Ever seen an avalanche? Maybe one that’s white, but not maroon and gold.

Shades of the iconic 2006 Holy Cross first-round upset returned in Fargo for the first one and a half periods Thursday night as the top-seeded Minnesota Gophers were given everything the underdog Canisius Griffins had.

“They got on top of us early and had a couple of good goals and kept us on our heels for a while,” said Bryce Brodzinski, who scored the second hat trick of the Gophers’ season. Jimmy Snuggerud scored the first in a 4-1 early October win over Minnesota State-Mankato.

Gophers head coach Bob Motzko described this game as the closest game with a 9-2 final score he’s ever seen.

Just like the Gophers have been for most of the season, they weren’t a first-period team whatsoever Thursday. Minnesota was clearly rattled to begin the game, turning over pucks left and right in the neutral zone.

The finish of the first of some ticky-tack penalties on the Gophers pumped up Canisius’ momentum. The Griffins’ Daniel DiGrande completed a slapshot just as Gopher Connor Kurth returned to the ice from a hooking call and tied the game 1-1.

Five minutes later, Griffin Nick Bowman made an excellent move, which planted him on No. 2 of SportsCenter’s Top 10 by maneuvering the puck between Gopher Colin Schmidt’s legs and firing a wrister at the top left shelf. Schmidt made his first in-game appearance for Minnesota since the final regular season series versus Ohio State nearly one month ago.

Canisius all of a sudden had a surprising 2-1 lead in this David vs. Goliath affair. Five minutes went and gone; slowly but surely the game started to make sense for the Gophers.

It began with a superb effort by Aaron Huglen, managing to corral an open puck chased by two Griffins and slotting home the equalizer. Huglen’s line continued to vault Minnesota out of the doldrums, and Kurth swept in his seventh goal of the season to give the Gophers their first lead since the 11-minute mark of the first period.

“Early on, we were trying to do things ourselves and score goals like that,” Brodzinski said. “Guys were getting a little frustrated, but [Brock] Faber is a great leader and kinda gave it to us in the locker room a little bit to stick together and play our game.”

Motzko said the lengthy TV timeouts and longer intermissions were critical to calming the team down and settling in throughout the game. Unlike the regular season, there is more than one TV timeout in each period during the NCAA tournament.

“We stuck with it,” Motzko said. “I had to cut the bench short tonight, I haven’t done that a lot. We had to play a grind game and that’s something we’re continuing getting better at.”

After a game-changing five-minute major was called on Canisius’ Stefano Bottini for contact to the head on Jackson LaCombe, Minnesota didn’t just stick with it, they ran the Atlantic Hockey Conference Champions beneath the ice sheet at Scheels Arena.

Snuggerud was the first to add to the heavy 6-goal avalanche in the third period, which was beneficial for the Gophers’ unusually quiet top line. Logan Cooley did manage to serve up three assists in the period with Matthew Knies absent of points on the night.

Two of Cooley’s assists were to Brodzinski, who secured a hat trick in the last 10 minutes of the game. What’s even more impressive is Brodzinski nearly had 4 lamp lighters, with a goal called back before he scored 2 more to close the contest.

Mason Nevers and Brody Lamb also added to the beatdown. Lamb is on a 2-game goal-scoring streak after not scoring since late October.

“We got the lead at the end of the second, and every puck had to get deep,” Motzko said. “If they kill [the five-minute major] off, we got a hockey game till the end and Snuggy gets his mitts on one … we follow it up with another one … then it loosened up.”

Minnesota will play St. Cloud State on Saturday in the Fargo Regional Final at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The Huskies blanked the Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks 4-0 on Thursday afternoon while firing off 13 fewer shots on goal. If the Gophers are victorious, they will advance to their second straight Frozen Four.

“They’re a solid team,” said Aaron Huglen of the Gophers’ in-state rival, against whom they are 1-1 this season. “Coach said after the game they’re going to try to shut us down offensively so we just gotta bring it to ’em, play smart … chip away.”

Isaiah Stevens, one of the main pieces in Colorado State University’s basketball success over the last few years, declared for the 2023 NBA Draft Friday.

The star point guard from Allen, Texas, announced his decision on Twitter, saying that he has “decided to enter my name in the 2023 NBA draft while maintaining my eligibility to return to Colorado State for one more year.”

