LOS ANGELES – The No. 6-ranked UCLA softball team fell to Northwestern, 8-0, in six innings in a Big Ten Conference series-opener at Easton Stadium Friday afternoon.
 
The loss marked the second time this season the Bruins (46-8, 16-4 Big Ten) fell in mercy-rule fashion and was shut out. UCLA committed a season-high four errors in the contest. Senior Savannah Pola, freshman Rylee Slimp and sophomore Kaitlyn Terry accounted for the Bruins’ three hits.
 
All eight of the Wildcats’ (28-16-1, 15-5 Big Ten) runs were unearned and came with two outs.
 
Northwestern scored its first three runs in the second inning after a fielding error with two outs by shortstop Kaniya Bragg extended the inning. Bragg, tracking a ball twirling towards shallow left field, collided with Slimp and the ball dropped between them. The next batter, No. 9 hitter Avery Garden, took advantage of the extra life with a towering two-run homer into the right field trees off UCLA starter Taylor Tinsley. On an 0-2 count to the Wildcats’ next hitter Grace Nieto, Tinsley surrendered a second straight homer for a third unearned run.
 
Nieto finished the game 3-for-3 and a longball. Garden and right fielder Kelsey Nader joined Nieto with multiple hits.
 
Tinsley finished the second inning before being pulled for right-handed reliever Addisen Fisher. Tinsley was dealt her fourth loss of the year despite not allowing an earned run.
 
With two outs in the third inning, junior third baseman Jordan Woolery was slow moving to her left and booted a ground ball hit by Lauren Sciborski with two on to load the bases. Once again, Northwestern took advantage of the opportunity with a bases-clearing triple into the left field corner by Ayana Lindsey to double the lead to 6-0. Lyndsey was brought home shortly after on a single by Garden into center field.
 
In the top of the sixth inning, Wildcats shortstop Kaylie Avvisato put the Bruins on run-rule notice by stealing second base and advancing to third on an errant throw down by UCLA catcher Sofia Mujica. Avvisato scored easily on a sacrifice fly by Nader to left-center.
 
NEXT UP
UCLA looks to even the series against Northwestern tomorrow at noon (PT) at Easton Stadium. Tickets are available to purchase at the LINK. The remainder of the series will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network.
 

BRIGHTON, Mass. – With the game tied 2-2 headed to the bottom of the sixth, Boston College (23-25, 10-16 ACC) scored one in the sixth and three more in the seventh to defeat Stanford (23-20, 8-18 ACC) 6-2 on Sunday to even a three-game ACC series.

Stanford jumped out to the early 1-0 lead in the second as Charlie Saum blooped a two-out single into center field to chase home Rintaro Sasaki. Sasaki had reached with a leadoff double to start the inning.

One of the best baserunning teams in the ACC, Boston College managed to plate a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead on a productive out to third base in the third inning. With runners at second and third and one out, Gunnar Johnson chopped a ball to Trevor Haskins at third that was charged and thrown on the run to first. The throw skipped off the turf and was picked out by Sasaki for the out, but trail runner Patrick Roche spun third on the play and scored well ahead of the throw to the plate.

The Cardinal immediately answered to tie the game in the top of the fourth as freshman JJ Moran laced a line drive out to left field for his first career home run. The homer was the first of two hits for Moran on Saturday afternoon.

The 2-2 game held until the bottom of the sixth when Vince Cimini shot a two-out single up the middle and past the diving effort of Jimmy Nati to chase home the go-ahead run and reclaim the Boston College lead.

The run was charged to Stanford reliever Ryan Speshyock, as the right-hander was eventually saddled with the loss and dropped to 1-1 on the season. Speshyock, the first of three relievers used on Saturday, allowed the one run on three hits and a walk while striking out three over two innings.

Senior Ty Uber made an emergency start for the Cardinal after junior Matt Scott was scratched just prior to first pitch. Uber was good in the spot start, allowing two runs over four innings.

Batting against reliever Toran O’Harran in the seventh, the Eagles managed to score three runs on two hits – including a two-RBI double from Kyle Wolff – to stretch their lead to 6-2. All the offense came with two outs, as O’Harran issued a pair of walks after retiring the first two batters faced to work himself into a jam.

Freshman Liam Golden recorded the final three outs on the hill for Stanford in his second collegiate appearance, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth.

The two teams will decide the series on Sunday at 10 a.m. PT.

