Gophers men's hockey sweeps Wisconsin in front of record crowd at Mariucci

The 10,894 fans in attendance set a single-game program record Saturday night.

Minnesota and its fans celebrate a goal during a college men's hockey game against Wisconsin on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis. / Sage Zipeto / Gopher Athletics

The fourth-ranked Gophers men's hockey team completed a series sweep of border rival No. 17 Wisconsin with a 4-1 victory Saturday night in front of a record crowd of 10,894 at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis. The 10,984 fans in attendance at Mariucci Saturday set a single-game attendance record for the program in 30-plus years at the venue.

Despite the final margin, Saturday night's game was a scoreless tie through two periods. Matthew Wood ended the drought with the first goal of the night 9 minutes, 16 seconds into the first period. He assisted on Connor Kurth's goal 2 minutes, 5 seconds later as the Gophers (21-6-3, 12-4-2 Big Ten) built a two-goal advantage in the third period.

Oliver Moore made it a three-goal game 2 minutes, 28 seconds after Kurth's goal. While Ryan Botterill finally got the Badgers (11-14-3, 6-11-1) on the board with an extra attacker with 3 minutes, 56 seconds remaining, Kurth scored his second of the night on an empty-netter with 2 minutes, 15 seconds remaining to close out the sweep for Minnesota.

Liam Souliere stopped 26 of 27 shots for the Gophers, while Tommy Scarfone stopped 22 of 25 for the Badgers.

"Start to finish, our guys were committed to their shifts. It's all we asked; be committed to your shift, play the right way and they did from start to finish," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. "(Souliere) was great in goal for us, played the puck, and stopped it. And then how about our crowd? I mean, it was incredible. It's a pretty cool atmosphere to be in front of. Our students are unbelievable."

The Gophers have a week off before visiting No. 13 Michigan for a two-game series from Feb. 14-15. They'll take the ice next on Feb. 14 in Ann Arbor, Mich., for a 6 p.m. CT puck drop. That game will be televised on Big Ten Network Plus.

Briefly

• The third-ranked Gophers women's hockey team couldn't complete a two-game sweep of No. 2 Ohio State, falling 7-3 on Saturday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. Emma Conner scored in the first period and Peyton Hemp scored twice — once on the power play — in the second period, but Sloane Matthews had a hat trick for the Buckeyes. Minnesota returns to action next weekend for a Saturday-Sunday series against top-ranked Wisconsin. Puck drop for Saturday's game is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.