Gophers men's hockey sweeps Notre Dame, women split with St. Cloud State

Jimmy Snuggerud scored twice for the U in Saturday's win over the Irish.

Gophers forward Connor Kurth fires a shot against Air Force during the Ice Breaker Tournament in Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. / Bjorn Franke / Courtesy of Gopher Athletics

Jimmy Snuggerud scored twice to lead the third-ranked Gophers men's hockey team to a 5-3 win over Notre Dame Saturday night in South Bend, Ind., completing a sweep of the two-game series, while the third-ranked Gophers women couldn't overcome a three-goal hole in a 3-1 loss to No. 9 St. Cloud State Saturday in St. Cloud, Minn., to split the series.

The Gophers men (12-2-0) fell behind 1-0 after Axel Kumlin's power-play goal for the Irish (5-9-0) in the first period, but the U scored three unanswered, including the two from Snuggerud. Oliver Moore started the rush, scoring with just 1 minute, 17 seconds remaining in the first period, and Snuggerud's power-play goal 1:45 into the second made it 2-1.

Snuggerud scored again 7 minutes, 59 seconds into the second frame, but the Irish rallied to tie it up going into the third period. Danny Nelson scored with just under five minutes to go in the middle frame, and Brennan Ali scored a power-play goal with just 22 seconds remaining in the second period, tying the game at 3-3 entering the final 20 minutes.

Brodie Ziemer scored the go-ahead goal 13 minutes, 15 seconds into the third period, and Mike Koster closed out the victory with an empty-netter with 11 seconds remaining. Nathan Airey made 20 saves on 23 Notre Dame shots.

"We deserved the win (Saturday)," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said in a statement. "We got ourselves in a little trouble, and Notre Dame got back in it with our two mistakes. We were having a dominating period and could have really put the game away, but that's hockey, and we found ourselves in a tied hockey game. I give our guys credit; we came back and played our tails off. Now we go home, and let's hope we get some home cooking and let our fans get a chance to watch."

The Gophers women (11-4-1) weren't as fortunate and saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end. Minnesota was in the game for most of the night, with both teams unable to score in the opening 20 minutes. Abby Promersberger got the Huskies (9-5-2) on the board first with a goal 9 minutes, 24 seconds into the second period.

The 1-0 lead held until the third period, where the Huskies took control with two goals in the first 3 minutes, 9 seconds of the frame. Breija Parent scored just 1 minute, 49 seconds into the period, and Avery Farrell added another at 3:09.

The Gophers punched back 3 minutes, 18 seconds later when Natalie Mlynkova finally got them on the board, but they couldn't find another goal late. Minnesota ran into a hot goaltender as the Huskies' Sanni Ahola stopped 38-of-39 shots.

Ahola was the first star of the game.

Hannah Clark made 25 saves on St. Cloud State 28 shots for the Gophers.

The Gophers men return to action on Black Friday when they host Alaska at 3M Arena at Mariucci at 7 p.m. The women don't return to action until Dec. 6 when they visit St. Thomas for a 7 p.m. puck drop in Mendota Heights, Minn.