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A legacy of hope and laughter for Gaudreau brothers as family, friends and hockey community grieve

WESTVILLE, N.J. (WPVI) — The family called him John. It wasn’t until John Gaudreau played for Boston College that he picked up the “Johnny Hockey” nickname that followed him through 11 seasons in the NHL. His mother, Jane, gleefully recalled the “Johnny Hockey” T-shirts and sing-song chants BC fans bestowed on their beloved wizard on […]

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WESTVILLE, N.J. (WPVI) — The family called him John. It wasn’t until John Gaudreau played for Boston College that he picked up the “Johnny Hockey” nickname that followed him through 11 seasons in the NHL.

His mother, Jane, gleefully recalled the “Johnny Hockey” T-shirts and sing-song chants BC fans bestowed on their beloved wizard on the ice. At home in New Jersey, younger brother Matthew, who also played hockey for Boston College, and sisters Kristen and Katie couldn’t help but tease their brother with the nickname as his popularity and All-Star career grew through stops in Calgary and Columbus.

(The video above is from a previous report)

Take one night during the NHL Awards in Las Vegas, just one family story out of thousands of favorites, when Gaudreau tried to keep a low public profile on a family outing. Katie wasn’t having it out on the Strip, shouting for all to hear, “Johnny! Johnny Hockey!”

“I can see John’s face getting redder and redder and redder,” Jane Gaudreau said with a laugh. “You walk down the street and no one knows who you are until Katie started making this whole big thing.”

Everything was fine for the family when they gathered last August for Katie’s wedding. John and Matt were the groomsmen and Kristen the maid of honor. What happened next, the typhoon of shock and grief that rippled from New Jersey through the heart of the hockey community, has been well-documented over the last eight months.

Johnny and Mathew Gaudreau

Johnny and Mathew Gaudreau

The night before the wedding, John, 31, and Matt, 29, died after they were hit by a suspected drunken driver while riding bicycles in Salem County, New Jersey, leaving a family forever shattered, with not enough time to ever fully pick up all the pieces.

They try.

From births to hockey tributes, through Instagram pages dotted with photos from the family scrapbook and a new foundation, to a playground fundraising effort at the family’s beloved school, the Gaudreaus have pushed through dark days when even getting out of bed seemed impossible. They pull through, pull together, just as they did as a family of six in South Jersey, and try to focus on a simple mantra: Live their lives to the fullest in honor of Matt and John.

RELATED: Johnny Gaudreau’s widow welcomes 3rd baby: ‘Can’t wait to give you the best life’

Johnny Gaudreau’s widow welcomes 3rd baby: ‘Can’t wait to give you the best life’

There is more hardship ahead and dark days are going to come and go. The driver charged with killing the brothers, a man prosecutors described as having a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving, still faces trial.

But as Jane Gaudreau details her dream of a new, adaptive playground for the special education students at the school where she works, it’s the good times that stir the most memories. Like when John playfully threatened to stab Katie with a fork at a restaurant for not finishing a stack of pancakes and surprisingly – and gently – followed through.

It’s the stories that lift the spirits of Jane, husband Guy and countless friends and teammates who went through their first hockey season in decades without two men who gave so much to their growing families and to the game.

“It’s great to keep their memories alive,” said their sister, Kristen Venello, who rocks her Blue Jackets hoodie as a speech assistant at Archbishop Damiano School. “It is sad. But you think about all the good things they did and that’s all you can think about. And how much they can help us still.”

The project

Archbishop Damiano School was founded in 1968 for children with Down syndrome and now provides services for 125 students with special needs from ages 3 to 21. Jane Gaudreau’s brother attended the school and their mother worked there for 44 years. Jane was hired in 1984 and is still a finance associate there. Kristen, the oldest daughter, has taught at the school for almost two decades. Katie used to assist with the kids when she could and the two Gaudreau boys volunteered at the school when they weren’t playing hockey.

In death, they can perhaps leave a permanent legacy at Damiano outside family and hockey.

RELATED: Gaudreau Family 5K honors hockey stars, raises funds for local school

Kelsie Snow lost her husband, Chris, a former assistant general manager with the Calgary Flames, in 2023 to Lou Gehrig’s disease. She called Jane with a suggestion on how to navigate life through perpetual grief: Keep busy. Find a project. Jane and Guy embraced the idea and searched for the right one, until they realized the answer was right there at Archbishop Damiano.

The Gaudreaus and the staff at Archbishop Damiano threw themselves into fundraising for a modern playground that allows for everything from basic wheelchair accessibility to ramps and transfer platforms for the students. Students tacked their wish list for the playground — wheelchair swings and even a sand box — to the walls inside the school.

