Downloaded from the Daily's gopher server, which tends to cut off headlines, for some reason: 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!!!