MEN’S COLLEGE HOCKEY:

-- In a game that would be closer than the final score appears, St. Cloud State beat Western Michigan 3-0 to earn a weekend split with the Broncos and take the season series. In a defensive battle, there would be no scoring until Veeti Miettinen goal early in the third period. The Broncos pulled their goalie with about 3 minutes left in the game to try to tie things up. SCSU would take advantage of the empty net twice with goals by Kyler Kupka and Joe Molenaar to secure the victory.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE HOCKEY:

- The Gophers finished the regular season strong beating the University of Minnesota-Duluth 4-2 to get the weekend sweep. Minnesota took the lead in the first period on a strike by Madison Kaiser and increased it to 2-0 on a second-period goal by Peyton Hemp. They would score again in the third when Emma Kreisz found the back of the net.  Duluth would cut the lead to 3-1 and then 3-2 with just over two minutes to play before Abbey Murphy would get an empty netter to secure the win.

-- St. Cloud State would close out their regular season with a 6-2 win over Bemidji State and get a weekend sweep as well.  St. Cloud took a 1-0 lead in the first on a goal by Sofianna Sundelin but the Beavers would tie the game and then grab a 2-1 lead after two goals to start off the 2^nd period. After that, it was all SCSU as they would score 5 unanswered goals to win the game. Emma Gentry led St. Cloud State with 2-goals.

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL:

-- St. Cloud State lost a close game to Concordia-St. Paul falling 78-72 on Saturday. SCSU took an early six-point lead and then after a number of lead changes held a 33-32 halftime advantage. The Golden Bears would take the lead about two minutes into the second half and St. Cloud would never regain it.  SCSU was led by Jamir Allen with 15 points and 8 rebounds. The Huskies are the 12^th seed in the NSIC tournament and will travel to Marshall to take on the No. 5 seed Southwest Minnesota State on Wednesday.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL:

-- The University of Minnesota lost to Nebraska 70-51 on Saturday.  The Gophers got behind early and were down 20-8 after the first quarter but played about even in the 2^nd to go into half trailing 34-21. The Cornhuskers proved to be too much though and continued to pull away in the 2^nd half. Minnesota was led by Mallory Heyer’s double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Amaya Battle had 12 points and 6 rebounds. The Gophers will take on Iowa next on Wednesday.

--St. Cloud State saw a number of leads slip away and eventually, the game as they lost to Concordia-St. Paul 57-51 to close out their regular season.  St. Cloud started strong and built a seven-point lead by the end of the first quarter. The Golden Bears would open the 2^nd on an 11-2 run to take the lead about halfway into the quarter. The Huskies had an answer though and went on an 11-0 run of their own and would be up by seven again at halftime.  The two teams played about even in the third with Concordia only able to shave one point off the lead. St. Cloud’s shooting would disappear in the fourth quarter as they would go 1-13 from the field and 0-6 from the three-point line, and only score only four points to let the Golden Bears gain the victory.  The Huskies will host Minot State at home on Wednesday in the first round of the NSIC tournament.

 JUNIOR HOCKEY:

-- The St. Cloud Norsemen bounced back from Friday’s loss and took down the North Iowa Bulls 9-1. Michael Coleman led the way with 3 goals for St. Cloud.  The Norsemen will take on the Austin Bruins in a home-and-home series next weekend.

-- The Granite City Lumberjacks won over the Mason City Toros 8-2 on Saturday. The Jacks got goals from eight different players in the game. The two teams play again on Sunday.

COLLEGE SOFTBALL

--In the second day of the Washburn Invitational SCSU would have somewhat of a case of Déjà Vu. The Huskies would take down Maryville 9-1 in their first game. Grace Fechette and Reese Holtzhueter would both have 3-run homers for St. Cloud in game 1. The score would get flipped in game two and the Huskies would lose to Pittsburgh State 9-1. Pittsburgh scored early and often in building a 7-0 lead. SCSU's only run came on a home run by Maggie Fitzgerald in the sixth. The Huskies will close out the Washburn Invite on Sunday with games against Central Missouri and Fort Hays State.

--The Gophers dropped two games in the UNT Invite on Saturday. They fell to Texas Tech 7-6 which was a bitter loss after they held a 6-0 lead going into the seventh only to see the Red Raiders score 7 times to steal the win. The 2^nd game saw the offense evaporate as the Gophers would lose 1-0 to Stephen F. Austin. Bri Enter only gave up one run in seven innings but it proved to be the only run allowed by either team in the game.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

--St. Cloud State lost the series opener to the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs 11-5 on Saturday. The Huskies traded leads early on as they were up 3-0, saw the Mountain Lions grab a 4-3 thanks to two 2-run home runs, but would reclaim a 5-4 lead after a Cal James HR and then a Sac. Fly by James in the fourth.  However, Colorado Springs would continue to score while the Huskies' offense dried up, and the Mountain Lion would eventually win 11-5.  The two teams play a doubleheader on Sunday to complete a three-game series.

--The Gophers saw an early 3-run lead slip away and fell to Northeastern 8-7 on Saturday. Minnesota took a 3-0 lead in the second inning thanks in part to a two-run shot by Jake Larson.  Northeastern would fight back and take a 5-4 lead before the Gophers would tie it up on an RBI single by Boston Merila in the top of the seventh.  The two teams would trade runs and at 6-6, Northeastern would go back on top and take an 8-6 lead into the ninth. Weeber Neels' RBI single in the ninth would cut the lead to 8-7 but the U couldn’t push the tieing run across. The two teams will square off again on Sunday.

READ MORE FROM AUTHOR PAUL HABSTRITT:

• KVSC Trivia Zaniness Provided By “Goat Posse” For 30 Years
• Paynesville Broadcast Club Continues to Grow In 6th Year
• Sartell Schools Doing Its Part To Boost State’s Computer Ranking
• Era Coming To An End For Cold Spring Opera House
• Destiny Calls Hanowski For Flyers Hall Of Fame

• YOUNG GYMNASTS MAKING HISTORY IN ALBANY