UMC MEN’S CLUB HOCKEY SCORES 4 FIRST PERIOD GOALS IN 6-2 WIN OVER THE U OF M

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Club Hockey team scored four goals in the first period and earned a series split with the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday afternoon with a 6-2 victory in a game played at the Crookston Sports Center.

FIRST PERIOD – 
The U of M came out strong and might of caught UMC off-guard to start the game and scored 32 seconds after the first drop of the puck when Tyler Oakland scored for a quick 1-0 lead.  
UMC responded in a big way almost three minutes later when Tyler Zahradka scored to even up the game at 1-1.  UMC didn’t waste much time adding another goal as Nikolai Rajala scored 31 seconds later to give the Golden Eagles a 2-1 lead. 
A little over nine minutes later, Zahradka added his second goal of the game to give UMC a 3-1 lead.  With three minutes left in the period, the Golden Eagles added another goal when Rajala scored his second goal of the game to give UMC a big 4-1 lead going into the first intermission. Shots were close in the period with UMC outshooting the U of M 19-16, but the Golden Eagles were able to find the back of the net four times for the big lead. 

SECOND PERIOD –
Neither team found the back of the net in the second period, but the U of M had chances, as they had two power plays in the period. Casey Kallock went to the box at the 4:39 mark on a roughing call, and after immediately coming out of the penalty box, would be sent right back for five minutes on a Contact To The Head call. During the five-minute power play, the U of M got 5 shots on goal, but Jake Sumner stepped up saving them all to keep UMC in front 4-1. UMC would go on the power play late in the period but the teams would head into the third period with UMC still in front 4-1 after the Golden Eagles were stopped. The Golden Gophers outshot UMC 21-11 in the period. 

THIRD PERIOD –
UMC would get back on the scoreboard early in the third period, as Tyler Zahradka would complete his hat trick on a Power Play goal at the 0:34 mark to give UMC a 5-1 lead. A few minutes later Tristan Morneault would tack on one last goal for the Golden Eagles extending the lead to 6-1. The Golden Gophers would get one last score of their own, on a goal from William Kopka late in the third period. The shots on goal in the final period were 12-10 in favor of UMC.

UMC improves to 3-3-2 on the season and will travel to Jamestown, North Dakota for a pair against the University of Jamestown next weekend.

1st Period
19:28 – MINN – Tyler Oakland
16:36 – UMC – Tyler Zahradka (Casey Kallock, Tristan Morneault)
16:05 – UMC – Nikolai Rajala (Nathan Huot)
6:51 – UMC – Tyler Zahradka (Tristan Morneault)
3:14 – UMC – Nikolai Rajala (Casey Kallock, Logan Syrup) 

2nd Period
No Scoring 

3rd Period
19:26 – UMC – Tyler Zahradka (Casey Kallock, Logan Syrup)
15:58 – UMC – Tristan Morneault (Jackson Fuller, Sam Baxter)
4:36 – MINN – William Kopka (Henry Lawrence, Tyler Oakland)