Stevens has played all four years of his college career at Colorado State, and has one more year of eligibility from the COVID-19 year. After senior guard John Tonje entered the transfer portal Tuesday, there were plenty of question marks regarding what Stevens would do.

In years past, once a player declared for the NBA Draft, they forwent any college eligibility they had left unless they withdrew 10 days prior to the combine. But in 2018, that rule was changed by the NCAA. Now, a player can return to college with their eligibility if they go undrafted, so long as they inform their school’s athletic director the day after the draft.

So, Stevens will test the professional waters and enter the draft. The NBA Draft Combine will take place from May 16-18, which leads into the official draft on June 22. 

Stevens still technically has other options if he doesn’t get drafted to an NBA roster. He could test professional ball overseas, or potentially sign a contract with an NBA G-League roster. He could also stay in college but transfer to another school. 

But for now, it appears that should Stevens go undrafted, he will stay in Fort Collins for his final year of college eligibility.

Reach Braidon Nourse at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @BraidonNourse.

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society, today announced the recipients of its Graduate Research Grants. The grants of up to $1,500 are designed to support graduate students who are active Society members seeking funding for research in support of career development opportunities. The 20 […]

The Cougars won their fifth straight game behind a seven-run fourth inning. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar

The UH baseball team beat the Southern Jaguars 16-7 Tuesday night at Schroeder Park to extend their win streak to five and improve to 10-11 on the season.

Houston pitching got out to a slow start as starting right-handed sophomore pitcher Kyle Ayers gave up a two-run homer to Southern first baseman O’Neill Burgos.

With the Cougars down 2-0 in the bottom of the second, a two-run home run by sophomore left fielder Cameron Nickens in the third tied up the game at two, scoring junior third baseman Alex Lopez.

Ayers went quickly through the next three innings, ending up with four total frames pitched, giving up two earned runs and striking out nine.

The Cougars broke the game completely open in the bottom of the fourth inning with seven runs scored on as many hits to lead 9-2.

To start out that offensive outburst, junior first baseman Justin Murray hit a bullet out of the park in left field to take the lead 3-2. It was his third home run of the season.

Soon after, a wild pitch scored junior outfielder Cary Arbolida.

Senior centerfielder Drew Bianco decided to join the home run party with his two-run shot to center field making it 6-2 Cougars in the fourth inning. This was his third homer of the season so far with freshman infielder Coby DeJesus scoring.

A single up the middle by Lopez made it 7-2 Houston, with his second hit of the game driving in senior outfielder Brandon Uhse.

Junior catcher Anthony Tulimero jumped into action with his RBI single to left field, driving in Lopez for his second run scored of the game and Nickens scored on a fielder’s choice to make the score 9-2.

Southern ended up scoring 3 runs in the top of the sixth inning, with two of them coming on wild pitches, making it 9-5.

The Cougars piled on six additional runs in the seventh inning to completely put the game out of reach with a 16-5 score, thanks in part to junior utility man Jack Duffy smoking a two-RBI triple down the right-field line.

Up next, the Cougars will face UT Arlington on Friday.

sports@thedailycougar.com

—
“UH baseball dominates Southern, extends win streak to five” was originally posted on The Cougar

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society, today announced the recipients of its Graduate Research Grants. The grants of up to $1,500 are designed to support graduate students who are active Society members seeking funding for research in support of career development opportunities.

The 20 grant recipients include students spanning a number of academic disciplines:

• Sabrina Rahman Archie, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
• Elisabeth Cuerrier-Richer, Texas State University
• Lacy Dolan, Mississippi State University
• Emma Erwin, University of Maine
• Shreyas Gaikwad, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
• Mario Jackson, North Carolina State University
• Ashley Jellison, University of Louisiana at Monroe
• Arjun Kafle, Texas Tech University
• Elizabeth L. Leclerc, University of Maine
• Aubree Marshall, Radford University
• Hong-My Nguyen, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
• Donovan Nichols, The University of Toledo
• Aine Norris, Old Dominion University
• Dylan O’Hara, University of Maine
• Mariam Oladejo, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
• Kartik Kumar Rajagopalan, Texas A&M University
• Alexandra C. Sheldon, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Brannon Smithwick, University of Southern California
• Natasha Strydhorst Unsworth, Texas Tech University
• Xinwen Zhang, University of Texas at Arlington

“The Graduate Research Grant program has had another amazing year.  This year’s recipients represent a diversity of institutions and disciplines. I am excited to see this award program fill an important need for our graduate student members.  It is a privilege to part of their academic journey, and we look forward to seeing their works mature in the future,” said Society Executive Director and CEO Bradley Newcomer.