The Gaudreau Family 5K set for May 31 is expected to bring needed cash to the initiative launched by principal Michele McCloskey in October 2020. Raising the necessary funds over the last five years had been a slow build. So many friends from the hockey world and others now inspired by the brothers and the cause have since rallied around the effort.

“I know the boys would be proud of us,” Jane said. “Both boys loved children, that’s why we thought the playground would be perfect.”

The Gaudreaus have another, more enduring project ahead of them as doting grandparents. Both widows have given birth since their husbands died. Meredith, who revealed during her tearful eulogy for John in August that she was pregnant, gave birth in April to the couple’s third child, Carter Michael Gaudreau. Madeline delivered her and Matty’s first baby, Tripp Matthew Gaudreau, in December.

Jane laughs when she describes how much the new additions resemble their fathers. Tripp has light hair like his dad; Carter looks like big sister Noa, and they both look like John.

“My husband keeps saying this,” Jane said, “‘I think God sent us John and Matty back.'”

Jane Gaudreau, mother of hockey players Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, poses for a photograph at Archbishop Damiano School in Westville, N.J., Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

Jane Gaudreau, mother of hockey players Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, poses for a photograph at Archbishop Damiano School in Westville, N.J., Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Guy Gaudreu, a former hockey coach at Hollydell Ice Arena and Gloucester Catholic High School in New Jersey, had his sons on the ice at 2 years old and he’s already making plans for Carter and Tripp. Matthew played for the junior ice hockey Omaha Lancers for two years, and when the family was invited back last month for a tribute night, Guy amused the family as he gave baby Tripp an introduction.

“He was like, smell the ice, this is the locker room,” Jane said with a laugh. “We’re used to that. He’s just crazy like that. I was looking at (Madeline) and she was just laughing, shaking her head.”

The Gaudreaus have kept busy, with fundraising, teaching and various outings that celebrated their sons. Guy has perhaps been at the rink the most since losing the boys. He joined practices for the Blue Jackets and spent time as a guest instructor this season with the Flyers. He hit the ice in Montreal and helped out Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Gaudreaus led the Blue Jackets out of the tunnel at Ohio Stadium in front of nearly 95,000 fans at the NHL Stadium Series.

“I know sometimes we’ll hear people, oh, this poor family, they have to go through this again,” Jane said. “But it’s been quite healing. Through this, I’ve had so many people tell stories of what Matthew or John has done for them, or a hospital, or other people. They appreciate everything the boys did. They were grieving, too. It was a way for us to get out there and talk to people, hear different stories.”

Jane needed a gentle nudge from some Blue Jackets to attend the team’s annual Moms’ Trip to a February game at Detroit. Defenseman Erik Gudbranson surprised Jane with a persuasive call for her attend the annual bonding trip. The other Blue Jackets moms were so supportive of her on the trip, she said, “they knew if I was going to get upset before I even knew.”

“We needed her there,” Gudbranson said. “It wouldn’t have felt right if she wasn’t there.”

On the ice

Sean Monahan and Gaudreau became tight when the stars played together in Calgary, one reason the Blue Jackets center was persuaded by his friend to sign with the team last summer.

Monahan and his family settled near the Gaudreaus in the same Columbus suburb of New Albany, so close as neighbors Monahan counted just 25 steps between the two houses. After Gaudreau’s death, Monahan couldn’t even drive by his friend’s house on his commute to the rink. He and his family have tried to serve as a steady source of support for Meredith and her three children. Monahan even met Carter Gaudreau the day he was born (“good looking little guy, just like John”).

The Blue Jackets dedicated the season to the Gaudreaus and raised John’s No. 13 to the rafters. There’s a patch on the jerseys and the Blue Jackets wore Avalon Surf Shop sweatshirts as part of their “Johnny fit” collection. The team never failed to hang Gaudreau’s jersey in a locker stall for every game, home or away.

“He’s supposed to be here with us,” Monahan said. “It’s just one other thing we can do to keep his name around, keep his legacy going for such a special person.”

Motivated by the memory of their friend, the Blue Jackets were in the hunt for a playoff spot until the final week of the season. They fell two points shy, leaving the team with a “what if?” feeling over missing the playoffs while hurting over Gaudreau.

“It’s something that weighs on my mind and it’s something I think about every day,” Monahan said. “There are no easy days, for sure. I try and live the way he did and it benefited me.”

Gudbranson also held Carter in the hospital and wrestled with the conflicting feelings of the joy over the birth with the sadness Gaudreau was not alive to meet his son.

