The 10 teams that comprise the nation’s premier summer baseball league arrived at Fenway in staggered groups of two beginning with the Harwich Mariners and the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. The league stretches from Wareham on the mainland side of the Bourne Bridge to its last outpost in Orleans, the home of world famous Nauset Beach.

Each team participated with infield and batting practice while most of the field managers were getting their first look at the players who will kick off the season on Saturday. A large contingent of CCBL players are still competing in the College World Series.

There was a festive atmosphere on Jersey Street as fans, friends and family members filled the seats under a warm, partly cloudy sky. Scouts from across MLB gathered along the first base line and behind the batting cage, logging their salient observations on clipboards and iPads.

“I think it is exciting for everyone to come to Cape Cod and Fenway Park,” said Hyannis manager Eric Beattie. “There is no better place to spend a summer playing baseball than Cape Cod. I played here (Fenway) in 2003 with the Bourne Braves and I was here as a manager last year.”

NU connection

Alex Lane of Andover is one of six Northeastern players who have or will be tendered CCBL contracts for its 100th anniversary season.

Lane participated in his first practice with Hyannis while his Huskies’ teammate, Mike Sirota, who played for the Harbor Hawks last summer, is expected to join the club in two weeks. Tyler MacGregor of Peabody is committed to play for the Mariners but did not attend the Fenway festivities. The other three are pitchers Jake Gigliotti (Cotuit), Eric Yost (Yarmouth-Dennis) and Griffin Young, who is waiting assignment.

Lane, Sirota, and MacGregor were fixtures at the front end of NU coach Mike Glavine’s batting order that led the Huskies to a 44-16 record and a trip to the Winston-Salem Regional of the College World Series.

Sirota batted .346 from the leadoff spot with 18 home runs, nine double and 54 RBI while Lane and MacGregor comprised the meat of the order. MacGregor batted .332 with 18 home runs, 11 doubles and 54 RBI. Lane batted .318 with 16 homes runs, 12 doubles and 58 RBI.

Lane transited the portal from Bryant to Northeastern while MacGregor was a graduate transfer from Columbia. MacGregor and Lane were high school teammates at St. John’s Prep in Danvers.

“He was a year ahead of me at St. John’s and it was kind of funny that we both ended up in the same spot,” said Lane. “It was cool coming to Northeastern and seeing a familiar face.”

Lane made the most of his opportunity to impress the Harbor Hawks coaching staff. Lane looked sharp fielding grounders at first base but made his best showing with the bat. In the second of his three flights in the cage, Lane launched a 400-foot bomb into the visitor’s bullpen at the right flank of the triangle.

“Obviously when you grow up coming to Fenway and seeing the pros do it, it is kind of cool to do it yourself,” said Lane. “It was good day to get out here and a great event run by the scouts. I am very thankful to be here.”

The manager

Beattie has spent the last 14 springs coaching baseball at Strawberry Crest High School in Dover, Fla., preparing his players to compete in college. In his second season managing Hyannis, Beattie tenders CCBL contracts to college kids looking to make it in the pros.

The beauty of playing in the Cape Cod league is that it encompasses a college lifestyle with a professional regimen. Each team plays six nights a week and the hours before each game are filled with drills and conditioning.

“I will tell the guys when we have our meeting that this is the closest thing to professional baseball without being in professional baseball,” said Beattie. “They play, play, play and they have to take care of their bodies and their skill development on a day-to-day basis. This is a good taste for them.”

The scouts

Matt Hyde of Canton scouts the Northeast for the New York Yankees and he views the CCBL as a treasure trove of raw talent waiting to be refined.

There were 377 CCBL alumni on MLB rosters in 2022 and Aaron Judge of the Brewster Whitecaps graces the cover of the first edition of Cape League magazine. Hyde spent the morning conducting infield and was behind the cage when Lane swatted his homer.

“This is always a huge day because we get to see all these players workout in a major league stadium and that is a huge difference maker for us,” said Hyde. “They play every day and that dynamic is what separates the men from the boys.”

Ron Vaughn of Connecticut was on the first base side scouting for the Oakland A’s.

“You get the whole league together here and that’s an advantage,” said Vaughn. “You are here looking for everything you normally scout and the Cape league is a very good league. You see good ballplayers here.”

The Eagles (35-18, 16-14) learned Monday they were the odd team out of the 16 programs assigned to host a regional tournament from the field of 64. Instead the final slot went to Alabama, and the Eagles had to settle for the No. 2 seed at the Tuscaloosa Regional. The SEC had six programs awarded regional sites while the ACC got five; BC finished sixth in the conference.

On the other side of town, the Northeastern Huskies (44-14) were awarded the No. 3 seed in the Winston Salem Regional and will face Maryland (41-19). Wake Forest (47-10) was the No. 1 overall seed and the Deacons will open with George Mason (34-25).

BC meets Troy (39-20, 18-12 in the Sun Belt Conference) in the regional opener at Sewell Thomas Stadium on June 2 at 3 p.m. The No. 1 seed Crimson Tide (40-19), hosting a regional for the first time since 2006, will face Nichols (34-22) at 7 p.m.

BC has never played any of the three teams in the Tuscaloosa bracket in the long history of the program. The regional employs a double-elimination format and both games will be broadcast on ESPN Plus.

“We were one (ACC) win away and what it did change was the ability to host which is still on our list of goals,” said BC coach Mike Gambino. “Unfortunately, we did not get that this year but we believe we can build a Northeast program that can make runs in the post season and we want to start one right here.”

BC had control of its own destiny when they were assigned the No. 6 seed in last weekend’s ACC tournament in Durham, N.C. BC opened in Pool 3 with a win over Virginia Tech but fell 4-1 to Clemson in the quarterfinals. Seventeen wins is the ACC threshold to host an NCAA Regional, but the Eagles are using the oversight as a motivational vehicle.

“This is a long time coming,” said Vince Cimini, a right-handed senior shortstop from Scranton, Pa. “We all have been very excited to find out where we were going to end up and we knew since the beginning of the year we could make a special run at this thing.

“This is the recognition of a lot of hard work. After last night we were done talking about it (hosting) and we figured anywhere we go we would make a good run at it. We have put a chip on our shoulders the whole year and at the beginning of the year nobody had us even making a regional no less a two seed.

“We would have liked to host. It would have done a lot of good for the program. But I think we have just as good an opportunity as a two seed.”

Gambino expects to have injured starters Travis Honeyman and Cameron Leary back in the lineup against Troy.

The waiting game

BC is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since winning the Oxford, Miss., Regional in 2016. The longest tenured player on the BC roster is left-handed catcher Peter Burns, a fifth-year graduate student from Reading.

Burns appeared in 48 games with 44 starts and batted .261 with 41 hits, six doubles, three home runs and 23 RBI.

“This is huge not only for the guys in the locker room, but the alumni, the donors, the coaching staff and it’s been a long time coming,” said Burns. “Throughout the year we were really grinding through it with ups and downs and we’ve been playing with that chip on our shoulders the whole year.”

A tall order

The one big advantage the Eagles have going into the regional are the twin towers at the top of the pitching rotation.

Chris Flynn, a graduate transfer from Division 3 Roger Williams College, is 6-4 and tips the scales at a lanky 210. The right hander from Naugatuck, Conn., is 7-3 in 15 starts with two shutouts, 82 strikeouts and a 4.21 ERA.

John West is a 6-8, 250-pound, junior right hander from Shrewsbury. West is 5-3 in 15 appearances with 11 starts. He pitched stellar shutout relief against Clemson in the ACC tournament. West has a 4.52 ERA over 61.2 innings with 63 strikeouts.

“With Flynn and West, we really do feel like we have two No. 1’s or a 1 and a 1A however you want to say up,” said Gambino. “That is something we are going to look at and decide what we are going to do with the rotation because they are two different guys.

“Flynnie likes to be at the top of the zone. Westie kinds of sinks it a little bit more. They are two separate guys but they are both tremendously competitive and both want the ball in big games. It is a great problem to have.”

BC competed in its sixth consecutive championship game, capturing its lone national title of the run with a win over Syracuse in 2021. Northwestern (21-1) captured its eighth NCAA title and first in 11 years.

The ACC regular season and tournament champion Eagles finished the season at 19-4 that included a 13-game win streak leading up to the title match.

“You know, sports are tough,” said BC coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein. “We didn’t get to end the season with a win but I’m really proud of the program and everyone who helped us get here. “

The Wildcats jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and led 6-2 at the half. Kayla Martello and Belle Smith scored BC’s second quarter goals. Northwestern went on a rampage in the second half outscoring the Eagles 12-4 to secure the victory.

“I think Northwestern just played a really aggressive backer defense and they had a really great day,” said Walker-Weinstein. “You know, it was tough to combat that and our girls did the best they could. Northwestern had a really great defensive day.”

BC opened the tournament with an 11-7 win over Virginia Tech on Tuesday. But the Eagles needed a victory over Clemson to secure an NCAA regional at the Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at the Harrington Athletic Village at Brighton Fields.

The 22nd-ranked Eagles still have an outside chance to become the first New England school to host an NCAA regional on campus since No. 3 seed Maine procured the Northeast Regional in 1991. The NCAA bracket will be announced Monday at noon and BC (35-18) will secure a favorable slot in the field of 64.

“We have a facility now that we can be proud of and the opportunity to show it off would be fortunate,” said BC coach Mike Gambino. “The thing about it is, the city of Boston turns out for big events and this will be a big deal in the city. It will be a huge deal for our program and a huge deal for the university.”

Clemson scored two in the first and added a pair in the second to go up 4-0 while Tigers’ starter Austin Gordon threw six innings of shutout ball. Nick Wang scored the lone BC run with a two-out homer in the ninth.

RICH THOMPSON

The No. 6 seed Eagles improved to 35-17 and will take engage the No. 3 seed Clemson Tigers on Friday morning (11) with a trip to the semifinals on the line. BC is 3-1 against Virginia Tech this season.

Down 3-0 in the third, BC got a pair of two-run doubles by Joe Vetrano and Nick Wang to take a 4-3 lead. The Hokies responded with three runs in the top of the fourth to go up 6-4.

BC center fielder Barry Walsh opened the bottom of the sixth with a solo 400-foot home run. Wang followed with a three-run single down the third base line to put the Eagles up 8-6. BC added two more in the seventh on a two-run single by Vetrano and scored one in the eighth. Wang drove in five or more runs in a game for the third time this season.

Henry Leake threw 2.1 innings of scoreless middle relief to pick up his fourth win. Andrew Roman came on in the seventh and allowed one run in the final three frames to secure the victory.

RICH THOMPSON

The No. 22 ranked Eagles (34-17, 16-14) drew the No. 6 seed and were assigned to Pool C with No. 2 Clemson (39-17, 20-10) and No. 10 Virginia Tech (30-21, 12-17).