Established in 2018, the grants are part of the Society’s robust award and grant portfolio, which gives $1.3 million each year to outstanding students and members through study abroad grants, graduate fellowships, funding for post-baccalaureate development, member and chapter awards, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives.

To learn more about the Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Research Grant and this year’s recipients, please visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org/GraduateResearch.

About Phi Kappa Phi
Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni annually. The Society has chapters on more than 325 select colleges and universities in the United States, its territories and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The Society’s mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and engage the community of scholars in service to others.” For more information, visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.

Media Contact
Alyssa Papa
Director of Communications
apapa@phikappaphi.org
(225) 923-7777

The Associated Students of Colorado State University convened March 22 for the 23rd session of the 52nd senate.

After a new senator was sworn into office, Deputy Director of Basic Needs Kylee Weiss presented to senate on the ongoing efforts to combat food insecurity on the CSU campus, detailing the benefits of CSU food security programs, including Ram Food Recovery, SNAP Benefits and the Rams Against Hunger Food Pantry.

Executive reports followed, where Chief of Staff Haydyn Deason, Director of Diversity and Inclusion Charlie Williamson, Director of Marketing Grace Crangle, Director of Housing Security Jorge Garcia and Director of Governmental Affairs Evan Welch updated senate on matters concerning a recent Narcan training, upcoming Student Diversity Programs and Services campus events, marketing efforts during the election process and the upcoming U+2 Action Committee at Fort Collins City Hall April 4.

During judicial reports, Chief Justice Marcus Zacarias and Deputy Chief Justice Kelley Dungan informed senate on upcoming events led by the judicial branch such as cannabis educational events, the Rams Know Their Rights program and upcoming election processes.

The ratification of deputy director of state law and policy then took place.

Junior Alicia Barron was nominated for the position.

The deputy director of state law and policy is responsible for assisting the executive branch in representing CSU students in local and state lobbying efforts.

“I want to be able to welcome students from different backgrounds and be open to listening to new ideas and perspectives,” Barron said.

Barron was approved with unanimous consent.

The vote of confidence for speaker of the senate candidates then took place, where senate considered the approval of first-year students Ava Ayala and Hayden Taylor ahead of the upcoming ASCSU elections.

The process for the vote of confidence has come under scrutiny after confusion and procedural errors forced a revote for previous speaker candidates during the 51st senate, prompting the recent passing of legislation aimed at smoothening the process. 

Both candidates presented to and took questions from the legislative body surrounding their qualifications, knowledge of parliamentary procedure and ability to manage tensions during senate sessions impartially.

“I confidently believe I can run senate efficiently,” Ayala said.

“I’m somebody who can unify this body in a way that it needs,” Taylor said.

During the discussion and debate process, several senators voiced their support for both candidates, including University Affairs Committee Chair Sammy Trout, who said he believed both candidates will serve as excellent speakers if elected.

“Throughout my time here, I’ve seen a lot of incredibly talented and passionate advocates, and these two are clearly some of the brightest we have in this senate,” Trout said.

The candidates earned the vote of confidence with unanimous consent.

Bill 5217 “Financial Visibility Act” was then considered.

The bill seeks to increase financial transparency within ASCSU by mandating financial records be made more accessible on the ASCSU website in the hope of educating the student body on recent senate spending and improving the senate funding process. 

The bill passed with unanimous consent.

Resolution 5208 “Sustainable Investment Future” was also discussed.

The legislation aims to gain ASCSU support of increased fossil fuel divestment efforts on campus in an effort to significantly reduce the university’s carbon emissions and help CSU reach its net-zero sustainability target.

The resolution will be sent to the University and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Affairs Committees.

ASCSU Senate will resume March 29.