“There’s a part of you that says this feels wrong that I’m holding my buddy’s son and he hasn’t met him,” Gudbranson said. “That’s hard to wrap your head around. Those kids will probably be 30 years old and I’ll be thinking the same thing. I don’t think that’s going anywhere.”

Gudbranson said that in large part because of Gaudreau’s influence, the season was a “a lot more joyous this year. We’ve enjoyed being teammates.” When the good times were rolling, the Blue Jackets tried to appreciate those moments just like Gaudreau did, the franchise player who was just one of the boys once the final horn sounded.

“Once the game was done, we were just buddies,” Gudbranson said. “He wasn’t necessarily Johnny Hockey to us. The personal side matters to us the most. But yeah, we’ve had conversations like, can you imagine if this guy was on our team this year? How good would he have been with us this year? Holy smokes.”

The road ahead

Guy and Jane, married 42 years, almost never go out to dinner, overwhelmed by feelings of guilt over enjoying themselves, and those emotions also run deep with Katie. She told her mom, yes, she wanted to marry her fiancé, Devin Joyce, but wasn’t sure a big wedding was the way to go. Jane said she simply told her there was no wrong decision, but to let the rage and sadness settle and take as much time as necessary make a decision.

The couple eventually rescheduled their wedding for July 11. Katie wrote on her Instagram post, “I guess this year has taught me to celebrate our love everyday, every minute.”

“You know the boys, they’ll be there with us that day,” Jane said. “They would want you to have fun.”

Jane added with resolve, “This guy already took two of the most important things away from us. Don’t let him take away your wedding.”

Katie reflected on that fateful night on an Instagram post how she had texted her fiancé “we forgot to practice our dip,” during rehearsal to how a “phone call later, our lives would forever change.”

The couple will get a second chance at a wedding, this one in memory of their brothers.

“I think we’ll all be able to get through the day,” Jane said. “I think it will be hard at first. We want to be there for her, support her. The other three had big weddings, it was so fun for our family to be together. I think it will be OK.”

The Gaudreaus want people to remember how the young men lived, not how they died. Sometimes that is difficult: In mid-April, there was a hearing for Sean Higgins, the man charged with reckless vehicular homicide in the Gaudreaus’ deaths, only a few hours before the Blue Jackets played the Flyers nearby. The family skipped the game for the Gloucester Catholic High School Hall of Fame banquet where Matthew was posthumously inducted.

The Gaudreaus have kept their thoughts about the court proceedings private, though Jane did write a pair of inspirational quotes on Instagram later that day, including one that said, “When you have a bad day – a really bad day – try and treat the world better than it treated you.”

A legacy of laughter

The 5K has filled its allotment of 1,000 runners for race day at a New Jersey park but anyone can contribute from home as a virtual participant. More than 700 people have already signed up, from New Jersey to Canada to Ireland, eager to help the cause, which includes an online memorabilia auction that stretches beyond hockey, with all proceeds donated toward the playground effort and its $600,000 goal.

Jane, 62, said it’s hard to remember much through the haze of heartbreak from the funeral and memorial reception, only that she figured more than 1,000 people stopped by the family home to pay their respects. With some distance, the family hoped it would be comforting to see everyone at the 5K and thank them for their love and comfort.

The current playground doesn’t meet the needs of its students in its current shape, there are gaping holes in the turf and the swings and slides were not designed for children with disabilities. If the goal is met, the school hopes to break ground this fall and complete the project next spring.

“As a school for serving people with multiple disabilities, we really don’t get a lot of traction,” said McCloskey, the school principal. “I think through all the media attention, I think people see it, they see why this is important.”

It seems trite to call it a silver lining but the family has searched in vain to find some meaning, some good out of the senseless deaths.

So they’ll run.

For John. For Matt. For a cause the boys so robustly supported in life.

“It’s not the way I’d want to build the playground, of course,” Jane said. “I tend to believe they’ll be up there, being able to listen to the children’s laughter. They’ll just really love the fact that the children will have a playground to play in.”

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Keegan O’Toole, Helen Hu and Shannon Welker were among Mizzou’s best in 2024-25

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Two Mizzou athletes, two comebacks. Wrestler Keegan O’Toole had the kind of injury that keeps most athletes on the shelf for a year but no plans to let that get in the way of his quest for silverware. Helen Hu had ground herself through recovery from an ACL tear, walking away from […]

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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Two Mizzou athletes, two comebacks.

Wrestler Keegan O’Toole had the kind of injury that keeps most athletes on the shelf for a year but no plans to let that get in the way of his quest for silverware. Helen Hu had ground herself through recovery from an ACL tear, walking away from gymnastics with nothing left in the tank.