The Eagles will open the tournament as the home team against Virginia Tech at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Durham Bull Athletic Park in Durham, N.C. Virginia Tech was ranked No. 10 in the country when BC took two of three over a weekend series in Blacksburg, Va., on March 10-11. BC recorded wins over two No. 2 ranked teams this season, Tennessee and Wake Forest.

“This team is tremendously confident right now,” said BC coach Mike Gambino. “These kids here, they really believe they can win this tournament and they really believe we are going to Omaha.”

BC closed out the regular season by sweeping a doubleheader against Notre Dame last Saturday. The Eagles matched the program’s best record through 51 games that was set in 2005, BC’s final season in the Big East. BC also equaled its best record in conference play since moving to the ACC.

A good showing in the ACC tournament (a minimum of two wins) could provide for a bigger reward down the road. BC enters the tournament neck and neck with Duke to secure the ACC’s final slot to host an NCAA Regional.

That would be rare occurrence in this neck of the Northeast. The resurgent BC program would relish the opportunity to showcase its new facility as a recruiting tool. The Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at the Harrington Athletic Village at Brighton Fields became operational in March 2018.

“The cool thing is the path to hosting a regional is the same path of winning an ACC championship,” said Gambino. “Yes, we want to host and the way to do that is to go about our business the same as we have been doing it all year.

“We all want to host and we know the historical significance of it and these boys deserve it. It would be an amazing moment for our school. When you think about it, five years ago we didn’t have a baseball field and now we are legitimately in the host conversation.”

In Like Flynn

Staff ace Chris Flynn of Naugatuck, Conn., a right-handed graduate transfer from Roger Williams College, was named to the All-ACC second team on Monday.

Flynn has a 7-2 mark with two shutouts in 14 starts over 70.2 innings with a 3.82 ERA. He has allowed 34 runs, 30 earned, with 68 hits, 80 strikeouts and 32 walks. Flynn was 4-2 in 10 ACC starts over 51.2 innings with a 4.70 ERA, 31 runs and 27 earned.  He recorded 50 strikeouts and 24 walks.

“I feel great,” said Flynn. “I have a lot of innings right now but my pitch count has not been too high in any given game so it has been very manageable.”

Flynn was the pitcher of record in the Eagles 8-2 win over Virginia Tech on March 11. He went 5.2 innings and allowed three run, two earned, on six hits with five strikeouts.

Flynn picked up his last win of the season in the opener of the twin bill against the Fighting Irish. Flynn allowed two runs and scattered six hits over seven innings with five strikeouts and no walks.

Flynn will likely get his 15th start against Clemson on Friday. Gambino intends to start sophomore righty Eric Schroeder and possibly use up to six relief pitchers against Virginia Tech.

“We are going to keep him (Flynn) on his full rest to be ready for Friday,” said Gambino. “This sets us up for our bullpen to do a very good job starting with Eric Schroeder.”

No Ordinary Joe

Junior first baseman and clean-up hitter Joe Vetrano of Shrub Oak, N.Y., has made going yard a routine occurrence this season. The veteran southpaw smashed three home runs in the doubleheader against ND, one in the first and two in the second, and was named to the All-ACC third team along with outfielder Travis Honeyman.

Vetrano started 50 games and batted .306 with 60 hits, 18 home runs, 10 doubles, 124 total bases, 46 runs and 51 RBI. In 30 ACC starts, Vetrano batted .320 with 39 hits, 11 home runs, seven doubles, 79 totals bases, 27 runs and 32 RBI. Vetrano posted these strong numbers despite being the victim of the shift by opposing defenses.

“We are stronger spot and moving forward we are all pretty pumped and excited to get this thing going,” said Vetrano. “I am seeing a lot more curveballs I can tell you that and that is not much fun.”

Honeyman missed the final eight games of the season with a shoulder injury. But Honeyman practiced on Monday and is expected to play. Honeyman is projected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming MLB draft. Both Honeyman (Orleans) and Vetrano (Harwich) are veterans of Cape Cod Baseball League.

After missing last season’s NCAA Division 1 softball tournament, the Terriers began the 2023 campaign determined to avenge their lost opportunity.

The Terriers rolled through a solid non-league slate and the Patriot League regular season at a record pace. The run culminated in a 2-0 victory over Army in the PL championship game that secured an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

“I think this team is really special,” said Terriers third basewomen Caitlin Coker, after a spirited practice on Tuesday morning at BU Softball Field. “2021 was a great year because we won as well, but this whole year our motto was the Revenge Tour because we lost last year.

“We are playing with a little bit of a chip on our shoulders and that kept us hungry all season. It does not matter who is on the other side of the field. We are just worried about us and trying to get the job done.

“It has been our motto the whole season and we do not want anybody to count us out. We are a really strong and impressive program and that is what we are trying to show this year.”

The No. 25 ranked Terriers (51-8) were awarded the No. 3 seed and will engage the No. 2 seed and 24th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies (37-18) on Friday in the Athens Regional at Georgia’s Jack Turner Stadium

The No. 14 ranked Georgia Bulldogs (39-13) drew the top seed and will face No. 4 North Carolina Central (19-33) in the double elimination format that is speared over three days.

The Terriers’ 51 wins were the most by a team from the Northeast since UMass won 53 in 2002. That breaks down to 18-1 at home, 21-3 on the road and 12-4 at a neutral site. The previous BU record was 43 wins. BU is making its 12th trip to the NCAA tournament with a record of 7-22.

“It was an extraordinary year,” said BU coach Ashley Watters, who is in her eighth season on Commonwealth Avenue “When I imagined coming over here and building this program and putting it back on top, but I never imagined this feat being set.

“We challenged them in the season and put them up against the best. They answered the call all year and it is a highly talented team and a highly motivated team. All I can say is I am obviously impressed.”

Twenty times two

BU is the nation’s fifth-ranked team in fielding percentage (0.981) and that commitment to defense helped produced a rarity in Division 1 softball. BU enters the NCAA tournament with two hurlers with 20 or more wins.

Lefty Allison Boaz, who shut out Army in the PL title game, is 24-4 in 29 starts over with 174.1 innings pitched. She posted a 1.37 ERA with 155 strikeouts. Boaz is a control pitcher who keeps the ball on the ground and counts on the defense to make plays.

Freshman right-hander Kasey Ricard of Littleton, Mass., relies more on her rise and fastball to get batters out. Ricard is 20-2 in 17 starts (37 appearances) with 144.2 innings pitched. She has a 1.69 ERA with 191 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .174. Senior right-hander Lizzy Avery is 7-2 in 17 starts with a 1.78 ERA. The player who keeps the three of them honest is catcher Audrey Sellers.

“We can’t do anything without her (Sellers) as the other part of the battery and she has caught nearly every game this season,” said Boaz. “She’s consistent and dependable and makes our job so much easier.”

Triple threat

The most exciting pay in softball is the triple. The three-base hit requires power, foot speed and good judgement on the basepaths. Those attributes are combined with an aggressive bent and a smattering of luck because there is usually a play at the bag or the plate with runners on.

BU tops Division 1 with 33 triples and Coker, a left hander from Downingtown, Pa., leads the nation with 11. Coker is the 2021 Patriot League Player of the Year and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year with just one error in her three years as a starter at the hot corner. Lauren Keleher is second on the team with seven triples.

Changing gears

Kayla Roncin has won back-to-back Patriot League Player of the Year Awards (2022-23) since making the conversion from the outfield to shortstop. Roncin, a junior from Toms River, N.J., is the Terriers’ best shot for All-America honors this season.

Roncin is batting .429 with 88 hits, 55 runs, nine homers, four triples, 13 doubles, 53 RBI and 136 total bases.

“It took some time to be a shortstop,” said Roncin. “It took extra reps and extra reps with coach and my teammates helped make the transition a lot easier.”

The Cromwell native filed into Gampel Pavilion for the UConn commencement ceremony on Sunday with his friends. The row in the Gampel bleachers filled, so Jacinto got bumped and started moving into the next row down in section 109.

The seat to his right was empty, marked reserved, until after the procession concluded when UConn legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Ray Allen snuck into it.

Allen, 47, was set to receive his Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies and didn’t want to make a scene.

“All of a sudden he sat next to me and I didn’t know what to say,” Jacinto said. “He sat down, I shook his hand and was like, ‘This is an honor, sir. I look up to you like everyone at this school, you’re a legend.’”

Basketball Hall of Famer Ray Allen will receive his Bachelor's Degree in General Studies (BGS) from the University of Connecticut this morning.

His reserved seat is right under his retired number 34 in the rafters. pic.twitter.com/NdlsK8zWb8

— Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) May 7, 2023

Allen, who was selected fifth overall in the 1996 NBA Draft and began his legendary pro career after three seasons at UConn, responded that it was his honor to be sitting amongst the students, his fellow Class of 2023 graduates.

“When I was in school there was a couple of RAs that were in their 30s and I thought, Wow, they’re still in school. It’s never too late to learn,” Allen told The Courant. “This day isn’t about me, it’s about the people that helped me along the way to finish this mission, be on this journey to graduate from college. And you got to do it by yourself but it’s made up of a lot of people around you, so I didn’t want it to be about me walking in and everybody, you know. These kids are on their individual journeys, so I was so inspired to be sitting next to them and talking to them.”

Allen and Jacinto continued their conversation through much of the ceremony as names continued to be called. He asked Jacinto where he was from (Allen just so happens to have a house in Cromwell as well), what his plans were after graduation and offered up some advice.

Jacinto, who received his degree in economics Sunday, already has a full-time job lined up dealing with insurance claims at The Hartford.

“He’s the most genuine guy. I was able to talk to him like a friend,” Jacinto said.

“The kid that was sitting next to me, I told him just travel. See the world. Let your mind continue to learn. Don’t let this be the last time you pick up a book and read or try to further your understanding of life, because you’ve got to continue to kind of pour it into yourself,” Allen said.

When his name was called, Walter Ray Allen, the onlookers in Gampel reacted as if he just made a clutch 3-pointer. He walked, received his diploma, and gave a thumbs up to his family cheering in section 105.

“It’s hard to really describe the feeling connected to it because it’s been a pursuit of mine for such a long time. You start as a kid in elementary school and you’re just on this journey your whole life to try to graduate high school and then go to college,” Allen said. “I loved my time here as a student-athlete. Fortunately and unfortunately for me I had a higher calling at the time and it was sad for me because I left here and I really enjoyed being here as an athlete.

“But there was always a stone left unturned for me to be able to graduate.”

Allen started taking classes again at some point in 2008 after winning the first of his two NBA championships, that one as a member of the Boston Celtics. He enrolled in one class per semester while still an active NBA player and eventually ramped it up to two.

When COVID-19 shut the world down, Allen hit the books.

“That was one of the best things that happened to me because it kept me with a purpose every single day, kept me with intention,” he said.

Allen enjoyed all of his textbooks, they taught him a lot, but computers were daunting. His kids helped him with that, taught him what the function keys were and how to insert attachments.

