MINNEAPOLIS -- Jay Barriball was supposed to be in junior
hockey this season. Minnesota is glad a place opened up for him.
The freshman winger from Prior Lake scored twice to run his
season total to four in three games, leading the Gophers to a 5-1
win over Wayne State and a sweep of their weekend nonconference
series.
"The puck is just finding my stick and I'm putting it in the
back of the net, so it's too good to be true," said Barriball, who
was set to begin the season in Sioux Falls. He was called to join
the Gophers (2-1-0) when Phil Kessell signed with the Boston Bruins
over the summer.
"The whole summer I kept in touch with the coaches here," said
Barriball, one of college hockey's smallest players at 5-9 and 156
pounds. "They told me it just depended on what Phil does and it
took him a while to decide. They called me up and told me I was
going to be a Gopher."
Barriball started his career with the Gophers' only goal in a
season-opening 3-1 loss to Maine on Oct. 6 in the U.S. Hockey Hall
of Fame game. After scoring once in Friday's 7-1 win over Wayne
State, he got the first goal Saturday night and the middle score of
a three-goal outburst that put the game out of reach.
"Even though he's not that big, he's fearless," said Minnesota
coach Don Lucia. "We've got a few other guys who need to take a
page out of his game. That's why he's sitting on four goals."
Wayne State (0-2-0) came out strong in the game's first 30
minutes, using aggressive play on offense to pull to within 2-1
midway through the second period on Jason Bloomingburg's power-play
goal. While freshman goaltender Brett Bothwell was sharp early on,
the Warriors failed to cash in on a number of early scoring chances
when Minnesota goaltender Jeff Frazee skated awkwardly out of
position.
"If we could have scored when we had our chances," said Wayne
State coach Bill Wilkinson of the wasted opportunities to gain the
early momentum. "They just didn't go in."
The Gophers took control of the game when their dormant power
play sprang to life. After going 0-for-17 with a man advantage to
start the season, Kyle Okposo broke the string with a shot from in
close, then followed Barriball's power-play goal with another of
his own to give the Gophers a four-goal cushion.
"Those second-period penalties cost us," said Wilkinson.
"Minnesota has more talent than we have, it's a fact of life."
Playing in his first college game, Bothwell stopped all 19 shots
first-period shots, but was beaten twice in the first three
Minnesota shots of the second. Barriball tipped in a blue line shot
by Mike Vannelli and Blake Wheeler scored from out in front for a
2-0 lead.
Bloomingburg quieted the Mariucci Arena crowd of 9,809 by
finding the corner of the net at the tail-end of a five-on-three
power play to cut Minnesota's lead in half. That's when the
penalties came for the Warriors and the roof caved in.
Frazee blocked 22 shots and got stronger as the game wore on,
while Bothwell finished with 45 saves.
Frazee has started all three of Minnesota's games, but Kellen
Briggs is expected back in goal during next week's series at Ohio
State when his suspension for a team rules violation ends.
Wheeler scored three goals in the weekend series.