Both came back to their sports in different ways, and both made the most of it, putting together the most captivating performances by Missouri athletes in the 2024-25 sports cycle. Their comebacks — and the heights that came with them — make them the Post-Dispatch’s choices for MU men’s and women’s athlete of the year, part of the newspaper’s annual honors capping the year in sports at the school.







NCAA Championships Wrestling

Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole celebrates after defeating Iowa State’s David Carr in the championship round at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships on Saturday, March 18, 2023, in Tulsa, Okla.




Men’s Athlete of the Year: O’Toole, wrestling

A couple of weeks after finishing as the Big 12 champion and national runner-up at 174 pounds, O’Toole posted a picture from a hospital bed, his left knee bandaged and stabilized with a beefy brace.

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He’d had finally had surgery to repair a torn ACL, but only after wrestling — in dominant fashion — through the normally debilitating injury.

O’Toole first hurt the knee during a mid-November meet at Virginia Tech, when he felt a little pop somewhere inside the joint.

“It kind of hurt for a minute, but the pain went away,” he told FloWrestling. “I just thought that I popped my calf or something.”

About a month later, O’Toole felt an odder sensation in that knee during a match: something he described as the tissue connecting bones finally giving way. The next morning, he needed help getting out of bed. An MRI revealed he’d torn his ACL.

The immediate option, which most athletes probably would’ve taken, was to undergo surgery to repair the ligament. That would’ve ended O’Toole’s season, though, and he wanted no such thing.

Instead, he stopped competing for two months but put off surgery. As swelling went down in the injured knee, he started to get some strength back. O’Toole returned for the final dual of the regular season, a short run-up to the postseason.

He looked neither rusty nor badly injured during the Big 12 championships, winning all four of his matches en route to a conference title. He then went 4-1 at the NCAA Championships, which was good for second place and an All-American nod — the fifth of his career.

All that, with a torn ACL.

“I still had fun,” O’Toole said.

Shortly after his surgery, Mizzou coach Brian Smith announced that O’Toole has been hired as an assistant.

In the running: Triple jumper Jonathan Seremes won a national title with a personal-best 17.04-meter effort at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship in March. … Football right tackle Armand Membou was Mizzou’s highest-selected player in the NFL draft in more than a decade. … Men’s basketball’s Mark Mitchell earned third-team All-SEC honors while leading the team in scoring, and Caleb Grill was the league’s Sixth Man of the Year after an incredible 3-point shooting run.







NCAA Womens Championships Gymnastics

Missouri’s Helen Hu, right, celebrates with a coach after competing on the balance beam during the NCAA Championships on Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas.




Women’s Athlete of the Year: Hu, gymnastics

The first time Helen Hu left Mizzou gymnastics, she was burned out and hurting. The second time she did so, she was a national champion. It was a good thing she came back in between.

Hu had been one of the Tigers’ best gymnasts the first time around, returning from an ACL injury to star on the balance beam. But she’d had enough after the 2023 season, in which she earned second-team All-American honors but no perfect 10 score.

After a year of globetrotting around Central America, Europe and Asia, gymnastics coach Shannon Welker pitched Hu, back in Columbia for a former teammate’s wedding, the idea of returning to use her final year of eligibility.

“I took it as a joke,” Hu said, but it wasn’t.

She earned her elusive 10 during a meet at Oklahoma, then added another in the regular-season finale at Arkansas. Hu then added another during the second round of the NCAA Tournament, driving the Tigers into the late stages of the postseason by closing out meets with clutch routines.

Hu won the national beam title at the NCAA Championships, where Missouri finished third in the team competition.

“When I decided to come back, I did not have it in my mind to accomplish so much that I did this year,” she said. “It was really quite a shock.”

In the running: Volleyball outside hitter Mychael Vernon was named a third-team All-American after ranking third in the SEC in kills. … Gymnasts Elise Tisler and Mara Titarsolej joined Hu as first-team All-Americans. … Softball catcher Julia Crenshaw made the All-SEC first team after leading the Tigers with a .343 batting average and sound defensive work.







Missouri gymnastics

University of Missouri head gymnastics coach Shannon Welker gives some advice to Amari Celestine during a practice session Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, at Mizzou’s gymnastics training facility in Columbia, Mo.




Coach of the Year: Welker, gymnastics

In the immediate aftermath of Mizzou gymnastics advancing narrowly out of an NCAA Championship semifinal and into the finals for the first time in program history, Welker was running late to his news conference.

“Sorry I’m late,” he joked to reporters on site in Fort Worth, Texas. “I was renegotiating my contract.”

He did get a new contract with Missouri, albeit near the start of a 2025 season that goes down as one of the most impressive in recent MU athletics history. It’s much deserved for the coach running the school’s highest-performing team at present.