His daughter, Tierra, who played volleyball at Quinnipiac, was the first in the family to graduate.

Ray Allen, UConn Class of 2023 graduate: pic.twitter.com/8funk8cKPh

— Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) May 7, 2023

When she received her diploma, Allen said: “It just kept me with that fire burning inside my belly to make sure that I continued through on that mission and didn’t lose sight of it, because you become apathetic toward it and it doesn’t matter. And then you make up reasons why you’ll never do it, why it doesn’t matter. For me I just wanted to make sure that I kept it in the background of my brain so hopefully one day, when things work out – and that’s what happened.

She inspired me because I saw her graduate and now my kids see me graduate, my son is 18, he’s about to graduate from high school and move on to college. So now they’ll forever remember these moments. They’ve been in this building when my jersey was retired. So this building, it not only means athletic, but it also symbolizes academic as well.”

Allen’s seat, planned or not, was directly below his No. 34 that hangs from the rafters. He remains the only UConn men’s basketball player to have his jersey retired by the program.

To his left, Jacinto was over the moon.

When the day began he was looking forward to graduating, collecting his diploma, but, like many others in their early 20s, there was a part of Jacinto that just wanted to get it over with. By the time he met his family outside for pictures, Jacinto said, “Sitting next to Ray Allen was better than my college experience.”

Sure, there might’ve been some hyperbole. Jacinto told Allen he appreciates the friends he made and the whole experience, especially his time in Houston as he sat in the student section when UConn won the national championship in April.

Then he asked what Allen’s favorite college memory was.

“He was like, ‘You’d think I’d say basketball, but besides all that, having the little things,’ like being with his friends in the dorms, his apartment, just hanging around with his friends. And then he said, ‘In 20 years, you’re gonna be where I am, looking back, and you’re gonna be cherishing this,’” Jacinto said.

“Being able to talk to him just about little things and him giving me advice about anything we were talking about, not just like moving, going out. He was just telling me about my experiences in college. He’s like, ‘Look back at those little things and cherish it forever.’”

No injuries were reported in Sunday’s highway close call.

Fisher College President Steve Rich and Fisher Falcons Head Baseball Coach Scott Dulin later thanked members of the White Marsh Volunteer Fire Department Station 20 in Baltimore County, Maryland for their quick response and hospitality.

“The firefighters took care of our kids like they were family,” Dulin said. “We have to travel down there again in two weeks so my thought is to come back with some Fisher gear for the department which we will hand deliver to the firefighters as a show of thanks.”

All 35 players and coaches got off the bus safely as flames spread throughout the vehicle.

The team hung out with the firefighters at the station until a new bus could bring them home to the Boston campus.

The Boston College secondary registered five interceptions, three in the end zone, to lift the Maroon team (defense) to a 62-49 victory over the Gold squad (offense) in the annual Jay McGillis Memorial spring football game on Saturday at Alumni Stadium. The Maroon finished with six turnovers to three touchdowns scored by the Gold.

“Six turnovers is a good day,” said BC coach Jeff Hafley. “I liked the takeaways but at the end of the day I’m not going to judge us off the spring game.

“Today was going to be vanilla and in my opinion, if the defense didn’t have a better day with the limitations placed on our offense, than there is something wrong with the defense.”

Operational offense

Starting quarterback Emmitt Morehead got a first and goal on the one with a 17-yard hook up with senior wide receiver Taji Johnson. After a loss of one, Morehead connected with Dino Tomlin on a fade route to the left corner of the end zone for the game’s first touchdown with 9:33 to play in the second. Tomlin’s father, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, viewed the play from the sidelines.

“We had two red zone plays installed and they had one coverage,” said Morehead. “Spring games are tough but you don’t want to show what you are going to do next year. But we will be great in the red zone and score a lot of points.”

Quarterback Matthew Rueve completed a 26-yard pass to slot receiver Xavier Coleman and followed with a 4-yard touchdown toss to tight end Charlie Gordinier at 3:53 of the second.

Redshirt junior running back Andre Hines scored on an eight-yard sweep left with 2:23 to play in the game.

Defensive dandies

Morehead had the offense rolling on the game’s opening drive with short, effective passes. With the ball on the Maroon 6, Morehead rolled right and was picked off by sophomore cornerback Amari Jackson in the end zone. Jackson intercepted Morehead again at 1:29 of the second on a pass attempt to Jaden Williams at the Maroon 3.

Defensive backs KP Price and Elijah Jones broke up a pair of contested deep red zone pass attempts by Rueve in the first quarter.

“You know in the spring game they (offense) are going to take some shots,” said Jones. “You just try and get your hands on the ball and stay up top and that’s the name of the game.”

Junior hybrid defensive end Neto Okpala had the defensive gem of the game. Okpala strip-sacked Morehead and recovered the fumble on the Gold 30 with 5:24 to play in the second.

Redshirt freshman cornerback CJ Clinkscales recorded the third interception when he picked off Jack Brandon at the Maroon 4 early in the fourth. Freshman defensive back Carter Davis picked off Brandon in the end zone for the fourth pick. Redshirt sophomore defensive back Jamareeh Jones intercepted Peter Delaportas in the end zone with 45 seconds to play.

Something special

Junior place kicker Connor Lytton was good on a 27-yard field goal early in the second half. Lytton connected on his second 27-yard field goal during a special teams segment. Sophomore Liam Connor was good from 33 yards.

O’Keefe is a graduate transfer from Central Florida who torched the turf during the Eagles’ 14 spring practice sessions while learning a new system. The 5-10, 170-pound pass catcher from Austin, Texas will put his stretch-the-field speed on display in Saturday’s (11 a.m.) Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Football Game at Alumni Stadium.

“I am looking forward to the spring game and just seeing what the offense has gotten so far,” said O’Keefe, following the final spring practice on a warm and sunny Thursday morning at Alumni Stadium.

“I want to be a force in our plans and just to be able to learn a new system and watch the team operating as a group together. This will be the first time we will be going full speed together so it should be exciting.”

O’Keefe began his rise at Round Rock High School in Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a nationally recognized scholastic program in a part of Texas where football is a religion and church services are conducted under the lights on Friday nights in the fall.

“Football in Texas is second to none,” said O’Keefe. “It was really fun and it was a great atmosphere, it was really like a college atmosphere playing high school.”

The O’Keefe clan could be viewed as the first family of Dragons’ football.

“My whole family is football oriented,” said O’Keefe. “My dad was a football guy and my little brothers and my older brother. My sister was even involved in football as an athletic trainer.

“I knew at a young age I was going to play football and when I got Round Rock, I was all in. It was a football environment.”

O’Keefe’s arrival at the Heights coincides with the departure of Zay Flowers, the most productive wide receiver in BC history. Flowers broke every significant receiving record despite a carousel of quarterbacks over the past two seasons.

Flowers, who is projected to be the second or third wide receiver selected in the upcoming NFL Draft, leaves a huge void in the Eagles’ passing game. BC head coach Jeff Hafley is counting on O’Keefe to become quarterback Emmett Morehead’s featured down field threat.

O’Keefe established himself as an all-purpose split end and special teams’ performer at UCF over the last two seasons. O’Keefe caught 84 passes his junior year and 73 as a senior while earning All-American Athletic Conference honors both seasons. In 2022, O’Keefe had 725 receiving yards, 448 kickoff return yards and 222 rushing yards on flanker reverses and jet sweeps.

“They went through the same recruiting process and they have known each other for awhile and followed each other on Twitter,” said BC’s venerable receivers’ coach Darrell Wyatt. “They had a pre-existing relationship and obviously following Zay Flowers is a tremendous thing to ask of him.

“But Ryan has got his own skill set and Zay has his skill set and I think Ryan will have a great season.”

O’Keefe say the new system installed by the Eagles’ new co-offensive coordinators, Rob Chudzinski and Steve Shimko, is more extensive and demanding than the one he thrived under at CFU. O’Keefe’s most noticeable traits are creating separation at the line, contesting 50-50 balls and accumulating yards after the catch.

“I feel that the BC system is more complex, it is more like an NFL style offense,” said O’Keefe. “The previous offense I came from was more run and gun and RPO-type options. But up here it is more of and NFL style of play and I like it.”

A former four-year standout at Boston University and a veteran of 899 NHL games who scored 100 goals in a career that spanned 15 professional seasons, Pandolfo became the BU men’s hockey program’s 13th head coach last May.

The impact?

Seventeen upperclassmen, 10 of them seniors, came back to the team.

The journey ended on Thursday with a 6-2 loss in the national semifinals to top-seeded Minnesota.

The game was tied 2-2 early in the third period before the Golden Gophers pulled away, adding two empty-net goals in the final moments.

“These guys to the left of me and the rest of the seniors are a huge reason why we got back to this point,” said Pandolfo, 48, while sitting next to seniors Jay O’Brien and Domenick Fensore during a press conference after the game. “I’m so proud of them. It’s been a pleasure working with them every day, the way they got this program back to doing things the right way, showing up every day and competing. At the end of the year it was a player-led team and that’s what we wanted.”

Most of the talk after the game was about how the Terriers were, as Pandolfo stated, back.

After all, Thursday’s loss was BU’s first trip to the Frozen Four since David Quinn led the Terriers to the 2015 national championship game.

The 29 wins piled up by the Terriers is the most by the program since Jack Parker’s 2008-09 squad won 36 games and lost in the NCAA title game.

The success, according to Pandolfo, went way beyond goals and assists.

“From the start of the season, the way our guys showed up every day to the rink and were buying in to the way we wanted them to act away from the rink, at the rink, on the ice, off the ice – all these little things I saw right away,” said Pandolfo, who won the 1995 national championship as a player for BU. “I’ve talked about senior leadership a lot this year and I saw it from them right away. I knew they were going to help the guys coming in.”

Minnesota coach Bob Motzko says few first-year coaches enjoy the ride the Terriers did with Pandolfo.

“What a year that Jay has had,” Motzko said. “Everything that we read about him and we talked to a lot of people about him and everyone has a ton of respect for him. He’s a class act. He played for (Minnesota assistant coach) Paul Martin and Paul just said he’s a terrific person. Obviously, BU is in pretty good hands with Jay.”

Quinn and Albie O’Connell, the two coaches that led BU for five and four years, respectively, after Parker retired, had losing records during their first year on the bench.

Pandolfo, who was the associate head coach with O’Connell last season as BU went 19-13-3, was 29-11 this year and the players are quick to point out that his leadership was a major reason why.

“It’s been unbelievable,” said Fensore. “The way we bought in this year was really fun to see. This program has a bright future ahead.”

Fensore said the way the younger players responded was critical.

“Everything matters, that was our motto this year,” he said. “Give credit to them. They put their egos aside and wanted to be a part of success and that’s what playing for BU means. It was really cool to see.”

Pandolfo won two Stanley Cups as a member of the New Jersey Devils.