Reach Sam Hutton at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Sam_Hut14.

When a team gets placed as the top overall seed in an NCAA athletic tournament, it may be convenient to presume they would have the easiest road to a championship. In the case of the top-ranked Minnesota Gophers men’s hockey team, that is unfortunately not the case, as their region involves two hungry arch-rivals motivated to topple the top Minnesota squad.

To garner as much attendance as they can, the NCAA sets up each region based on geography. Thus, western Minnesota gets the toughest of the two-seeds in the bracket: Gophers’ head coach Bob Motzko’s former team in St. Cloud State and Minnesota State-Mankato, who has booted Motzko & Co. from this tournament the last two years.

“This is what you play for,” said an eager Motzko on Wednesday. “We’re excited to get on the road, we’ve been home for a month.”

Before the Gophers have to worry about the NCHC tournament champion Huskies or CCHA tournament champion Mavericks, they will play the Atlantic Hockey tournament champions, the Canisius Griffins, on Thursday night.

Sitting at a record just above .500 (20-18-3), Canisius was a surprise team to come out of the middling Atlantic Hockey Conference, which usually only sends its tournament champion to the NCAA tournament as the lowest seed.

The maestros of the Griffins’ success this year are senior forward Keaton Mastrodonato (36 points: 16 goals, 20 assists), who is a two-time Hobey Baker nominee (2020-21, 2021-22), and senior forward Ryan Miotto (35 points: 17 goals, 18 assists). Senior netminder Jacob Barczewski is on a hot streak, allowing two goals or fewer in his last eight games. The Griffins shut out three of their opponents and finished 6-2 in that timeframe.

The last No. 1 overall seed to fall in the first round was St. Cloud State in 2019 to Atlantic Hockey Conference member American International by a score of 2-1 at Fargo’s Scheels Arena, where the Gophers and Griffins will compete.

Minnesota has a similar scratch on their tournament history, being the first ever top-seed to fall in the first round with the bracket expanded to 16 teams. In 2006, Holy Cross (another Atlantic Hockey Conference member), upset Phil “The Thrill” Kessel in his last game in a maroon & gold uniform. The Crusaders won 3-2 in overtime at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

“We just stick to the same game,” Gophers senior forward Jaxon Nelson said when asked if their approach as players changes in the postseason. “We like to get pucks deep and drive the puck low, be able to get back on the backcheck and prevent teams from scoring on the rush.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s tilt, if the Gophers win they will play against two teams against whom they are 1-1. Minnesota split a home-and-home series with Mankato in October and split a home-and-home series with St. Cloud in January.

In both wins over those teams, freshmen forward top-liners Jimmy Snuggerud and Logan Cooley stepped up. Snuggerud secured a hat trick against Mankato and Cooley netted a 3-on-3 overtime game-winning goal with 18.8 seconds remaining.

“We’re the most hated team here,” Motzko said. “Any of the green [North Dakota] fans show up, you know who they’re against. There’s two other Minnesota teams … We got a target on us, so we are the underdog.”

Here is the skinny on both teams playing in the other regional first round matchup at 4 p.m. Central Standard Time on ESPNU:

Minnesota State-Mankato: The Mavericks are tied for second in the nation for only allowing 2 goals per game and are first in the country on successful power plays, 27.9% of the time. The main producer in that powerplay unit is junior forward David Silye, who leads the team with 12 and has scored 23 total goals this season.

Mankato is also very successful on the faceoff, the top in the nation in faceoff win percentage (60%). The reason for their low seeding is due to true head-scratching losses against smaller schools like Ferris State (twice), Bemidji State (twice) and St. Thomas. Averaging a goal per game on special teams can make any team ripe to win a tough region.

St. Cloud State: In both games against the Gophers, the Huskies played stellar defense and featured excellent goaltending from senior Jaxon Castor. The only game this season where Minnesota’s vaunted offense was shut out was at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on Jan. 7 when St. Cloud came out victorious 3-0.

The Huskies are the most pesky team the Gophers have played, forcing top skating speeds on the full sheet of ice, making it hard to earn good scoring opportunities. They also have lethal scoring forwards led by senior Jami Krannila, with 21 goals to his name.