Welker’s 12th season coaching the Tigers netted the aforementioned third-place finish, plus the program’s first national champion (Hu), most perfect 10s in a season (five) and first team score of 198 in a meet. He built that success through recruitment and development of a senior class that made two runs to the NCAA Championships, well-timed transfers and wooing Hu out of retirement for one more year — the kind of roster building necessary in today’s college sports environment.

Welker was named both the national gymnastics and SEC coach of the year for his efforts.

In the running: Volleyball coach Dawn Sullivan captured regional coach of the year honors after leading the Tigers to the Sweet 16 in her second season. … Eli Drinkwitz became the second-ever MU football coach to win 10-plus games in back-to-back seasons. … Dennis Gates brought Mizzou men’s basketball back to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in his three years at the helm.


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Mizzou gymnastics finishes 3rd at NCAA Championships


Mizzou records worst baseball season in 66 years. 'We need to get back on track,' AD says


Transfer portal retrospective: Mizzou men's hoops prioritized retaining, complementing 'nucleus'



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Why golf phenom Kihei Akina chose BYU – Deseret News

Standing on the first tee of the Black Desert Championship last October in Ivins, Utah, Kihei Akina caught a glimpse of his future. With a large crowd gathered around him, BYU’s prized five-star golf recruit took out his driver and readied himself to make his PGA Tour debut. “I was fine and felt normal,” Akina […]

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Standing on the first tee of the Black Desert Championship last October in Ivins, Utah, Kihei Akina caught a glimpse of his future. With a large crowd gathered around him, BYU’s prized five-star golf recruit took out his driver and readied himself to make his PGA Tour debut.

“I was fine and felt normal,” Akina told the “Y’s Guys” podcast this week. “But I put the tee in the ground and as I stood over the ball, my legs went to jelly. I couldn’t feel my hands. I couldn’t feel anything. I thought, ‘Oh crap! Just make contact!’ Somehow, I hit it down the fairway.”

By the third hole, Akina was back to being his confident self and over the course of two days he went toe-to-toe with the professionals and made eight birdies and finished just outside the cut line at 4 under par.

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Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.

“It was definitely different from junior golf and high school golf,” said the three-time state champion at Lone Peak High. “I just tried to learn as much as I could from those guys.”

Akina hails from an athletic family. His older sister, Kiani, played rugby at Harvard, and older brothers Keanu golfed at BYU and Kawika played basketball at NYU in Manhattan. Now it’s his time to shine.

When it came time to decide on a college, Akina received offers and NIL pitches from 50 programs, including BYU, which presented a competitive proposal — and an environment that has less to do with golf and more to do with the golfer.

“I wanted to surround myself with likeminded people. People in the church who have the same beliefs as me,” Akina said. “I think it will help build me and help build my testimony of the Savior and help me be a better person and get to where I want to be in life.”

Akina also wants to win. Bruce Brockbank’s current Cougars are competing this weekend at the NCAA championships in Carlsbad, California, where BYU is chasing its first national title since 1981.

“I also wanted to come in and build the program up and I want to compete for a national championship,” Akina said. “At BYU you represent so much. You represent the church and this great state of Utah. It’s really cool to be able to do that. Hopefully we can make a run next year.”

Akina is a big piece of an unprecedented wave of prized prep recruits bringing their talents to Provo, including No. 1 recruit AJ Dybantsa (basketball), No. 1-ranked Jane Hedengren (women’s cross-country), No. 1-ranked Daniel Simmons (men’s cross-country) and the No. 5-ranked tight end Brock Harris (football).

“BYU is on the rise for sure. It’s really cool to see. Everything is building up with every sport,” Akina said. “I’m excited to be a part of it. I’ve been itching to get to campus for the last year and a half.”

Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com



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Oklahoma surges to first round lead at the 2025 NCAA DI men’s golf championships

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA – Oklahoma surged to the first round lead at the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships, carding an 8-under-par 280 to lead by five strokes at the finals being played at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course (7,528 yards/par 72). Texas A&M senior Phichaksn Maichon is alone atop the […]

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CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA – Oklahoma surged to the first round lead at the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships, carding an 8-under-par 280 to lead by five strokes at the finals being played at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course (7,528 yards/par 72).

Texas A&M senior Phichaksn Maichon is alone atop the individual leaderboard, carding a bogey-free round of 66 (6-under-par). One-stroke back at 67 are Vanderbilt senior Jackson Van Paris, Georgia junior Carter Loflin and Texas junior Tommy Morrison.