In 1999-2000, he played in 71 regular-season games and finished with seven goals and eight assists. He played in all 23 of the playoff games.

In 2002-2003, he had six goals and 11 assists in 68 games, but was a +12 that ranked 10th-best on the team. Again, he appeared in every playoff game.

Pandolfo speaks from experience when telling younger players that everything matters.

He spoke about his team’s fourth line after Thursday’s game.

“The forward depth on our team was very strong,” he said. “Those guys bought in to playing a certain way and they relished the role they had. That’s what you need on winning teams. You have guys buy in to playing certain roles, not everyone can be on the first line, not everyone can be on the power play. You need those type of players and I give those guys a lot of credit, they did a heck of a job. We probably don’t get to this point without the way that line played at certain points this year.”

Fensore and O’Brien praised Pandolfo’s job this season.

“He’s been amazing,” Fensore said. “He comes to work every day and pushes us. He’s so dedicated to this program. It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or a senior, he treats you the same way and that’s exactly what you want from a head coach. He knows the game so well. He taught me so much over the last two years here at BU. I’m going to miss him so much. He’s the right guy at the helm to lead this team into the future.”

“We were very lucky and fortunate to have Pando lead us,” said O’Brien, fighting back tears. “Coming here, he kind of changed the way things were going for BU. I think everybody knows that. He cares so much about his players, staff and everyone around BU. He holds us to a high standard and holds everyone accountable. He’s going to be coaching BU for as long as he wants, hopefully that’s a long time.”

On the power play, they’re even better.

Behind three power-play goals and a stubborn defense, the Golden Gophers skated to a 6-2 win over BU at Amalie Arena.

Minnesota senior goalie Justen Close made 27 saves as Minnesota earned a spot in Saturday’s national championship game against the University of Michigan and Quinnipiac winner.

“We were tied in the third period, but we stuck with it,” said Minnesota coach Bob Motzko. “We had our chances (in the third period) and we finished this thing.”

The Terriers ended a memorable first year under new head coach Jay Pandolfo with a 29-11 record in a season that included a Hockey East championship and the appearance in the Frozen Four. Pandolfo, who grew up in Burlington, won a national title as a player for BU in 1995 and went on to win two Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils in 2000 and 2003.

“Give them credit, they’re a heck of a hockey team.” Pandolfo said of Minnesota. “You can’t give a team like that seven power plays. That’s not winning hockey for us. We have to learn from it. It’s disappointing. This senior class is a huge reason why we got back to this point, but (this tournament) is really hard to win and I didn’t think we gave ourselves a great chance.”

BU took a 1-0 at 10:38 when senior Sam Stevens slid home the rebound of a shot by senior Domenick Fensore. Senior Jamie Armstrong also earned an assist on the play.

Minnesota freshman Logan Cooley, drafted third overall by Arizona in 2022, was whistled for a penalty just 1:11 later, but the Gophers killed that power play by the Terriers and went on a power play of their own at 13:49.

At 15:09, Minnesota tied the score when junior defenseman Mike Koster snapped home a wrist shot, finishing a pass from Cooley. Senior Jaxon Nelson was also credited with an assist.

Minnesota went on the power play again at 15:51 and this time needed just eight seconds to take its first lead on a beautiful goal that sophomore Rhett Pitlick finished out front. The tally was set up by consecutive passes that went from Koster to freshmen defenseman Luke Mittelstadt to sophomore forward Aaron Huglen, who fed Pitlick for the goal past Terrier junior goalie Drew Commesso.

“They were all over us in the first period,” Pandolfo said. “But then I thought we found our game in the second.”

BU tied the score at 8:06 of the second with a power-play goal when senior Jay O’Brien scored with assists to Fensore and senior Matt Brown. Senior Wilmer Skoog effectively screened Close as the Terriers tied the game at 2-2.

Minnesota had a big opportunity to regain the lead late in the second period when BU’s Lane Hutson was called for a penalty with 2:05 left and then sophomore Ty Gallagher went to the penalty box with one minute left, leaving BU down two men.

The trio of Stevens, Fensore and junior defenseman Cade Webber helped kill the 5-on-3 advantage, but not without some controversy. With 43 seconds left in the period, a shot by Gopher senior Bryce Brodzinski was stopped on the goal line by the glove of Commesso. The play was reviewed for several minutes before game officials ruled it no goal.

As time expired in the second period, Webber was called for charging, giving Minnesota another two-man advantage for the first 60 seconds of the third period.

While BU killed off the first half of the power play, the Gophers clicked at 1:40 with their third power-play goal of night to go ahead to stay. Mittelstadt scored for Minnesota, assisted by Brodzinski and Koster.

At 3:29, Minnesota pushed the lead to 4-2 when Mittelstadt blasted home a slap shot assisted by freshman Ryan Chesley and Huglen. The Gophers added two empty-net goals by Cooley, one with 2:41 to go and the other in the closing moments to finish the scoring.

After the game, Pandolfo focused on his players.

“I’m so proud of them,” he said. “They made my job easy this year and it’s been a pleasure working with them every day. At the end of the year it was a player-led team and that’s what we wanted. I’m going to miss these guys.”

The Eagles have two sessions remaining to fine-tune the particulars in preparation for the annual Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Football game at 11 a.m. on April 15 at Alumni Stadium.

“All third down is in and we have started two minute and now we are just kind getting everybody on the field playing football,” said BC head coach Jeff Hafley.

“Every day now is more of a scrimmage than with coaches on the field telling guys where to line up and having a script. It is trying to make the coaches think down and distance so they have to call it and not plan it and it’s the same with the players.

“They are learning to play the game now. We will have two practices with a more scrimmage-like mentality and more physical before we taper off for the spring game a little bit.”

Hafley made a significant makeover of his coaching staff after the Eagles’ disastrous 3-9 campaign in 2022. Hafley hired new positional coaches and upgraded existing coaches to coordinators.

Coaching overhauls take time to implement, especially when the roster is in flux with freshmen recruits and portal transfers. But Hafley believes the combination of knowledgeable instructors with enough seasoned veteran players has fast-tracked the transition.

Hafley has not set his maroon and gold rosters or decided a game format, but wants to make the spring game a fun event and a fallback for when the team returns in August for training camp.

“Obviously we are not going to go out and run all our plays,” said Hafley. “No one has seen us play offense yet so we are certainly not going to show it on TV. So, we will dummy down the spring game and have fun with it.

“But the next two (practices) are going to be physical and more competitive with situational football to make the guys think before going into training camp. That is where we are at.”

Sean Duggan (linebackers) and Aazaar Abdul-Rahim (secondary) are two of the positional coaches that Hafley upgraded to co-defensive coordinators while retaining their old jobs. Duggan is a former Eagles’ inside linebacker who came to BC through the St. Xavier High School of Cincinnati pipeline that produced two time All-American Luke Kuechly and All-ACC first team selection Steven Daniels.

Hafley conceded that the defense is well ahead of the offense going into the spring game. Duggan likes working under the new arrangement and has enjoyed the competitive drive the players have shown in practice.

“We have been rotating guys a lot and I think competition brings out the best in everybody and the best part is nobody is comfortable,” said Duggan. “You cannot have an off day and it has been good, but the guys are still rooting for each other and they want to see them succeed.

“But the competition has been real good and we are going to play everybody that can help us win a football game. It has been a hard-hitting spring and I think the last two days will be very much of the same, really competitive between the offense and the defense.

“I think the spring game is more about having fun and letting our players go enjoy it. They put in 14 hard days of football and the spring game is more about them.”

Cousin Vinny

Inside linebacker Vinny DePalma from Wayne, N.J. is back for his sixth year and fifth season at The Heights. DePalma served as a team captain on the defense in 2022 and Duggan is counting on him to run the huddle and position the players in the proper sets.

“Obviously Vinny has been here coming up on a decade now,” joked Duggan. “But it is great having him back, he’s coach on the field, he’s played a lot of football and he sees the game really well.”

DePalma started 12 games last season and led the team in solo tackles (49) and total tackles (89) along with seven tackles for a loss, three quarterback hits, one sack and a forced fumble.

DePalma has thrived in the rugged ACC and is looking forward to playing teams from the old Coastal Division under the new realignment. The three permanent schools on BC’s schedule are Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Miami, all of whom were originally in the Big East.

“I think it is fun to play different schools, fun to go to different places and fun to change it up,” said DePalma. “It still the ACC but a different rotation and I think it is going to be good to the league and good for us.”

Last fall, Mia Ewell and a male college athlete did the same promotional work for an online employment company. But when it was time to get paid, Ewell, a junior shortstop for the Morgan State softball team, received $30 less than her counterpart.

“It’s not a huge amount of money that I’m that upset about. But it was the fact that it even happened,” she said. “It was kind of like, ‘If I’m doing the same work, why am I not receiving the same compensation?’ It’s disappointing, but as a woman and as someone who has lived the life of a young girl and has done all this, it’s not that surprising.”

Ewell and Olivia Rothfeld, a junior singles player for Towson tennis, are hoping to change that outlook. They signed a name, image and likeness deal last month with H&R Block’s “A Fair Shot” program to raise awareness about the imbalance of NIL deals between male and female college athletes.

“I was really honored to be chosen to be a part of this project because it’s something that means a lot to me,” Rothfeld said. “I think it’s crazy that NIL is a pretty fairly new thing and the numbers are already seeming to favor men in terms of the amount they’re getting paid and the amount of deals they’re getting in general.”

The disparity of NIL deals between male and female college athletes is clear. According to numbers provided by H&R Block, only 23% of sponsorship money from the NIL market goes to female athletes. And only a fraction of that compensation is received by female athletes from historically Black colleges and universities, despite a recent study from Sponsor United that showed two HBCU athletes ranking first and second on a list of the top 10 NIL dealmakers in college sports from Jan. 1, 2022, to March 1, 2023.

“As we were thinking about how to lean in and provide support, we pivoted so that it became a program to support female athletes to further the conversation around equality and pay and help to close that gender gap by starting a conversation on the disparate approach across student-athletes,” H&R Block Chief Marketing Officer Jill Cress said. “It’s a really exciting platform and we treat the opportunity with a sense of responsibility to encourage these young women to fight for equity in their sponsorship dollars and our role in providing support for them.”

The program, which is co-sponsored by Fabletics and Jambys, has expanded from 19 female college athletes last year to 50 this year, which includes 18 Black athletes from 16 schools and eight from HBCUs.

It also coincides with Women’s History Month in March and the tax preparation season through the middle of April. To honor Women’s History Month, the athletes filmed short videos via TikTok citing the women in their lives who inspired them in their pursuits. The videos have generated almost 60 million impressions, according to H&R Block officials.

Ewell chose her older sister, Aliyah, who played outfield at Morgan State, and Rothfeld selected her mother, Paige. But Ewell said even her videos celebrating Women’s History Month drew critical comments.