This season the Huskies were hampered with many key injuries, including senior defenseman Dylan Anhorn done for the year and team captain graduate student defenseman Spencer Meier, with a season-long upper-body issue. When fully healthy, this team would have been a likely one-seed over the Denver Pioneers.

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Gerald Sastra/The Cougar

UH men’s golf placed eighth at the All-American Intercollegiate in Humble on Tuesday. 

For round one, Junior Santiago De La Fuente led the cougars at three under with 69 strokes. Close behind was sophomore Wolfgang Glawe who scored a solid 71. 

Every other Cougar finished over par in the first round as UH went for 292 in all.

In round two, Glawe and De La Fuente led the cougars again, shooting 72 and 68 respectively. Senior Braxton Watkins also shot one over par in the second round.

The team shot 288 in all in round two, which was good for 16-over as a team. 

On the final day, Glawe switched up the pace leading this time at even for 72 strokes. De La Fuente was not far behind shooting a two-over final round. 

For the final round, the Cougars shot 297 as a team. 

De La Fuente tied for third in the event, shooting five under for the tournament. The next closest UH was golfer Glawe who was tied for 12th at one stroke over.

The Cougars’ next event is the Valspar Collegiate Invitational in Florida on March 27-28.

sports@thedailycougar.com

—
“De La Fuente leads UH golf at All-American Intercollegiate” was originally posted on The Cougar

Broadway’s legendary musical “Legally Blonde” made a stop in Fort Collins for three nights at The Lincoln Center.

Many are familiar with the beloved 2001 movie “Legally Blonde” starring Reese Witherspoon; however, “Legally Blonde the Musical” brings a modern, whimsical take on the feminist blockbuster. 

“I absolutely love being in the show,” said Carly Caviglia, who plays the judge, store manager, prison guard and ensemble on the tour. “It’s such a fun time, and it’s my first ever national tour, which has been such a good experience and amazing growth for me and my career.”

For those who haven’t seen the iconic film, the story follows Elle Woods, the Delta Nu president at California University, Los Angeles, who has a seemingly perfect life until she is suddenly dumped by her boyfriend for not being serious enough for him. 

“It’s been a challenge learning this show so quickly and on the road, but it’s a well-enjoyed challenge.” -Gill Vaughn-Spencer, Emmett Richmond understudy

To prove her love and seriousness, Elle decides to attend Harvard Law School. The musical follows this it-girl as she takes on stereotypes, sexism, snobbery and scandal in the name of love.

The cast worked hard on their performances, not only in the days leading up to their opening night but every week. They spent countless hours learning the songs and choreography and even watching previous shows on and off Broadway to prepare for the tour.

“We’ve been doing the show for about six months, so we’re all settled into it now,” Caviglia said. “We rehearsed for about two weeks beforehand in September. An audience member can expect to have a ton of fun and be laughing from (the) top of the show to the end.” 

The newest member of the show is the Emmett Richmond understudy, Gill Vaughn-Spencer. 

“It’s been a challenge learning this show so quickly and on the road, but it’s a well-enjoyed challenge,” Vaughn-Spencer said. “The cast is absolutely incredible, and the show is a blast to perform. It’s well-loved by the audiences. I’m ecstatic for this show.” 

And well-loved by the audience it was. The show received a standing ovation at The Lincoln Center. 

“I may be biased, but my favorite number is my song with the lovely Ashley Morton, who plays Paulette, ‘Bend and Snap,’” said Taylor Lloyd, who plays Serena McGuire. “It’s so classic to the film and so much fun. It’s such a moment of ownership of body and sexuality. Teaching Paulette the ways of wooing the UPS guy, Kyle, is so empowering. It’s just such a good time for us and the audience.”

The musical follows Elle’s journey in realizing her potential and love for being a lawyer. The modern, sassy musical is packed with humor, catchy songs and explosive choreography. 

It’s fabulous, heartwarming and relatable, all while taking on serious topics like misogyny and consent. “Legally Blonde the Musical” is an absolute must-see. 

“The show was beyond brilliant, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to see it,” said Sophia Valdez, an audience member. 

If you didn’t catch “Legally Blonde the Musical” March 9-11 at The Lincoln Center, check out their website to see where they’re going next.

Reach Sophia Masia at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter at @sophie_masia.