It did not take former Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan long to land on his feet. Less than a week after he was politely walked to the door, the New York Rangers snapped him up, but the Penguins’ coaching search has at least a few weeks, if not most of the next couple of months, still ahead.

Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas, who ultimately took responsibility for the “mutual parting” with Sullivan, is currently Team Canada’s GM at the World Championships in Sweden. While that might make some interviews more difficult, some interesting candidates will be close by.

Dubas promised that the coaching search would be exhaustive, with coaches from all backgrounds, including Europe. While New York thirstily leaped at Sullivan, tossing an industry-leading contract at him, the Penguins don’t have a locked-in candidate or an immediate short list.

Read More: Penguins Coaching Search: 5 Preliminary Favorites; 3 New Names to Watch

We certainly like the backgrounds of potential candidates Mitch Love, Drew Bannister, who lost his job in St. Louis only because Jim Montgomery became available, and former Ottawa coach D.J. Smith. Dubas’s connection to Smith from their time together in Toronto shouldn’t be overlooked. Nor should the overwhelming support Smith received on his way out of Ottawa be glossed over. A lot of people in the Ottawa organization, including core players, thought very highly of him, personally and professionally.

However, that “wide net” that Dubas is casting over the hockey world will extend beyond former NHL coaches looking for a second bite at the apple.

There are some under-the-radar names, including one that should get a lot more consideration than he has previously.

5 Under-the-Radar Penguins Candidates

1. Nate Leaman, Providence College

Leaman has built a hockey blue blood in the shadow of Harvard, Northeastern, Boston College, and Boston U. It has been a while since the Penguins selected one of Leaman’s players, the last being Kasper Bjorkvist in 2016, but there is a line of his products in the NHL, including Brandon Tanev and Noel Acciari.

In other words, Providence has produced some gritty hockey players.

His track record is solid. First, Leaman built Union College into a hockey power. Then he did the same at Providence, where he’s been since 2011. He won the 2015 National Championship and guided Team USA to the 2021 World Juniors gold medal.

He’s now 52 years old. Industry sources said he’s been very selective when speaking to NHL teams, but it might be now or never.

Leaman self-describes his preferred style as hard, physical play with a mix of speed and skill. That’s not necessarily the Penguins’ DNA, but that’s winning hockey.

2. Nolan Pratt, Assistant Colorado Avalanche

The immediate drawback to Pratt is that he’s never been a head coach. He went from player to AHL assistant to NHL assistant in short order.

Pratt, 49, oversees the Colorado Avalanche defensemen, which hasn’t always been an easy task. The team hired the assistant in 2016 with new head coach Jared Bednar, and he’s been there ever since, keeping some sketchy bluelines intact.

Read More (Colorado Hockey Now): How Pratt Helped Turn Defense Into an Organizational Strength (+)

Not every coach needs to be a rock-jawed, rah-rah type or a task master. Perhaps Pratt is a lifer on the side of the bench, or perhaps it’s his time to shine. Every head coach needs a first job, and Pratt has paid his dues.

3. Rikard Gronborg

While in Sweden, Gronborg is worth a serious conversation. Coach Francis Anzalone (who coaches internationally and runs the prestigious Total Package hockey school) quickly brought up Gronborg’s name on our recent Penguins Live Chat.

Gronborg is currently with Tappara in the Finnish Liiga and is formerly the head coach of Sweden’s National team, where he guided Sweden to the 2012 World Juniors gold medal (a huge upset) and a few silver medals. Gronborg also earned three World Championship gold medals and the 2024 Liiga championship and was named Liiga coach of the year.

Gronborg played college hockey at St. Cloud State and is a U.S. citizen, so the adjustment from there to here wouldn’t be as great as one might initially fear.

4. Alain Nasreddine

You may very well remember his name. He was an assistant coach with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins from 2010 to 2015. Thus far, his only NHL head coaching experience was a half season as the interim boss with the New Jersey Devils in the short-circuited 2019-20 season.

After a 20-year playing career, which includes five seasons with the Penguins and WBS Penguins, Nasreddine has been an assistant coach for 10 years under Jon Hynes and Lindy Ruff in New Jersey, and now Pete DeBoer in Dallas.

In 2020, NHL coach Mike Yeo told the USA Today, “There are certain players that you coach that you know if that’s the path that they choose down the road, that they have the tools for it. He was one of them,” said Yeo who coached Nasreddine at the WBS Penguins. “He was a natural leader. I say that in respect to this, he knew what to do and when to do it, but he also had the presence and commanded the respect of his teammates.”