“A lot of the time, there are men who are saying things like, ‘You’ll never compare to what male athletes can do,’” she said. “What I want people to understand is, we’re not trying to be men, we’re just trying to be the best at being a female athlete. I don’t have the natural strength of a man. If I’m playing baseball, I’m not going to hit any home runs. I can’t hit it over a fence 300 feet away. So I feel like it’s kind of been hard not to respond to those types of comments and stuff and to just let it go. But I have to realize that they’re just being haters. I’m doing my best at what I can do, and I don’t want other people to be discouraged or see me get all riled up at another person because of their irrelevant opinion.”

Rothfeld said she finds it disappointing that sponsors have contributed to the discrepancy in NIL deals between men and women.

“We’re all college athletes and we’re all working just as hard and putting in the same amount of hours,” she said. “So it’s pretty frustrating and overall just unfair that these companies are basically just giving in to the bias.”

Cress said she hopes “A Fair Shot” encourages other companies to expand their scope when sponsoring athletes.

“With our overall commitment to equity and who H&R Block is, having the platform to bring this topic of representation to this audience is a really important platform,” she said. “What we’re really excited about this year is, yes, it’s a big topic for the athletes like Mia and others, but it’s also a topic for other brands.”

Ewell and Rothfeld hope “A Fair Shot” continues to stoke conversations about equity for all college athletes.

“It’s really important that people keep this topic alive,” Rothfeld said. “We need to even out the playing field for men and women and just because in the past, men have been prioritized, that doesn’t mean that we can’t change things going forward.”

©2023 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The No. 5 ranked Terriers (29-10-0, 18-6-0) will put their nine-game win streak on the line when they take on No. 1 Minnesota (28-9-1, 19-4-1) in the opening semifinal on Thursday (5 p.m.) at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. BU is playing in its 38th NCAA tournament and making its 23rd visit to the Frozen Four.

Big 10 tournament champion Michigan (26-11-3) will make its record 27th appearance in the Frozen Four against ECAC regular season champion Quinnipiac (34-4-3) in the nightcap.

The Terriers own the longest active win streak in the nation, which also doubles as the longest active unbeaten streak, that began with a win at Vermont on Feb. 24.

“These guys all year long have taken what we’ve talked about and they have gone out there and done it,” said BU first-year head coach Jay Pandolfo. “That is what their mindset has been the last month or so now.

“We are just playing the right way, playing to our identity and it’s resulting in wins. And we are certainly going to need more of that with the team we are playing.”

The Terriers’ streak survived two overtime wins against Providence and Merrimack in the Hockey East Tournament followed by regulation victories over Western Michigan and Cornell in the NCAA Manchester Regional.

Jay O’Brien, a senior first line center from Hingham, contends the win streak Minnesota looks to end is the byproduct of veteran leadership and players knowing their roles.

“I think we are very fortunate to have a lot of depth on this team,” said O’Brien. “It’s kind of been a different guy every weekend or a different couple of guys ever weekend, which has been great to see.

“Guys know their roles and they have bought into their roles. I think everything’s kind of clicking for us on the ice and off the ice. The guys just love being around each other.

“The first thing that comes to mind for me is how special this group is off the ice, which leads to success on the ice. That’s kind of been the biggest thing for me.”

BU has five players with 10 or more goals with seniors Matt Brown and Wilmer Skoog topping the list with 16 apiece. But the player who has made the biggest impact on the program is Lane Hutson, a freshman defenseman North Barrington, Ill.

Hutson has 15 goals and 33 assists for 48 points, making him the highest-scoring first-year defenseman in Hockey East history. Hutson’s brother, freshman right wing Quinn Hutson, is third in scoring with 15 goals.

“I don’t know if I can pinpoint one thing, but his hockey sense is off the charts,” said Pandolfo. “I think he thinks two or three steps ahead of the guys he is playing against.

“I think his competitiveness is also something that is off the charts. He is one of the most competitive guys I have been around. He is more into winning than individual accomplishments.”

A pair of freshmen snipers paved the way for Minnesota’s trip to Tampa. Logan Cooley has 20 goals and leads the rest of Division 1 with 37 assists. Classmate Jimmy Smuggerud has 21 goals and 29 assists.

“Obviously, they have a lot of talent over there,” said Pandolfo. “Our job is to kind of take away time and space from those guys and kind of disrupt them any way we can.

“Puck management will be the big thing against them. Making good decisions with the puck and not throwing it away.”

Gampel Pavilion was open Monday night for students to watch the game, which was played in Houston. UConn officials said they were still assessing the extent of the damage Tuesday morning and planned to give an update on arrests and any injuries.

Most of the partying, which lasted into early Tuesday morning, was peaceful, but social media and television video showed students taking down signs and light posts, with several using one pole to smash through the glass door of one campus building as a crowd cheered.

“We were on the streets and people were going crazy,” Nancy Toskova, a 20-year-old junior from Montreal, told The Associated Press. “Everyone was celebrating. Everyone was happy. You felt good. Everyone came together. I was expecting something worse to be honest. I was expecting cars flipping and fires everywhere and people breaking everything, which happened but not to the extent I imagined.”

Absolute mayhem on the UConn campus after the national championship pic.twitter.com/k0zn5TBRyG

— Gaby Molina (@M_GabrielaMo) April 4, 2023

Local news stations showed a van that had been overturned, with all of its windows shattered. Video from social media also showed students gathered around what appeared to be furniture and wooden pallets that had been set on fire.

According to University spokesperson Stephanie Reitz, 15 people — mostly students — were arrested and charged with various crimes. Additionally, 16 people were taken to area hospitals for injuries that were not considered serious, Reitz added.

“The vast majority of those celebrating the Husky victory last night did so safely and responsibly,” Reitz said Tuesday. “A small number chose to risk their safety and that of others by vandalizing or destroying property after the game. UConn Police will investigate the vandalism and other potential criminal offenses that occurred. Those responsible will face arrest and, if they are students, sanctions up to and including expulsion.”

All hell has broken loose in Storrs @BarstoolStorrs pic.twitter.com/FqEHGWBSz5

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 4, 2023

The vandalism primarily consisted of broken light poles in the center of campus, broken glass in windows in some nearby buildings and a Student Union door, a vehicle turned on its side, and fires set in trash dumpsters and on wooden benches, according to Reitz.

“UConn Facilities Operations crews were on campus overnight and into (Tuesday) morning to document and clean up the damage,” Reitz said. “The damage estimates are still being determined.”

Classes and academic operations continued as normal on Tuesday.

Destroyed van on the UConn campus @WTNH pic.twitter.com/b5My2SkDpI

— Jillian Andrews (@JillAndrewsNews) April 4, 2023

Gov. Ned Lamont took to Twitter shortly after the 76-59 victory to congratulate the team

“You guys worked so hard for this and we could not be more proud,” he wrote. “Now, it’s time to plan a parade.”

The team returned to Storrs on Tuesday afternoon and was greeted with a Welcome Home rally inside Gampel Pavilion.

Information from The Associated Press and Courant reporter Justin Muszynski was used in this report.

DALLAS (AP) — LSU’s Angel Reese waved her hand in front of her face while staring down Caitlin Clark, then pointed toward her finger as if to say a ring was coming while walking toward the Iowa star.

The gestures late in the Tigers’ 102-85 victory in the NCAA championship game Sunday lit up social media, with comments supporting the “Bayou Barbie” for trash talk that’s just part of the game and condemning her for lacking grace in victory.

The bubbly junior from Baltimore, who transferred from Maryland to join flamboyant LSU coach Kim Mulkey, was unapologetic in the postgame news conference.

“All year, I was critiqued about who I was,” Reese said. “I don’t fit in a box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. But when other people do it, y’all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that’s going to speak up on what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you.”

Clark, the scoring sensation who was the first with consecutive 40-point games in an NCAA Tournament, made the face-waving gesture to no one in particular during an Elite Eight victory over Louisville.

The Associated Press Player of the Year wasn’t shy about showing her emotions when the Hawkeyes knocked off undefeated defending national champion South Carolina in the semifinals.

If she saw Reese’s gestures, Clark didn’t seem concerned about them.

“I was just trying to get to the handshake line and shake hands and be grateful that my team was in that position,” said Clark, who scored 30 points. “That’s all you can do is hold your head high, be proud of what you did. All the credit in the world to LSU. They were tremendous.”

In a 79-72 semifinal victory over Virginia Tech, Reese made what appeared to be a “you’re too small” gesture several times after scoring around the basket.

The fashionable 6-foot-3 post with modeling aspirations is becoming a social media magnet. Reese wooed Lil Wayne after chastising the rapper from New Orleans for reaching out to Elite Eight opponent Miami before doing the same with the Tigers.

“I’m going to be me, but I can’t do it without the girls here, and I can’t do it without the rest of my teammates and coaches,” said Reese, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds while three teammates scored at least 20 points.

She was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four after setting an NCAA single-season record with her 34th double-double against the Hawkeyes.

“Twitter can say what Twitter can say,” Reese said. “I love reading those comments. I have all the screenshots of what everybody has said about me all season. What are you going to say now?”

___

More AP coverage of March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Hergel is one of the 14 players Boston College coach Jeff Hafley fished out of the NCAA transfer portal to bolster the program for the 2023 season.

Hergel performed the duties of guard and center during the Eagles’ eighth spring football practice on Tuesday inside the Fish Field House. The session will conclude with the Jay McGillis Memorial spring football game on April 15 at Alumni Stadium.

“He is playing center guard and we are moving guys around,” said Hafley. “He is a guy that has the ability play center and guard and I think that is good for his future.

“He is in the mix for the guard spot but you have to have a back-up center. For Kyle’s own sake and looking at his own future, you must have some versatility. So, we are trying to teach him and train him to snap the ball.

“I am glad he is here. He is one of the strongest guys on the team and he is tough. He brings and edge to the line and has done a really good job so far.”

The 6-2, 314-pound graduate student is a Canadian import from Toronto who is playing at his third level of NCAA competition in his third region of the country.

“This was my second time being in the portal,” said Hergel. “The first time was crazy but this was even more wild because I was more of an established player.

“It was process but I fell in love with a lot of things here. I was attracted to the great O-linemen to come out of this place.”

Hergel began his career at the FCS level at North Dakota before transferring to Texas State of the Sun Belt conference. Hergel played two seasons at NTS and was named to the Sun Belt conference third team at guard in 2022.

Hergel wanted to make his final stand in a Power-5 Conference and that influenced his decision to come to BC. Louisville was the other ACC program on Hegel’s short list.

“It is kind of surreal coming from an FCS program and then to a Group of 5 program and now at the Power-5 level,” said Hergel. “It is an honor to don the jersey and being another O-lineman in the long history for great O-linemen here.

