SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Jaxon Nelson scored twice in the third period, which included the late game winner as Minnesota rallied to beat Omaha 3-2 on Thursday night at the Denny Sanford Premier Center, advancing to Saturday night’s regional final.
For most of the first period, it seemed like the Gophers were chasing the game. They didn’t spend a lot of time in the offensive zone, and they ended up taking two penalties one of which was a head contact major on Ryan Chesley, who stayed in the game. Most of the major carried to the second period, and the Mavericks were able to convert it into a goal from Joaquim Lemay for a 1-0 lead.
Minnesota seemed to wake up after the kill and spent most of the next ten minutes pushing relentlessly for the tying goal, finally getting it after Connor Kurth made a great play to keep the puck in the offensive zone, feeding Jimmy Clark and going in 2-on-1 with Clark before the latter aimed a perfect laser over Simon Latkoczy’s right shoulder at 18:01 and sending the teams into the second intermission in a 1-1 deadlock. The Gophers were being outshot 18-5 when the major expired but finished the final 15 minutes of the frame with a 21-7 shots advantage.
However, the Mavericks went back ahead within the first five minutes of the third period as a Jack Randl shot found Ty Mueller on the other end of the net, and he buried it for a 2-1 lead. The Gophers answered a few minutes later when Bryce Brodzinski won a battle behind the UNO net and fed Jaxon Nelson out front to equalize the game for the second time.
Then that very same combo in that very same order struck again with just over four minutes left after an Omaha lost his balance and fell in his own zone, turning the puck over to Brodzinski who found Nelson again for the winning goal.
Minnesota will face Boston University in the regional final on Saturday at 5:30 PM CT. It will be a rematch of their 2023 Frozen Four semifinal matchup, a 6-2 Minnesota victory.
This story will be updated.