Nasreddine is old enough (49) to lead the veterans and young enough to relate to youngsters. With Dallas, Nasreddine is overseeing the defensemen and the penalty kill.

A commanding presence with the Penguins seems to be a must, and that certainly describes Nasreddine.

5. Jeff Blashil

The former Detroit Red Wings coach hung on through the worst of the Detroit rebuild. GM Steve Yzerman was quite high on Blashill and, as a result, probably kept him a year or more too long.

That much losing takes a toll on the room, and the depleted Red Wings, who were rebuilding after Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, and Henrik Zetterberg, did a lot of losing.

Yet Yzerman was always a supporter of his coach.

“Blashil is a (Spencer) Carbery-like person. He coached college hockey, he worked in the American League, and he worked as an NHL assistant,” Anzalone told PHN. “He’s gone to relearn his craft under Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay), who is one of the best coaches to work under because he’s ‘got the stuff’ and he lets his assistant coaches coach.”

Blashill’s resume has plenty of entries. He spent 10 years as an assistant in college hockey, first at Ferris State, then Miami of Ohio. His first head coaching job was the GM/head coach of the Indiana Ice of the USHL from 2009-2010. He went back to the college ranks to coach Western Michigan for a year before getting the call to be the assistant coach of the Red Wings in 2011 under Mike Babcock.

He spent three years as the coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL, then replaced Babcock in 2015. Blashill has assisted under Cooper for the last three seasons, but is only 51 years old.

By: Dan Richeal

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind –Dartmouth women’s rugby closed out the 2025 7s season on Sunday in grand fashion with a CRAA 7s National Championship. The Big Green won their quarterfinal game over Princeton 34-5. Dartmouth then punched its ticket to the National Championship with a 19-5 win over Army in the semifinals. The Big Green took on Life University in the National Championship and pitched a shutout winning 31-0.

It was Princeton who scored the first points on the morning as they scored a try less than minute into the game. The Big Green quickly responded as Paola Arredondo Almeida found the try zone just 1:45 into the game. Annie Henrich hit the conversion to give the Big Green a 7-5 lead. About two minutes later, Henrich took a pass from Arredondo Almeida and scored her first try of the day to increase the Dartmouth lead to 12-5. Less than 90 seconds before halftime, Sadie Schier took the ball from a scrum and weaved through the Tiger defense and extended the Dartmouth lead to 17-5. Arredondo Almeida opened the second half with a try just over 30 seconds into the half. Asialeata Meni made it a 27-5 Dartmouth at the 11:20 mark as she shed multiple defenders on her way to the try zone. At the 14-minute mark, the Big Green closed out the match with another try. Henrich took a pass from AdiLeilah Bulabalavu as she sprinted through the Princeton defenders. Taylor Sadek hit the conversion to make it 34-5.

In the semifinals, Dartmouth matched up with NIRA rival Army. The Big Green struck first at the 2:41 mark of the first half as Schier notched her second try of the day. Henrich stepped up and hit the conversion to make it 7-0. About two minutes later, Katelyn Walker made it a 12-0 lead as she weaved and fought through defenders into the try zone. Henrich drilled her second conversion to make it 14-0. Meni became the third Dartmouth captain to find the try zone to make it a 19-0 lead at halftime. The second half saw just one try as Army scored as time expired.  

Dartmouth kicked off to start the championship match and Walker forced a turnover about 30 seconds into the game. Walker gained control and found Vasiti Turagavou trailing her, Turagavou took the pass and made it a 5-0 game less than a minute in. Dartmouth added seven points to its lead at the 2:45 mark as Henrich drew a penalty try to make it a 12-0 Dartmouth lead. The Big Green kept pouring it on in the first half as Walker took a quick pass from Henrich and found the try zone to make it 19-0 just 3:30 into the match. With time running out in the first half the Big Green added five more points to their total as Arredondo Almeida found the try zone. Dartmouth added one more try at the 11:38 mark to seal the game as Walker took a over the shoulder pass from Schier and sprinted past the Life defenders. Henrich hit the conversion to make it a 31-0 Dartmouth lead. The Big Green limited Life the remainder of the game and captured the CRAA 7s National Championship.

Walker was named the Player of the Match as she scored a pair of tries against Life.