UPDATES: Follow the 2025 DI men’s golf championship here

After the first 18 holes, the Sooners have a five-stroke team lead over Florida State, Florida and Texas, with each school recording a 285. Arizona State, Illinois and defending national champion Auburn are six strokes back at 286. The Sooners were led on Friday by scores of 4-under 68 from Clark Van Gaalen, 3-under 69 from Jase Summy, 2-under 70 from Drew Goodman and 1-over 73 from Ryder Cowan.

“Today was a great start for our group,” said Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl. “Last year we got off to a tough start, so coming out strong on day one this time around was huge for us. It’s a long week and we still have a lot of work ahead, but this was a solid beginning. Our guys are feeling confident, and we’re ready to get back after it tomorrow morning.”

Starting on hole No. 1, Maichon had a clean card with six birdies (holes 2, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 16) along with 12 pars.

“It was good,” Maichon said. “I hit a lot of fairways and greens. I made a couple putts along the way. It wasn’t anything special. It wasn’t like I was hitting it super close or anything. I just kind of kept it in front of me. It’s a championship golf course and it’s tough, so you just have to play smart shots and limit your mistakes.”

Morrison fired a 5-under 67 in the afternoon wave, tallying six birdies (holes 1, 2, 6, 9, 10 and 11) against just one bogey (hole 4). This marked his 17th round in the 60s this season (37 total rounds).

“Everything was pretty solid today and I kept it right in front of me,” said Morrison. “It wasn’t necessarily all out of the middle of the face, but it was going where I was looking for the most part. I made some nice putts early which was important, as you need to get off to a good start here. I played with nice freedom.”

“I love it out here,” Morrison continued. “Since we first saw it last year, I’ve been a big fan of the golf course, the design and what they did with it. The rough is slightly more down than last year. The greens firmed up really nice today, and the course still showed its teeth.”

Loflin recorded the top individual score in the morning wave at 5-under 67. Starting on hole 10, he had a clean card with five birdies (holes 12, 18, 2, 6 and 7) and 13 pars. He tied his collegiate career-low 18-hole score with his 67 (set twice before).

“Bogey-free rounds are fun,” said Loflin. “I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be this morning. Our entire group of coaches talk a lot about mental approach and just making sure that expectations aren’t too high, which obviously really helps. I’ve been trending in the right direction for a few weeks now so you know I know my golf game is good but it’s really just all about not making it too big of a deal. I can shoot the scores at home but doing it when the lights on is a completely different thing or at least you can make it that way so it feels good.”

The second round of the championship will tee off on Saturday, May 24 at 6:30 a.m. PST.

Finals play for the 2025 championships consists of three days of stroke play over 54 holes on Friday thru Sunday (May 23-25), after which the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team will be determined. That is followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play (Monday, May 26) to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, May 27, followed by the finals on Wednesday, May 28.



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US beats Sweden 6-2 to reach the final at ice hockey worlds | National Sports

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Rogan ’28 third in women’s steeplechase final at track and field nationals

Story Links GENEVA, Ohio – Hamilton College’s Keira Rogan ’28 finished in third place out of 12 runners in the final of the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at SPIRE Academy on Friday afternoon, May 23.   Rogan eclipsed her own […]

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GENEVA, Ohio – Hamilton College’s Keira Rogan ’28 finished in third place out of 12 runners in the final of the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at SPIRE Academy on Friday afternoon, May 23.
 
Rogan eclipsed her own team record with a time of 10:24.46. Her previous best of 10:27.88 was set on April 4 in the Hamilton Outdoor Invitational. Rogan finished less than a second behind runner-up Audrey MacLean (10:23.59) of Middlebury College. Calvin University’s Sophie Bull was the race winner in 10:11.73.
 
Rogan was in third place after five of the eight laps and was never out of the top four after the first 200 meters. A lead pack of four runners emerged midway through the race and Rogan was in the middle of it.
 
Bull and MacLean pulled away in the seventh lap as Rogan slipped to fourth place. Rogan responded with her fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:20.65 in the final 400 meters as she moved back into third place and nearly caught MacLean.
 
Rogan clinched her spot in the final by winning her heat with a time of 10:37.18 on Thursday night. She was seeded third in Division III in the steeplechase going into this week’s championships.
 



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Dom Amore's Sunday Read

On May 25, 2010, Herculez Gomez punched in a goal for the U.S. men’s soccer team at Rentschler Field, a ray of light in the second half of a 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic at Rentschler Field, and it vaulted him onto the team for that year’s World Cup. Among the 36,000 in the […]

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Dom Amore's Sunday Read

On May 25, 2010, Herculez Gomez punched in a goal for the U.S. men’s soccer team at Rentschler Field, a ray of light in the second half of a 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic at Rentschler Field, and it vaulted him onto the team for that year’s World Cup.

