Gophers Win Second Straight Ice Breaker Tourney

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (GopherSports.com) – Brothers Connor and Mike Reilly each tallied a pair of points and Adam Wilcox picked up his first shutout of the season as the top-ranked Gopher Hockey program beat RPI 3-0 on Sunday morning to win the 2014 Ice Breaker Tournament. 

The Golden Gophers have now won two-straight Ice Breaker Tournaments and three overall after picking up the 2007 title at Xcel Energy Center and the 2013 title at Mariucci Arena.

Wilcox moved to 2-0-0 on the season and picked up his 53rd career win in net for the Gophers on Sunday at Compton Family Ice Arena. The junior made 22 saves on 22 shots in the early afternoon contest while the Minnesota offense spread three goals evenly over three periods while outshooting the Engineers 34-22 over 60 minutes.

Minnesota (2-0-0 overall, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) took a 1-0 lead at 14:43 of the first period when senior forward Seth Ambroz tipped in a shot from Mike Reilly for his first goal of the year. Travis Boyd also assisted on the goal – giving all three Gophers their first points for the season.

The Maroon & Gold added their second goal in similar fashion at 1:37 of the second period when Hudson Fasching deflected a shot from Ryan Collins to make it a two-goal lead for Minnesota. The score marked Fasching’s second of the season while Collins picked up his first point as a Gopher – Connor Reilly also assisted on the play.

The Gophers closed out the scoring for the day with Connor Reilly’s power-play goal at 7:37 of the third period. Connor Reilly’s first goal of the year was set up by his brother, Mike Reilly, and senior Kyle Rau.

With three points (two goals, one assist) on the weekend, Fasching was named tournament most valuable player and one of five Gophers on the all-tournament team along with Rau, Mike Reilly, Brady Skjei and Wilcox. UMD’s Dominic Toninato rounded out the team.

Minnesota returns to action later this month, hosting Bemidji State on Oct. 24-25 for the first series of the year at Mariucci Arena.

Source: Gophersports.com

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