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 Jared Katz scored his fourth goal of the season Friday at Minnesota. |
Jan. 4, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - In the sixth game of a nine-game road trip, the Wayne State men's hockey team (3-14-2) saw its losing skid reach seven following a 5-1 loss at 16th-ranked Minnesota (10-9-2) Friday night at Mariucci Arena.
The Warriors, playing their first game since Dec. 15, were held to a single goal for the fifth time in the last seven games. Jared Katz (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Baystate Breakers) produced that tally for the Warriors in the second period, tying the game at one apiece, but the Golden Gophers proceeded to net four unanswered goals.
A short-handed goal 2:51 into the second period by Blake Wheeler broke a scoreless tie. Ryan Bernardi (Etobicoke, Ont./Milton Icehawks) capitalized on a failed clearing attempt by the Minnesota defense and fed Katz to tie the score at the 10:41 mark, but the Golden Gophers regained the lead at 13:27 on Ben Gordon's third goal of the season.
R.J. Anderson had a power-play tally sandwiched between even-strength goals by Evan Kaufmann and Patrick White in the third period.
Minnesota senior goaltender Brent Solei, a walk-on who had previously never appeared in a regular-season game in three-and-a-half years, made 28 saves for the win in his debut. Warrior netminder Kyle Funkenhauser (Windsor, Ont./Surrey Eagles) totaled 36 saves over the first 50 minutes before giving way to fellow rookie Mike Devoney (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Bridgewater Bandits), who made 10 saves in his first action of the season.
The Warriors and Golden Gophers will meet again Saturday night at 8:05 p.m. ET.