Among the 36,000 in the stadium that day was a local kid. Patrick Agyemang, 9 years old, was watching and began to dream about being down there on the turf with the USMNT.

“Crazy,” said Gomez, now one of ESPN’s soccer analysts. “… Unbelievable story.”

Agyemang, 24, who grew up a corner kick or two from the stadium in East Hartford, will be in the lineup when the U.S. plays Turkey at Rentschler on June 7. He was called up from his MLS team, Charlotte FC, this week and added to the 27-man roster for June matches, with the Gold Cup matches to follow.

From East Hartford to a top MLS draft pick, Patrick Agyemang may have bloomed late but he’s made up for lost time

“He may not have the pedigree of some of the (forwards) in that pool, who were playing in Europe at a young age, with top set-ups and resources or recognition,” Gomez said. “But he’s got a skill set that not many in the pool have, the size of the kid, athleticism, the ability to win duels in the air, to get in behind, how much of a handful he is, his speed.

“He’s got a nose for the goal, one of those intangibles that goal-scorers must have. The ball finds you, you find the ball, that sixth sense. That’s a handful for any defender around the world.”

As the 2026 World Cup approaches, Agyemang’s story will surely become an international phenomenon, the almost unfathomable rise from East Hartford High, where he didn’t start right away, to Division III college soccer at Eastern Connecticut, then to Rhode Island, to MLS and to the USMNT, scoring three goals in his first four caps.

But when Coach Mauricio Pochettino announced his roster, it raised a few eyebrows. Many of the familiar names are not on it, including Christian Pulisic, the team’s most prominent player, who scored a memorable goal in the loss to Germany last time the U.S. team played in East Hartford. He’s dealing with injuries and fatigue from his season with AC Milan and will step back for a bit.

Dom Amore: USA men’s soccer goalkeeper Matt Turner returning to play in Connecticut, where remarkable rise began

“Before, you had a national team where if there were 26 on the roster, 25 were playing on European teams,” Gomez said. “Now you have 17 of 27 culled from Major League Soccer. There seems to be lot of doubt right now as to how this team has been assembled and the chips that are at the disposal for Pochettino to play.”

With the World Cup a year away, it is unusual to be auditioning younger players now, so Gomez is not sure what the objectives will be for the U.S. on June 7.

“If you hear what Pochettino has been saying, he seems to be sending a message about players wanting to be here, players trying to win their spot and not be comfortable,” Gomez said. “I’m all for that, but a year out from the World Cup, it’s not really about identifying players, it’s about solidifying the project you have, that you have been working on for quite some time.”

Pochettino does have a few players who were on the World Cup team in 2022, including goalkeeper Matt Turner, who played at Fairfield. But in revealing the roster he said he is trying to create competition and looking for energy — and where there is uncertainty there is opportunity for a dynamic player to break through.

“It’s a great opportunity for different players to challenge and to try to get a place in one year’s time for the World Cup,” Pochettino said. “That is really important for us. What we want to create in our national team is people desperate to come to perform.”

East Hartford's Patrick Agyemang will be trying to win a spot for the World Cup when USMNT plays Turkey at Rentschler Field June 7. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
East Hartford’s Patrick Agyemang will be trying to win a spot for the World Cup when USMNT plays Turkey at Rentschler Field June 7. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Agyemang, 6 feet 4, has 32 goals in 56 games for Charlotte FC, an indication of the game-changing explosiveness he can bring to the U.S, team, perhaps something no other player in the U.S. pool can add.

“If you’re a coach and (Agyemang) is not your starter,” Gomez said, “and the game calls for somebody to shake something up, somebody to make something out of nothing, somebody to be a difference maker, having a player with those intangibles can come in very handy. I think that gives him an advantage over other (candidates). … When he has played, he’s scored, and take it from a guy who used that same ability to get onto the U.S. national team for the World Cup.

“I had an opportunity in East Hartford right before the World Cup, coming on at halftime and scoring and I heard it from the coaches, ‘One of the reasons we brought you on is you have this knack of scoring goals in limited time.’”

More for your Sunday Read:

West Hartford’s Casey D’Annolfo goes for title

Casey D’Annolfo, from Conard-West Hartford, will coach Tufts men’s lacrosse in the Division III national championship game for the second time in three years. The Jumbos (22-0) play Dickinson on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Gillette Stadium for the trophy.

D’Annolfo, who took over at his college alma mater in 2016, has a 144-18 record at Tufts.
Steve Pikiell, the former UConn basketball captain and coach at Rutgers, also has some stake in the lacrosse finals. His daughter, Liv Pikiell, is playing for the unbeaten North Carolina women’s team, which defeated Florida 20-4 in the semifinals Friday, and will play Northwestern on Sunday for the championship..

