Zwakman.
 
On Saturday, Minnesota ran into penalty trouble which stifled its
offense and allowed  SCSU to gain momentum.
 
``I don't think it was the unnecessary penalties as much as it was
(St. Cloud States's) good play and our offensive ineptitude,''
Gophers coach Doug Woog said.
 
``Between what they did and what we didn't do -- well, we didn't do
anything,'' Woog said. ``I'm not so certain we would have scored . .
.  what time does this place close tonight?''
 
But on Sunday, the Gophers were more aggressive on their forecheck
and in the neutral zone which led to more offensive chances.
Woog said that the team's intensity was the deciding factor.
``We were grittier today and we were more physical,'' Woog said after
Sunday's game. ``This may have been one of the better games all year
in terms of guys fulfilling their role. They played the type of game
they needed to play and they were visible out there.''
 
St. Cloud State coach Craig Dahl agreed that Minnesota was the more
determined team on Sunday.
 
``We broke down in some critical areas in our own zone that led to
some goals for them,'' Dahl said. ``They had more jump today.''
 
Another player that was more visible on Sunday was junior center
Brian Bonin.
 
Bonin clinched the WCHA scoring title when he scored a goal and made
two assists on Sunday. The goal was his 30th of the season.
 
The last time a Gophers player scored 30 goals in a season was in
1987 when Corey Millen scored 36.  Bonin did it in six fewer games.
 
However, Bonin, like McHugh, would rather focus his efforts toward
the team.
 
``It's nice to have the scoring title,'' Bonin said. ``But when you
come down to it, these guys are the ones who do it, (and) there are
other things that are more important.''
 
Despite the loss on Sunday, Dahl said he is happy with the distance
his team has come in the past month, and admitted that the Huskies
are more concerned with North Dakota (their first- round opponent in
the WCHA playoffs) than anything else.
 
``On Feb. 4 we were tenth in the league,'' Dahl said. ``So fifth
place looks like the top of the mountain right now. And we had a heck
of a mountain to climb. We had to claw and fight back, (but) our
first and only concern is North Dakota right now.''
 
The Gophers will have to concern themselves with Minnesota-Duluth,
who will be their guest at Mariucci Arena next weekend for the first
round of the  playoffs.
 
Minnesota swept the four regular season games with the Bulldogs. The
last time Minnesota-Duluth won a game at Mariucci Arena was a 5-1
victory on Feb. 6, 1994.
 
Gopher notes: The WCHA regular season champion, Colorado College,
will host Alaska-Anchorage in the first round of the league playoffs.
Wisconsin will host Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech will travel to
Denver, and St. Cloud State will host North Dakota.
 
Carol S. White                            BITNET: c-whit@uminn1
University of Minnesota        internet:[log in to unmask]
Office of the Registrar
(612) 625-8517                                    GO Gophers!!!