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Headline: Gophers battle, w
Publish Date: 01/10/1994
 
David Jackson
 
<W0I>Staff Reporter
 
Sleep well, Minnesotans. No need for such an inferiority complex.
 
While so much talk revolves around Wisconsin's emergence in sports,
the Gophers don't seem to notice. First the football team hands Bucky
his only loss of the season. Then the Gopher hockey team sends him
home with two losses, including Sunday's dramatic 4-3 overtime win at
Target Center.
 
(The Gophers also defeated Wisconsin in wrestling and women's basketball this
weekend. - PJS)
 
Dave Larson converted a Wisconsin turnover into the winning goal with
just 23 seconds remaining in the extra session to earn the Gophers a
series sweep.
 
Larson's goal came when an attempted clearing pass by the Badgers hit
him in the chest. With no defenseman in the slot, Larson took a step
toward the middle of the ice and shot the puck between Wisconsin
goalie Kirk Daubenspeck's pads.
 
``They shot it right into my midsection, and I just knocked it down
and it fell right in front of me,'' Larson said. ``I just tried to
shoot it right away.''
 
Ironically, it was Larson's midsection that kept him out of the
lineup early in the season. But he lost weight, got back into shape
and has scored three goals in 10 games since his return.
 
``I think of all the hard work it took getting back into the
lineup,'' he said. ``It's self-satisfying.''
 
Gopher goalie Jeff Moen wore a postgame grin just as wide as
Larson's, having made 32 saves in what he called the biggest win of
his career.
 
``This is tops,'' he said. ``Part of it is beating Wisconsin. And I
thought they had control of the puck at the end, so I was preparing
for one last rush. Then I saw us with the puck all alone and then I
saw the red light go on. It was unbelievable.''
 
The Badgers had tied the game with just 55 seconds remaining in
regulation when Kelly Fairchild scored his second goal of the game.
After the Gophers played a listless first minute of overtime, coach
Doug Woog called a time out.
 
``I can't recall that I ever used a time out in overtime before,''
Woog said. ``But we started the overtime and it didn't seem as
important as I thought it should have been.''
 
And the team responded. Daubenspeck had to make three tough saves in
a subsequent flurry, and Minnesota outshot Wisconsin 5-0 in the extra
session. The freshman goalie played a strong game after taking over
for starter Jim Carey at the 10:59 mark of the first period.
 
Carey had already allowed the Gophers one goal on Bobby Dustin's
conversion of Jed Fiebelkorn's pass. And when he went behind his net
to play a loose puck, he turned the puck over to Brian Bonin. Bonin
skated to the left side of the net and fed a breaking Justin McHugh
for a goal and a 2-0 Gopher lead.
 
But the Badgers fought back. Rob Granato tipped in a shot by Mike
Strobel in the goalmouth under a fallen Moen for the only goal of the
second period.
 
Then just 19 seconds into the third period, Fairchild scored on a
wraparound when Moen failed to recover after making a save on Andrew
Shier.
 
Fairchild's goal could have given Wisconsin the momentum, but Jeff
Nielsen quashed those hopes by scoring exactly a minute later,
converting a centering pass by teammate Joe Dziedzic.
 
``The third goal was the one that really hurt us,'' Badger coach Jeff
Sauer said. ``They came down and scored right after we did and that
took the wind out of our sails.''
 
Sauer's disappointment after Sunday's loss matched his frustration
after Saturday's 5-2 Gopher win at Mariucci Arena.
 
``The guys were still in their pregame meal when the game started,''
Sauer said of Saturday's game. ``We never got the flow going. Even
after we came back, I never felt like it was meant to be.''
 
The Gophers scored three times in a 3:43 span of the first period, on
goals by Nielsen, Bonin and Andy Brink.
 
The Badgers rallied to 3-2 after two periods, and even though
Minnesota controlled the tempo of the game, it took late goals by
Dziedzic and McHugh to put the game away.
 
``There are times when you need to win,'' Woog said after the
weekend's success. ``There are things that you have to show the
players that they can do. This was a huge weekend for our program.''
 
And it was a good ego boost for the home state. Clem Haskins must be
excited for his Gopher basketball team. Wednesday's opponent --
undefeated Wisconsin -- could be the next victim.
 
Gopher notes: The Gophers played Sunday's game without co-captain
Chris McAlpine, who suffered a deep thigh bruise in Saturday's
contest. McAlpine said a Wisconsin player's knee hit him in the thigh
as he was finishing a check.
 
Minnesota also lost forward Steve Magnusson, who was ruled
academically ineligible for the winter quarter Friday. Magnusson had
two goals and 12 assists in 16 games this season.
 
 
 .
 
Pam Sweeney                            Go Gophers!!!
[log in to unmask]         1993 WCHA Playoff Champions!!!
[log in to unmask]              Ski-U-Mah!!!