“Guys here are bigger as faster and you can’t get away with a lot of things I got away with in the FCS and the Group of 5. I have always put a huge emphasis on never staying stagnant. I have always wanted push myself and push my limits so I am happy to be here. I cannot wait to show that I can do it at the Power 5 level. “

The Eagles’ offensive line was in disarray throughout the 2022 season and the unit received the bulk of the criticism for BC’s 3-9 overall record and 2-6 record in the ACC. BC finished last in the ACC in yards per game with 305 and at the bottom in rushing with 63.3 yards per game. BC was the only team in the conference that did not crack the century mark in rushing yards per game.

Hefley’s first move to address the Eagles’ deficiencies across the front was to extricate offensive line coach Matt Applebaum from the Miami Dolphins.

Applebaum is making his second stint with the Eagles, having coached the offensive front from 2020-21. Applebaum developed 2022 first-round NFL draft pick when guard Zion Johnson was selected by the LA Chargers.

Hergel feels that the Eagles’ OL has regained its collective confidence with Applebaum running the room. The right guard position is open with Christian Mahogany, a 2022 preseason All-America who missed 2022 with a knee injury, slated to occupy the left spot. Drew Kendall of Norwell will be the starting center, with Hergel also making snaps.

“I think we have a really good cohesion starting to build in that group,” said Hergel. “Christian is obviously the huge piece in it and he is going to work his way back into it real soon here.

“But overall, we are all real close off the field and on the field, we work really hard. But it starts with coach App, he keeps that group real tight. It is great to be around him every day.”

BU advanced to the Division 1 NCAA Frozen Four for the 23rd time and will No. 1 ranked Minnesota, a 4-1 winner over St. Cloud, on April 6 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. The No. 5 ranked Terriers improved to 29-10-0 and are 6-0 in NCAA tournament games played in Manchester.

BU goalie Drew Commesso made 13 saves to record his 25th win of the season. Commesso allowed just two goals in BU’s wins over Western Michigan (5-1) and Cornell to secure the Manchester Regional MVP award.

“It feels great that we all put together that effort and it wasn’t just the last two nights, it was the last two weekends,” said Commesso. “We knew every game going forward is going to be a battle, it was going to be close and it was the little things that made the difference.

“Blocking shots, winning battles, doing the little things. Our coaches have been preaching to us that is what makes a difference.”

The feel-good story of the regional was BU senior right-wing Ethan Phillips, who played on the Terriers first line with Jay O’Brien and Matt Brown. Phillips, who missed 11 games this season with an injury, scored the game winning goal and had a goal and two assists against Western Michigan.

“I am really happy for Ethan,” said BU first year coach Jay Pandolfo. “He had the injury there and he was out 10 to 12 weeks and when he came back and took him a little while to get his conditioning going and get his legs under him.

“For him stick to with it and this weekend, he was a big reason that we won both these games.”

The Terriers took a 2-0 lead when Phillips converted a neutral zone turnover into a breakaway at 7:26 of the third. Cornell goalie Ian Shane (19 saves) handled Phillips’ initial shot from the bottom of the right circle but failed to contain the puck.

Phillips collected his own rebound at the goal crease and wristed the puck glove side for his fourth of the season and second of the regional. Cornell scored a goal with 28.4 seconds remaining to deny Commesso his third shutout of the campaign.

“I got a lot of confidence from my teammates and coaches, they have been supportive the whole time I was coming back from injury,” said Phillips.

BU had its five-on-five operational from the onset, finding open shots from all angles on Shane. Freshman left wing Jeremy Wilmer launched a backhander from the bottom of the left circle at 8:20 that Shane deflected high with a nanosecond to spare. BU maintained extended zone time through repeated line shifts while the Big Red got it first shot on goal at 11:57.

BU was handed the first power play of the game when forward Winter Wallace got lugged for tripping at 15:41. The Big Red successfully managed their 18th straight penalty kill and went on the power play when BU’s Luke Tuch was boxed for roughing. The first period was scoreless when time expired.

BU broke the deadlock on a routine dump and chase at 2:13 of the second. Wilmer got possession from a scrum in the right corner and fed senior forward Wilmer Skook, who was left unguarded on Shane’s goal mouth. Skoog executed a catch and shoot that beat Shane to the near post for his 16th of the season and second of the regional.

“I think we had some chemistry early in the year and it was good to get back with him,” said Jeremy Wilmer. “I saw it hit the wall and I just kind of swooped in to pick up the puck and he was in a great spot.”

The teams executed successful penalty kills before the midway point of the second, but the Terriers required three stellar saves by Commesso and one hit post to preserve their one-goal lead. Cornell caught a break when Quinn Hutson hit the right post on a clean breakaway at 14:15. BU held a 13-11 edge in shots on goal after two.

The approach is not giving NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley a positive first impression of the former Massachusetts governor, just three weeks into his new gig leading the NCAA.

“Did he say we’re gonna ask the politicians to help us? That pisses me off already,” said Barkley, a longtime basketball commentator for Turner Sports. “Our politicians are awful people.”

Barkley’s in-studio comments came after an interview between Baker and March Madness commentators Greg Gumbel and Clark Kellog aired Thursday night. The segment highlighted how Baker plans on tackling his top priority of adding consumer protection around NIL for athletes and their families.

“One of the ADs (said) the only thing true about it at this point is that everybody lies,” Baker said about the NIL market. “I would love to create some transparency and accountability around that so families actually know what they’re getting into.”

Kellog put the pressure on by asking Baker how he envisions the NCAA accomplishing that goal.

“There is a couple of opportunities there,” Baker said. “One is obviously we’re gonna talk to some folks in Washington about this. There is a fair amount of appetite to try to deal with this. They’re hearing from a lot of the same people I’ve been hearing from.”

There had been plenty of talk and some posturing by politicians in Washington about the state of college sports before the NCAA lifted its ban on third parties paying athletes for NIL endorsements on July 1, 2021.

Since then, there has been no significant movement on a federal bill. Meanwhile, more than 30 states have passed NIL laws, creating a patchwork of rules and regulations for schools that are competing and recruiting against one another.

If the feds can’t come through, the NCAA needs to take it upon itself to develop a program to try to solve the issue, Baker said.

“The only problem with it is if the feds do it, all 50 states comply,” he said. “If we do it, we’ll have to nudge perhaps some states and their collegiate programs and participate because they may have state laws that don’t require that they play.”

Barkley said if he was in Baker’s position, he’d take a different approach.

“I would actually go to people who actually care about basketball and not looking at it just for themselves,” Barkley said. “I would put a committee together. I would love for Clark to be on the committee, get some coaches, get some players, and let’s try to work this thing out.”

Barkley finished his reaction, emphatically saying “We can’t ask these politicians nothing. Those people are awful people, democrats and republicans. They’re all crooks.”

Some members of congress have even suggested Baker and the NCAA come up with a solution without federal guidance.

“I hope Charlie Baker brings a fresh approach to the NCAA,” U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Con said earlier this year, “and advises that instead of lobbying Congress, the NCAA and its member colleges should work directly with the athletes to ensure they are fairly compensated and get the health, safety and academic protections they deserve.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report

But the Massachusetts squads were emphatically ousted before 4,462 fans at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Conn.

Harvard was toppled 8-1 by Ohio State in the afternoon game, while Merrimack was blanked 5-0 by Quinnipiac in the nightcap.

Boston University is the lone Massachusetts school still in the hunt for the national title.

Ohio State 8, Harvard 1: Only a late goal prevented Harvard (24-8-2) from getting shut out.

The nation’s fourth-leading scorer, Harvard junior Sean Farrell, was held to an assist by a determined Ohio State (21-15-3) squad. Farrell entered the game with 53 points.

Trailing 8-0, Harvard got on the board with 3:14 left in regulation when Farrell and Ian Moore set up a goal by John Farinacci.

Ohio State dominated the opening two periods, outshooting the Crimson Tide by a wide 34-8 margin. The Buckeyes led 2-0 after one period thanks to a 17-3 shot domination. The game slipped out of Harvard’s grasp in the second period when Ohio State exploded for five goals.

Former Boston University forward Jake Wise collected four assists to lead Ohio State’s offense. Wise previously starred at Central Catholic High School. The Reading native is second on Ohio State in scoring with 39 points in 39 games.

Boston Bruins prospect Mason Lohrei, a sophomore defenseman, was dominant, scoring once and dishing out two assists. Cam Thiesing set the tone by scoring 3:22 into the game and he added a second goal to make it 4-0 in the second period.

This was Harvard’s eighth NCAA appearance in Ted Donato’s 18 seasons as coach.

Quinnipiac 5, Merrimack 0: Merrimack was unable to penetrate the defenses of Quinnipiac (31-4-3), the nation’s winningest team and the program with the top defense.

Quinnipiac entered the game allowing just an average of 1.59 goals per game. The Bobcats lowered that mark by blanking Merrimack (23-14-1), which finished second in Hockey East in the regular season and postseason.

Merrimack was outshot 35-15 and held to only two shots on goal in the third period. Sophomore goalie Yaniv Perets posted his 10th shutout of the season for Quinnipiac. Offensively, the Connecticut school received two goals from Jacob Quillan and a one-goal, two-assist performance from Sam Lipkin.

Collin Graf of Lexington assisted on the second goal. The sophomore, a transfer from Union, is the nation’s second-leading scorer with 20-36-56 totals.

Quinnipiac led 2-0 after the second period and iced the game with an empty-net goal with 1:29 remaining. This was Merrimack’s third NCAA appearance.

BU regrouped from getting knocked sideways in the Beanpot to capture the Hockey East regular season and tournament championships. For those achievements, Pandolfo was named the Hockey East Coach of the Year.

The Terriers were awarded the No. 2 seed in the Manchester Regional and Pandolfo experienced his first NCAA tournament victory as a coach in the Terriers’ 5-1 thrashing of Western Michigan on Thursday afternoon at SNHU Arena.

“I am enjoying it and I feel, number one, very fortunate,” said Pandolfo. “I am grateful to have this opportunity to coach at Boston University and that is where I went and spent four of the best years of my life.

“It’s been great and I have a great staff. Obviously. I inherited these players but they have all bought in. I am really happy to be coaching these guys.”

BU (28-10-0) will look to secure its first trip to the Frozen Four since 2015 when the Terriers take on No. 4 seed Cornell (21-10-2) in the regional final on Saturday at 4. Cornell advanced with a stunning 2-0 upset victory over No. 1 seed and reigning national champion Denver in the nightcap on Thursday. BU beat then No. 15 ranked Cornell 4-3 on Jan. 14 at Agganis Arena.

“We have done this all year, in college hockey you play a lot of back to back games so it is actually a benefit to have a day in between,” said Pandolfo. “We will just reset and be ready and go from there.”

Pandolfo played four seasons at BU from 1992-96 under legendary coach Jack Parker. Pandolfo scored 79 goals with 90 assists in his BU tenure that included two Beanpot titles, two Hockey East titles, four straight trips to the Frozen Four and the national championship in 1995.