It is the first time in program history that the Big Green have captured the CRAA 7s Premier National Championship.

The Big Green finish the 7s season with a perfect 13-0 record after winning all six games this weekend. Dartmouth won three 7s tournaments in the spring. Combined with the 15s season Dartmouth went 21-1 in the 2024-25 season.

Dartmouth will be back on the pitch in the fall for the 15s season.

Playing with his brother early in his college career, collecting program-altering upsets last season and stepping into a leadership role this year were just a few minor highlights in senior forward Mike McKeon’s career as a Clemson club ice hockey player. When prompted, he could think of just one way to accurately describe his experience as a Tiger: special.

“I think that’s what’s special about Clemson,” McKeon told The Tiger. “It feels like every day there’s another thing that you’re going to remember forever.”

And there’s no doubt that the rest of the Tigers will remember their alternate captain as fondly as he will remember them.

“I would want people to remember me as someone who cared about their well-being, and put my best foot forward in whatever it was that I was doing,” McKeon said. “Hopefully, people think of me as a good friend who was always up to do whatever and have a good time. Not afraid to make mistakes, or put my best foot forward and give my whole attention to whatever it was that I was doing.”

The Waccabuc, New York, native kicked off his hockey career at a young age, courtesy of his father, an avid New York Rangers fan who put McKeon and his older brother, and former Tiger, John, into the local youth hockey program. As many younger siblings do, McKeon “always wanted to do whatever (his) brother was doing,” so at 4 years old, he laced up his skates — with help, of course — and never looked back.

“I remember doing the cross-ice mites games,” McKeon said. “I always loved doing that. That’s sort of where I ended up falling in love with the game, I think. I remember going to those … I think they call them jamborees. You go and play a bunch of games during the day. I remember doing that with my dad and my brother and getting started like that.”

From age 4 until he stepped foot on Clemson’s campus for the first time as a student, McKeon played for the same club: the Bedford Bears. Though he considers much of his career a success because of the time spent and memories made with his teammates, the forward saw the most on-ice success in high school.

“The stars kind of aligned when I got to high school,” he said. “We had four years of really good teams.”

As a freshman, McKeon’s high school team won the section championship for the first time since 2013. In his sophomore and junior years, when he “played a lot more,” the team won the section twice and made it to the state semifinal, but ultimately fell short both times. By his senior year, McKeon and his squad went “as far as (they) could go” in an atypical COVID-19 season. To top it all off, he won two state championships with his Bears single-A team within those four years.

“Looking back, that was probably the most fun I’ve had playing hockey,” McKeon said. “It’s all fun for different reasons, but my club team … we literally all grew up playing together, and no one ever really left, so we just had the same team every single year, and we got really good. It was single-A, so it wasn’t crazy, but we had a really good team. A bunch of those kids are playing in college now. We won two state championships, which was a lot of fun.”

Funnily enough, McKeon has run into one of his Bears teammates since playing at Clemson: Rich Mugler, a goaltender for Ole Miss’s club team.

“I didn’t get to play him as a junior because I was injured, but this year, we got to play them in that midnight game,” McKeon said. “He didn’t play the second game, but in the first game, we got to play against each other, and I scored the winning goal. We had a good laugh about it after the game … definitely a full-circle moment.”

After those fun-filled four years, though, McKeon had a decision to make about his future. Ultimately, he decided to follow in his older brother and sister’s footsteps and become a Clemson Tiger.

“I thought in high school I wanted to kind of do my own thing when I got to college,” McKeon said. “I had a bunch of other schools that I was really interested in, but it ended up being between Clemson and one other school. I went to visit that other school, but I just didn’t get the same feeling that I did at Clemson when I visited here, so it was kind of a no-brainer to go here. And it was one of the best schools I got into. I don’t regret it at all, and this place is awesome.”

While the same can be said for much of his hockey career, McKeon discovered Clemson’s club hockey program when his older brother joined the team. However, his own love for the program and his teammates was entirely organic.

“When my sister came here, we did a little bit of research to see if there was a club team,” he said. “But when John got here as a freshman, he knew he wanted to keep playing in some capacity … when he started playing, I thought if I ended up at Clemson one day and he was still on the team, then it would be really cool to play one more year together.”

McKeon mentioned that he used to watch his brother’s games on YouTube, thinking that it would be “fun” to play for the club ice hockey team if he decided to go to Clemson.

