Lumberjacks Earn 13th Straight Win, Huskies Drop Season Opener

The Granite City Lumberjacks and Gopher men's basketball teams both earned solid wins on Friday night. The Gopher men's hockey, St. Cloud State women's basketball, and SCSU men's hockey teams all struck out, and the St. Cloud adapted Soccer CI team came up just short in the opening round of the state tournament. Meanwhile, the Gopher, Bison, and Johnnie football teams, Gopher women's basketball, SCSU men's basketball, St. Cloud Norsemen, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Minnesota Wild will suit up on Saturday.

RECAPS:

- The Gopher men's basketball team remained undefeated with a 78-49 win over Purdue Fort Wayne. Sean Sutherlin led Minnesota with 19 points and seven rebounds. The Gophers improve to 4-0 and will host 2-1 Jacksonville University on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.

- The Gopher men's hockey team dropped the weekend series opener to Penn State 5-3 on Friday. Jaxon Nelson led Minnesota with two goals, and Matthew Knies added the third. The Gophers fall to 7-6, and the Nittany Lions improve to 7-5. The teams will hit the ice again on Saturday in Minneapolis at 8:00 p.m.

- The no. 2 SCSU men's hockey team could not catch no. 3 Western Michigan University, losing 6-2 in game one of the weekend series. Ethen Frank led all scorers, netting four for WMU. Zach Okabe and Micah Miller each scored one for St. Cloud. The Huskies fall to 9-4 and the Broncos improve to 7-4. The teams will meet again for game two at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.

- The SCSU women's basketball team was held to just .313 percent shooting in their 58-51 season-opening loss to Fort Hays State. Tori Wortz led St. Cloud with 19 points, seven rebounds, and five steals. The Huskies fall to 0-1 and will face Newman University on the road at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

- The Lumberjacks tallied a big 6-2 win over the St. Louis Jr. Blues in Missouri Friday night. Ben Anderson led the way for Granite City with two goals. Xander Roberts made 20 saves and allowed two goals. The Lumberjacks improve to 17-1 and the Jr. Blues fall to 4-13-1. The teams will close out the weekend series with game two on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

- The St. Cloud adapted soccer fell short in the state tournament quarterfinal round. The Crush lost 7-6 to Chanhassen/Chaska/Shakopee/Prior Lake. The team includes students from Tech, Apollo, Sauk Rapids-Rice, and Sartell-St. Stephen and finished the regular season with a 7-1-1 record and the no. 2 seed. St. Cloud moves to the consolation bracket and will face Stillwater on Saturday at 9:00 a.m.

PREVIEWS:

- The Golden Gopher football team is on the road in Indiana on Saturday. Minnesota will be looking to rally, following two back-to-back losses. The Gophers are 39-26-3 overall against the Hoosiers. Kick-off is set for 2:30 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

- The Gopher women's basketball team is on the road in the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. The 3-1 Gophers will face UConn (1-0) in the opening game on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

- The  2-1 SCSU men's basketball team will travel to Mankato on Saturday to face the 2-0 Mavericks. The Huskies are 3-10 overall against MSU-Mankato. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.

- The 9-1 no. 1 ranked Bison will conclude the regular season at home against the University of South Dakota (7-3) on Saturday. NDSU is 56-26-2 all-time against USD. Pre-game coverage starts at 1:30 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

- The no. 5 Johnnies will host Lake Forest in the opening round of the NCAA Division III tournament. This will be the first matchup between the two teams. Kick-off is set for 12:00 p.m. in Collegeville.

- The 9-6 Norsemen will host the 12-4-0-1 North Iowa Bulls on Saturday. This will be the first matchup between the two teams this season. Puck-drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

- The 11-5 Wild are headed to Florida to face the 12-2 Panthers. Minnesota is hot off a 7-2 over the Dallas Stars, and the Panthers most recently topped the Devils 4-1. Pre-game coverage begins at 4:45 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

- The 6-9 Timberwolves will host the 8-7 Grizzlies on Saturday night. Both teams are on two-game win streaks. Pre-game starts at 6:30 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.