Pandolfo was the Terriers captain, a first team All-American and runner up for the Hobey Baker Award in 1996 before starting his NHL career with the New Jersey Devils. Pandolfo won two Stanley Cups with the Devils.

Pandolfo remained in the NHL when he entered the coaching ranks and was an assistant to Bruce Cassidy with the Boston Bruins. He left the Bruins organization to become an assistant at BU for the 2021-22 season before being named the program’s 13th head coach on May 2.

“Coach Parker had a huge influence on me and in my career and helped me moving forward,” said Pandolfo. “I was fortunate to have a great NHL career with being part of some great organizations.

“But I think I learned a lot playing under coach Parker and what that meant was having a team-first mentality. I learned a lot from him. I am trying to bring some of the same type of mentality back to BU with this job.”

Cornell has been under the stewardship of head coach Mike Schafer for the last 28 seasons, but the Big Red have not advanced to the Frozen Four since 2003. Schafer instilled a “respect but do not fear” approach for the game with Denver and intends to implement the same mentality for BU.

“They were really focused on Denver but we have played in big time environments at Cornell,” said Schafer. “We are used to the big stage and playing in front of big crowds in big moments.

“They (BU) are a hell of a hockey team and I talked to Jay Pandolfo after that game. I said, ‘they taught us a lesson we needed to learn’ and they have some of the best players.”

The No. 2 seed Terriers exploded for three goals in the second period and coasted to a 5-1 victory over No. 3 Western Michigan in the opening semifinal of the Manchester Regional on Thursday at SNHU Arena.

The Terriers will look to advance to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2015 when they face Cornell on Saturday at 4 p.m. Cornell upset defending national champion Denver, 2-0, in the second game.

BU is now 5-0 in NCAA regional games played in Manchester. The included two wins in 2009, when the Terriers last won the national championship. BU goalie Drew Commesso of Norwell made 24 saves to secure his 23rd win of the season.

“I thing it being close to Boston certainly helped us,” said BU coach Jay Pandolfo. “We had our band up here and our student body and a lot of family members so it definitely was an advantage having that behind you.”

BU got into a flow from the opening faceoff and created several scoring chances with good forechecking and tape to tape passes. Matt Brown created a partial breakaway off a turnover but WMU goalie Cameron Rowe (23 saves) played it perfectly.

WMU’s formidable attack gained traction and the Broncos’ appeared to take 1-0 lead at 8:26 on a muscle by junior right wing Hugh Larkin in Commesso’s goal mouth. The play went under review and the goal was disallowed for goalie interference.

“It was kind of one of those plays where everyone was crashing the net,” said Commesso. “I knew right when it went in it would be reviewed and had a feeling it would be called back.”

BU caught a second break at 13:28 when center Max Sasson’s breakaway backhand bounced off the right post.

BU broke the deadlock at 15:26 on freshman defenseman Lane Hutson’s 15th of the season. Senior right wing Ethan Phillips won a puck battle in the right corner and fed Jay O’Brien in the circle. O’Brien relayed the puck though the low slot to Hutson, who ripped a wrister inside the near post. BU exited the frame with a 9-8 edge in shots on goal.

“We talked about getting the puck behind them and winning some puck battles,” said Pandolfo. “That was the key for us and in the middle of the first we kind of got away from that.

“But we found a way to get back to that mindset and Ethan Phillips was active tonight, I give him a lot of credit.”

The game broke open in the second period with captivating displays of north-south hockey from both camps. BU went up 2-0 when defenseman Domenick Fensore led a 3-on-1 break up the left boards. Fensore made a cut toward the net and fed Quinn Huston, who flicked a wrist shot by Rowe for his 15th goal.

BU went up 3-0 when Phillips made a sweet saucer pass to Brown, who rushed unattended down the middle of the slot. Brown did a catch and shoot that found the exposed half of the net for his 16th.

“We traded chances there in the second and we were executing pretty well on rushes and broken plays,” said Lane Hutson. “We just kind of opened up the game in that period.”

WMU made it 3-1 at 7:33 on Jason Polin’s 30th of the season. Polin, the nation’s goals leader, became second player in NCAA history to record 30-plus goals in five seasons. BU went up 4-1 thanks to a wrist shot by Wilmer Skoog from the left circle at 17:16. BU led WMU, 21-15, in shots on goal after two.

WMU coach Pat Ferschweiler pulled Rowe with just under five minutes to play in the third. Phillips made it 5-1 with an empty netter at 17:34.

It may be a business trip to Vegas, but the Huskies encountered a touristy problem. The players, coaches and other members of the traveling party found their hotel accommodations unsuitable when they arrived Tuesday afternoon, several rooms not sufficiently cleaned from apparently rowdy previous guests.

UConn, team sources confirmed, asked the NCAA, which assigns hotels, to find a new spot and they moved to another hotel at the other end of the famous Las Vegas strip.

The Huskies were able to make the move and assemble for their team dinner Tuesday night, and practice on schedule Wednesday.

The episode was first reported by Hearst CT.

The Huskies play Arkansas in the Round of 16 on Thursday night at 7:10 p.m. If they win, they would play either UCLA or Gonzaga in the West Regional final on Saturday.

That’s when the 16-team men’s hockey tournament opens play. This year’s tournament features high-flying freshmen, perennial national powers and a couple of Cinderella stories. There’s no shortage of talent. Or storylines. Look for many of the players to sign NHL contracts at the conclusion of their tournament runs.

Here’s five things to look for:

1. Which Massachusetts teams qualified?

Two of the four Beanpot schools — Boston University and Harvard — are in the hunt. The Terriers and Crimson are joined by upstart Merrimack, making only its second NCAA Tournament appearance in the tournament’s modern era.

The rosters of BU (27-10) and Harvard (24-7-2) are loaded with National Hockey League draft picks. BU is returning to the national tournament under first-year head coach Jay Pandolfo, a Burlington native and former Terrier captain. Ted Donato has led Harvard to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in 18 seasons.

Somehow Scott Borek wasn’t named the Hockey East Coach of the Year after guiding Merrimack (23-13-1) to second place in the regular season, the program’s highest finish. Then he led the Warriors to the league’s championship game, where they lost in overtime to BU.

On Thursday, BU will battle Western Michigan (20-10-2). On Friday, Harvard will clash with Ohio State (20-15-3) and Merrimack will try to upset Quinnipiac (30-4-3).

2. Where are the regionals?

Luckily for Boston area fans, three of the four regionals are within driving distance: Manchester, N.H., Bridgeport, Conn. and — for those not afraid to put a little extra mileage on the car — Allentown, Pa. The other regional is in Fargo, N.D.

Manchester, N.H.: Boston University, Western Michigan, Cornell and Denver. The pick: Defending national champion Denver will escape this bracket.

Fargo, N.D.: Minnesota State, St. Cloud State, Canisius and Minnesota. The pick: Minnesota will emerge from the pack.

Bridgeport, Conn.: Ohio State, Harvard, Merrimack and Quinnipiac. The pick: Quinnipiac, the team with the most wins in the country, will punch its ticket to Florida.

Allentown, Pa.: Michigan Tech, Penn State, Colgate and Michigan. The pick: In an upset, Penn State, backed by local fans, will make its first Frozen Four.

3. Who are the top freshmen?

It’s difficult to remember the last time this many rookies played such prominent roles for many of the country’s elite programs.

Consider that of the seven top scorers in the country, six were playing junior hockey last season. That’s remarkable. And unprecedented.

Only Harvard junior Sean Farrell, who’s tied for third with 52 points, is not a freshman. Michigan sniper Adam Fantilli, expected to be taken No. 2 in the NHL Draft in June, leads the way with a 27-34-61 line.

He’s followed by fellow rookies Collin Graf of Quinnipiac (20-35-55), Logan Cooley of Minnesota (19-33-52), Jimmy Snuggerud of Minnesota (20-29-49), Ryan McAllister of Western Michigan (13-35-48) and Lane Hutson of Boston University (14-33-47).

Hutson may be putting together the most special season of any rookie. He’s the lone defenseman on the list and the highest-scoring 19-and-under blueliner since BC’s Brian Leetch way back in the 1986-87 season.

4. Who’s an underdog to root for?

Seven of the 16 programs in this year’s tournament have won national titles. Denver and Michigan each have captured nine championships, followed by BU (5), Minnesota (5), Michigan Tech (3), Cornell (2) and Harvard (1).

For those who love to latch onto an underdog, consider rooting for Western Michigan (BU fans aside, of course), Canisius, Merrimack or Penn State. Forget national titles. None of those programs have ever reached the Frozen Four, while Colgate has made it to the final four just once.

Canisius may be the ultimate underdog. The Buffalo, N.Y., school is making only its second NCAA Tournament appearance, the first coming in 2013. Canisius has never won a game in the national tournament.

5. Who will win the title?

Minnesota’s the pick. The Golden Gophers have been stuck on five national championships since 2003. Twenty years is long enough between titles.

Look for Minnesota to be skating around Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., with the national championship trophy on April 8. The Golden Gophers, led by prized freshmen Cooley and Snuggerud, are hungry after being knocked out in the semifinals last season.

Offense wins this time of year. Denver was the highest-scoring team last season and won the title in Boston. Minnesota is second in scoring (4.08 goals per game) this season. Of the nine highest-scoring teams in the country, eight are in the national tournament.

The Golden Gophers are also battled tested, sporting an 11-6 record vs. teams in the field. The title drought will end. They’ll be celebrating in the streets of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

The same can be said for the Terriers’ (27-10-0) opponent, Western Michigan (23-14-1), which possesses a dominant first line and the overall firepower to match BU. Puck drop is 2 p.m.

The No. 2 seed Terriers enter the field of 16 for the 38th time with the nation’s fourth-highest scoring offense, averaging 3.92 goals per game. The No. 3 seed Broncos are fifth with 3.87 goals per game and those numbers add up to a potential shootout in the opening match.

Defending champion and No. 1 seed Denver (30-9-0), which won its ninth national championship last April at the TD Garden, will take on No. 4 Cornell (20-10-2) in the second game at 5:30.

“They obviously have some great offensive players up front so it is going to be our job to just kind of take away time and space from them,” said senior defenseman Domenick Fensore of Western Michigan. “We have to close quick on them in the D-zone as well and transition offense quickly.”

The Terriers’ first line can expect the same reception in the Broncos’ zone, so BU’s game plan will be to match Western Michigan’s aggression with more aggression. BU senior left wing Matt Brown, who leads the Terriers with 15 goals and is second in scoring with 44 points, anchors the Terriers’ first line with senior center Wilmer Skoog (14-15-29) and senior right wing Jay O’Brien (7-23-30).

“They are a very aggressive team, they like to press on the forecheck and that is something we have been preparing for,” said Brown. “We have not really faced that the past couple of weeks.

“We kind of faced teams that sat back a little more so, we are going to make that adjustment. We know they are very good offensively and we have been preparing for that as well. We must take away their time and space but most of the time has been on our usual preparation.”