“I knew I wanted to keep playing, but when I got to Clemson, I kind of thought maybe I was done,” McKeon added. “I think senior year — the whole Covid situation — and how hockey was up North, I was feeling just a bit tired of it. And then when I met everyone on the team here when I tried out for the team, I was like, ‘Well, I kind of remember why I played,’ and it was more just about being a part of a team and a group. Once I made the team, it was kind of a no-brainer to do that, especially because I was in bridge with everyone else.”

Despite initially feeling uncertain about playing in college, McKeon knows now without a shadow of a doubt that he made the right choice.

“It’s gonna be hard for me to think back about Clemson and not just immediately think about this team,” he said. “I tried out maybe a week into being here, and right away, I knew it was something I was going to be a part of for a while. I’ve met a lot of really great people at Clemson — a lot of people that aren’t on the hockey team — but there’s something special about our team.”

McKeon added that the team has fun together and cares about each other a lot.

“Looking back at my time at Clemson, I have to attribute a lot of the good memories that I’ve had here to playing with this team, and not even on the ice, just off the ice with these guys, hanging out around the house or on the weekends. It’s been a really great group to be a part of and to meet other great people at Clemson,” He told The Tiger.

In addition to the countless memories he and his teammates — now some of his best friends — have made off the ice, he’s also made some of his favorites while playing. Most notably, Clemson’s upset win over the Florida Atlantic Owls in the College Hockey South Division II playoffs last spring.

“I think my favorite Clemson ice hockey memory is probably that Florida Atlantic win,” McKeon said. “That was one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of because we were doubted all year, and we knew that we had the team to beat FAU. It was just a matter of, ‘could we play a full game? Could we all just buy in and play a full game?’ And it was the perfect game.”

He said that each player “did their job” and “showed up,” and that the team’s victory in the game was “big” for the club ice hockey program.

“When I think of our team, I think about that game because we’re all still really competitive, and we love to win, but it was like a whole season’s worth of work and grinding, and we all put it together for 60 minutes and beat the team that we were supposed to get crushed by,” he told The Tiger.

As someone who’s witnessed the club hockey program’s immense development over the last four years, McKeon believes his generation of players made great strides toward its future evolution. He’s excited to see how the team continues to develop in the next few seasons.

“I think the culture that we have here — that we’ve created over the last four to eight years — could be one of the best club hockey teams in the country in a couple of years,” McKeon said.

“But, I think it’s important to kind of remember why it is … why we do love it so much. And part of that is the time you spend with each other off the ice. There’s a lot of speculation on what club teams could potentially jump to ACHA D1 or even NCAA D1 … I think a lot of the reason that we love this program, at least the players, is because it is a club,” McKeon continued.

He noted that each of the players love playing hockey, but it doesn’t define who they are.

“I think it’s important to understand why kids love playing club hockey, and why it is that people are starting to come down here to keep playing: because we get to still play and enjoy the game, but the club aspect of it has opened up so many other opportunities for us to just enjoy life and be a part of Clemson in different aspects … This program is in really good hands to continue to do what it has been made to do,” McKeon told The Tiger.

Upon his graduation, the senior economics major plans to return to New York to work in finance.

NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. – The Hamilton College Continentals were in second place out of eight teams after the first round of the 2025 NESCAC Women’s Golf Championship at breezy and warm Yahnundasis Golf Club on Friday, May 2.
 
Three Hamilton players broke 80 and the 20^th-ranked Continentals posted a four-person team score of 314. Williams College led the way at 306 and three teams are within eight shots of Hamilton.
 
Olivia Strigh ’25 paced the Continentals with a 3-over par 76 for the opening 18 holes. Strigh was tied for third place out of 39 golfers.
 
Aubrey Lee ’28 was tied for seventh place after she carded a 78 that included four birdies. Lee entered the weekend with a team-best scoring average of 78.29 for 14 rounds this season.
 
Keira Joshi ’27 was tied for ninth place with a 79. Joshi birdied the first hole and was just 1-over par through the first 14 holes.
 
Sydney Dweck ’27 was tied for 17^th place after she recorded an 81 that included a 38 on the back nine. Dweck made birdie on the 429-yard, par-five 10^th hole.
 
Angela Liu ’27 made back-to-back birdies on the 12^th and 13^th holes and finished with an 84.
 
The first group opens the second round at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 3. Hamilton’s first player is on the first tee at 11:50 a.m.