A change of venue from Friday to Saturday did nothing to slow down Jimmy Snuggerud.
Jimmy Snuggerud scores two more goals as Gophers complete sweep of St. Thomas
The Gophers had a slightly easier time against St. Thomas on Saturday as Jimmy Snuggerud scored two more goals and Justen Close made 24 saves for his 10th career shutout.
October 15, 2023 at 4:55AM
The sophomore scored two more goals and Justen Close stopped all 24 shots he faced for his 10th career shutout as the second-ranked Gophers completed a season-opening sweep of St. Thomas with a 3-0 victory on Saturday at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
"I worked on it over the summer," Snuggerud, who finished with 21 goals in 40 games last season, said of his precision shooting. "I think I've improved on a lot of things, and that was one thing that I thought I even needed to improve on more. Repetition is the biggest thing, honestly."
Snuggerud scored twice against the Tommies on Friday night as well, and they were big ones — his third-period, power-play goal pulled the Gophers within 4-3, and he scored in overtime to give the Gophers a 6-5 victory at Xcel Energy Center.
"Much, much better game for us tonight," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. "Last night [was] a lot of fun obviously with the crowd and the goals, but we needed to tighten it up. I liked a lot of the things we did tonight."
Said Close: "What happened last night was last night. We were fortunate enough to get a win there. ... I thought we played a more complete game tonight, and I think it showed."
Saturday's game was not as high-flying, but it was still close. Snuggerud scored on the power play at 13:45 of the second period to break a scoreless tie. It remained 1-0 until the 9:32 mark of the third period, when Snuggerud scored again at even strength, blistering a shot past Tommies goalie Jake Sibell.
"He doesn't need many chances to score, and we were pressing in the third and he got a chance two-on-one, and he buried it," St. Thomas coach Rico Blasi said of Snuggerud. "Other than that, we sustained pressure, and it was a back-and-forth affair."
Brody Lamb, who also scored two goals Friday, added an empty-netter with 43 seconds remaining. Lamb also assisted on Snuggerud's second goal.
Close didn't need any more help, though, as the Gophers improved to 69-31-3 in all-time home openers. They will be on the road again next weekend, visiting old rival North Dakota.
Sibell finished with 22 saves for the Tommies (1-3), who play host to Lindenwood next weekend.
Penn State, a winner by 56 against the U last season, is next up in the now-brawnier conference.