Boldly charging into Division I at warp speed, this CT school may find sailing not always smooth

Charging ahead in football

The University of New Haven, moving to Division I next season, has reworked and released its football schedule for 2025. The Chargers will play as an independent program, with a mix of Division II, III and FCS opponents, including a few of its future conference rivals from the NEC. All things considered, it’s a pretty good slate for a program in transition.

Road games include Marist, Mercyhurst, Albany, Duquesne, LIU and Sacred Heart. Home games include Saginaw Valley State, Pace, Western Connecticut and Merrimack. Duquesne, LIU and Mercyhurst are NEC opponents, Sacred Heart and Merrimack are FCS independents who play for a “Yankee Conference title.” Marist plays in the FCS Pioneer League, Albany in the CAA, Pace and Saginaw Valley are Division II, WCSU is D-III.

Geno Auriemma: Locked in and reloaded for No. 13? (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Geno Auriemma: Locked in and reloaded for No. 13? (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Sunday short takes

*The phrase “we don’t rebuild, we reload” has become a tired mantra and, in fact, very wishful thinking in many places. But UConn men’s and women’s basketball, with their brand and access to the transfer portal, can claim this offseason as a legit reload. Joe Lunardi projects the men as a No. 1 seed. The women, with two big gets in the portal in Kayleigh Heckel and Serah Williams, are poised for Geno Auriemma to go for the baker’s dozen.

Wethersfield's Nicole Gwynn has finished s distinguished college career. (Courant file photo)

Brad Horrigan/The Hartford Courant

Wethersfield’s Nicole Gwynn has finished s distinguished college career. (Courant file photo)

*Ran into John Gwynn, “microwave” scorer on UConn men’s 1989-90 Dream Season team, and his daughter, Nicole this week. Nicole Gwynn, who played at Wethersfield High, just finished her college career at Georgia Southern with 1,569 points, and is now hoping to play overseas. In 2023, while at Queens (N.C.) University, she scored 26 in a game vs. LSU.

*Windsor High has announced its latest class of Hall of Fame inductees during its baseball game against Tolland at Dunkin Park this week. They are: Terrance Knighton (’04), football, basketball, who played in the NFL from 2009-16; Wayne Dobrutsky (’79), football/baseball; Mairin Dudek (’98), soccer, softball; Paul Lepak (’04), soccer; Cole Ormsby (’13), football; Michael Phang (’14), soccer, track; Kelsey Jepsen (’14), swimming; Dominique Fox, coach; Neil Beaulieu, contributor. They will be inducted Nov. 1 at LaNote in East Windsor. More information will be at the Hall of Fame’s website.

*Some exciting movement for local baseball players in the pros this week. Waterford’s Mike Burrows, who finished last season with the Pirates and picked up a late-season win at Yankee Stadium, was recalled from Triple A to make his first MLB start Thursday. He allowed four runs in five innings vs. Milwaukee. … Frank Mozzicato, from Ellington and East Catholic, Royals first-round pick in 2021, was moved up to Double A Northwest Arkansas this week, a crucial step. He allowed six runs in 4 2/3 innings in his first start. … Former UConn slugger Kyler “The Warden” Fedko, with the Twins Double A affiliate in Wichita, has eight home runs already.

*Rookie of the year Steph Castle wasn’t the only UConn guy making a mark with the Spurs. Mike Noyes of Granby, a high-IQ walk-on who eventually earned a scholarship during the Kevin Ollie era, is an assistant coach/director of player development. Noyes graduated from UConn with his degree in math and actuarial science in 2017, then worked for the Grizzlies as data scientist and video coordinator. This is the type of career path that often leads to high places in the NBA.

*UNH is planning a memorial service for its legendary baseball coach, Frank “Porky” Vieira on June 17 at 10:30 a.m. at the school’s baseball field. Vieira died April 25 at age 91.

*Earlier this month, SCSU hired Joe Loth to be its new football coach. Loth was 77-45 with six postseason appearances in 12 seasons at Western Connecticut.

Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: Soto, Judge, Knicks in a NY minute; Paige Bueckers’ challenge and more

Last word

Whatever it is that appears to be eating Juan Soto, the Mets need to address it forcefully and fast, as it has risen from social media banter to take on a life of its own. Two months into a 15-year, three-quarter billion dollar contract, he has not looked, or sounded like the same confident, exuberant player he was across town. If the narrative that he regrets his choice begins to harden like cement, it will be very difficult to get completely rid of it.

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