The matchup features two of the most dynamic scorers in the country, both of who are finalists for the Hobey Baker Award.

BU freshman defenseman Lane Huston led Hockey East in scoring with 47 points. He has 14 goals and an eye-popping 33 assists in 36 games. Huston earned Hockey East Tournament MVP honors by scoring two goals, including the game winner in overtime in the title match against Merrimack at the TD Garden. Hutson leads all Division 1 defenseman in points and assists per game and he has 16 multiple-point games this season, a remarkable number for a backend player.

Western Michigan counters with senior right wing Jason Polin, who leads the nation with 29 goals. Polin needs one tally to become the second player in NCAA history to record 30-plus goals over the past five seasons. Polin is aligned with two prominent scorers on the Broncos’ first line, center Max Sasson (15-27-42) and left wing Ryan McAlister (13-35-48). Collectively they are known as the “Assassin Line.”

“He (Polin) can score and that first line, they are dynamic and very good offensively,” said BU first year coach Jay Pandolfo, the Hockey East Coach of the Year. “All three of them are dangerous offensively and we are aware of that.

“Against any good talented players you have got make sure you are not giving them time and space. You have to be aware when they are on the ice and make sure you are managing the puck well when they are on the ice. That is the game plan against those guys but we expect them to get after it for sure.”

The teams arrived in the Granite State under different circumstances. BU owns the longest active win streak in the nation, going 7-0 since beating Vermont on Feb. 24. The Broncos dropped four of their last six games that included consecutive losses to Denver in the final series of the regular season and Colorado College in the NCHC quarterfinals.

“We are going to play our brand of hockey, which we focused on during the entire break,” said Broncos coach Pat Freschweiler. “We are aware of what Boston is trying to do, they are a team that I think looks a lot like us.

“They get up and down the ice well as we do. They like having the pucks and putting pressure on teams like we do so I think it is going to be a great contest.”

“Earl has done an outstanding job leading our men’s basketball program over the last two seasons and we are looking forward to him doing so many years to come,” said BC Athletic Director Blake James. “I am excited to watch the program continue to grow under his leadership.”

Grant has made the Eagles more competitive in the ACC over the past two seasons, but the move could also be construed as James being proactive. There are many attractive Division 1 vacancies, including nearby Providence College in the Big East and Notre Dame in the ACC.

The Eagles recorded nine conference wins for the first time in 14 years that included three ranked opponents, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Virginia. BC rebounded from a slow start against non-conference teams to win 16 games and advance to the second round of the ACC tournament.

RICH THOMPSON

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Sobbing as she received hugs from friends, family and administrators, Mississippi coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin tried to grasp the magnitude of her team’s stunning win against top-seeded Stanford when someone reminded her there’s more basketball to be played.

Her two young daughters danced for joy on the floor.

Her proud father provided a shoutout to everybody back home in The Bahamas.

Her team posed at midcourt and shouted, “Seattle!” That’s where the Rebels are headed next.

Madison Scott hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left that gave Mississippi the lead for good, Angel Baker scored 13 points, and the Rebels delivered on their declaration to get defensive, stunning top-seeded Stanford 54-49 on Sunday night to reach the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years.

“First of all just incredibly grateful. I have a lot of mentors in my life and one of my mentors would always say to me that the person with the experience is at the mercy of the one with the anointing,” the 40-year-old McPhee-McCuin said in reference to Hall of Famer and winningest women’s coach Tara VanDerveer. “He spoke that over my life maybe 10 years ago. And so to be in this situation right now, to take down an historical program like Stanford, a coach and a woman that I admire I have watched is incredible.”

Behind the entire game and never with a lead, Stanford called timeout with 28 seconds left then Hannah Jump turned the ball over and Scott converted. Haley Jones lost the ball out of bounds on the Cardinal’s last possession with a chance to tie then again in the waning moments.

Marquesha Davis hit a pair of free throws with 15.4 seconds to play as Ole Miss overcame not making a field goal over the final 5:47, going 0 for 8.

“This is such a big accomplishment. A lot of us came here to make history and that’s what we’re doing,” freshman Ayanna Thompson said.

These upstart Rebels (25-8) advance to the Seattle Regional semifinal next weekend, while VanDerveer’s Stanford team (29-6) is eliminated far earlier than this group envisioned — the season ending on the Cardinal’s home floor. Jones fought tears after her final game, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds but five turnovers.

“Some of the things we did were self-inflicted. The turnovers really hurt us,” VanDerveer said. “They’re really a tough team, they’re a lot better than (No.) 8 teams we’ve played before. Sometimes you don’t have a really good matchup.”

Only four No. 1 seeds had lost before the Sweet 16 since 1994, with Duke the last one in 2009. Stanford did so once before, falling to 16th-seeded Harvard in the first round of the 1998 tournament.

The Cardinal had reached 14 straight Sweet 16s and hadn’t lost in the first or second rounds since No. 10 seed Florida State shocked the fifth-seeded Cardinal 68-61 at Maples Pavilion in the second round exactly 16 years ago to the day before on March 19, 2007.

Cameron Brink came back from a one-game absence because of a stomach bug to finish with 20 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots, but Stanford never led and tried to come from behind all night. The program’s career blocks leader, the junior star finished with 118 on the season and has 297 total.

“Cam wasn’t 100% today but I thought she really battled,” VanDerveer said.

Stanford had won 21 consecutive NCAA games on its home floor and is 41-5 all-time at Maples during March Madness.

Ole Miss led the entire first half on the way to a 29-20 advantage at the break at raucous Maples Pavilion, where the crowd went wild when Brink blocked three straight shots in the same sequence by Rita Igbokwe midway through the second quarter. About two minutes later, Igbokwe grabbed at her mouth after being hit.

The Rebels got a scare when senior guard Myah Taylor went down hard grabbing at her chest with 6:41 left in the third after colliding with Francesca Belibi while moving to defend Indya Nivar. After a short break to catch her breath, Taylor was back running the point.

The Rebels declared from Day 1 arriving in the Bay Area they were ready to play their tenacious defense to make a mark on the NCAA Tournament. Stanford’s layups regularly rolled out. The Cardinal got called for repeated offensive fouls. They made mistakes when it mattered most.

“It brought tears to my eyes,” said Gladstone McPhee, coach McPhee-McCuin’s father. “It’s beautiful. This is what you wait for.”

BIG PICTURE Ole Miss: Parents Gladstone and Daisy cheered on fifth-year coach McPhee-McCuin as her team reached the second round after last year’s first-round exit by South Dakota. Her daughters, 10-year-old Yasmine and Yuri, 5, rooted the team all the way, with Yasmine yelling, “That’s my mom!” when Ole Miss came out before tipoff. … The Rebels advanced to the Elite Eight in 2007. After grabbing 24 offensive rebounds in the win against Gonzaga, the Rebels crashed the boards again to create second chances with 20 more.

Stanford: The Cardinal also never led in the first half of 55-46 loss at USC on Jan. 15. … They had a 14-game home winning streak since a 76-71 overtime loss to No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 20. … VanDerveer announced Jump plans to return for another year of eligibility. Jones will turn pro and Belibi has been accepted into a program at Harvard.

___

AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

DENVER (AP) — Drew Timme added something new to his twisting, turning, head-faking, mustachioed repertoire — a 3-pointer to help Gonzaga get over the hump and back to the Sweet 16.

The Gonzaga big man extended his one-of-a-kind college career by at least one more game, finishing with 28 points Sunday to help the Zags make their eighth straight Sweet 16 with a come-from-behind 84-81 win over TCU.

Timme made his first 3 since December — and only his third of the season — as part of a 13-1 run that helped the third-seeded Zags (30-5) take a seven-point lead with just under nine minutes left after trailing most of the night.

“It was huge — the clock, the two-point lead,” Timme said of the margin before he made his shot. “I just launched one up there. All you can do is smile and laugh.”

After TCU pulled back within three late, Timme made a twisting shot in the lane with a defender draped all over him to trigger a 4-0 mini-run that put the game out of reach.

Next stop for the 6-foot-10 senior and his social media-friendly mustache: Las Vegas for the West Region semifinals and a meeting with UCLA on Thursday. It will be a rematch of the teams’ Final Four game two years ago, when Jalen Suggs banked one in from the half-court logo at the buzzer for the win.

Mike Miles Jr. finished with 24 points and four assists in his second straight electric game for the sixth-seeded Horned Frogs (22-13), who were trying to win two games in the same tournament for the first time in program history.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few pulled Miles aside briefly during the postgame handshake.

“He said that he’s coached a lot NBA players and that I am one,” Miles said. “It’s appreciated.”

Damion Baugh finished with 15 points for TCU, including a not-so-meaningless 3 he hit at the buzzer to help the Horned Frogs cover the 4.5-point spread listed on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Small consolation for TCU, though for 30 minutes-plus, the Frogs looked like very much like one of the 16 best teams in the country. They came at the Bulldogs in waves, trying to stop Timme with every big man on the roster.

But while the Gonzaga big man worked for every one of his 12 baskets and his eight rebounds, TCU’s bigs were all in foul trouble as the game wound down. One of the two Horned Frogs who fouled out was JaKobe Coles, who made the last-second runner that gave TCU the first-round win against Arizona State.

“Obviously, it was pretty early in the first half when we had to make some adjustments, play a lot of different lineups, probably even deeper than I thought we would,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said.

TCU had led by as many as 10 in the first half.

Rasir Bolton (17 points) led Gonzaga’s first big run. His two 3-pointers and another by Julian Strawther gave the Bulldogs a 46-45 lead after they had missed 12 of their 14 attempts from behind the arc in the first half.

Strawther, a Las Vegas native, will head home for his team’s next game. And Timme joined a list that includes Bill Bradley, Elvin Hayes and Danny Manning as only the seventh player with nine NCAA Tournament games of 20-plus points.

“I think he’s going to go down as one of the all-time great college players in the history of the game,” Few said. “And he still wasn’t supposed to shoot that 3. But that’s what makes him good. He does things like that every once in a while.”

TIMME ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Timme said he was annoyed by what he called “some nice things on the internet before” the game that took shots at him and Gonzaga. “Throw a little lighter fluid on the fire if you wish,” he said. “I thought TCU was a highly educated school, and they didn’t sound so smart with their comments pregame, so you know. …”

SWEET 16 ANNIVERSARY

The meeting Thursday with UCLA in Vegas will fall on the 16th anniversary of their classic Sweet 16 game, won 73-71 by the Bruins. Over the final, frenetic 40 seconds, UCLA made two steals, scored the last five points and left Zags star Adam Morrison nearly crying on the court.

ONE FEWER BIG MAN

With TCU’s big men in foul trouble, one difference might have been the absence of Eddie Lampkin. Lampkin, a key cog in the TCU frontcourt much of the year, entered the transfer portal just before the Big 12 tournament.

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