College Sports
Huge Fourth Quarter Powers Comeback Victory for Owls
Next Game: at Charlotte 1/4/2025 | 3:00 PM ESPN+ 88.3 FM Jan. 04 (Sat) / 3:00 PM at Charlotte History POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE NEW ORLEANS – Rice erupted for 33 fourth-quarter points and overcame a double-digit deficit to host Tulane to emerge with a 72-64 win on Wednesday afternoon inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the […]

Next Game:
at Charlotte
1/4/2025 | 3:00 PM
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88.3 FM
Jan. 04 (Sat) / 3:00 PM
at Charlotte
History
NEW ORLEANS
– Rice erupted for 33 fourth-quarter points and overcame a double-digit deficit to host Tulane to emerge with a 72-64 win on Wednesday afternoon inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
The Owls improved to 8-6, while the Green Wave dropped to 8-5. Both teams are now 1-1 in the American Athletic Conference.
Malia Fisher (21) and Dominique Ennis (18) combined for 39 of the Rice’s points and fueled a rally that saw the visitors connect on 10 of their 14 field goal attempts (71.4 percent) in the final period. Fisher also led a balanced attack on the glass with eight rebounds as her team also held a commanding edge (46-31) in that category as well.
For Tulane, Amira Mabry (21) posted her third consecutive 20-point outing and led the way with nine caroms herself. Kendall Sneed added 17 points before fouling out and Kyren Whittington tacked on 14. Whittington (1,011) went over the 1,000-point mark for her Tulane career with a 3-pointer 54 seconds into the game.
The Olive and Blue forced Rice into a season-high 23 turnovers but mustered just a 14-12 edge in points off those miscues.
Sneed made a triple to put the home team up by 10 (51-41) with 8:23 left, but the Owls outscored the Wave 31-13 down the stretch.
Sneed tied the game again at 62 on a layup at the 2:25 mark, but Rice responded with consecutive hoops by Fisher and two free throws by Hailey Adams with 46 seconds left to grab an insurmountable six-point advantage (68-62).
Tulane is back in action Saturday when it faces Charlotte (5-7) in the Queen City at 4 p.m. ET/3 CT. The 49ers play at South Florida on Wednesday evening.
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Tickets for the upcoming 2024-25 women’s basketball season are now available staring at $50 and can be purchased by visiting TulaneTix.com.
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College Sports
Kansas State University
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State men’s golf team is set to compete in its 10th postseason all time – including its third in the last four seasons – as the Wildcats take part in the 2025 NCAA Bremerton Regional, next Monday through Wednesday, held at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Washington. The […]

The No. 10 seed for the regional, the Wildcats are one of 14 teams looking for a top-five finish in Washington to advance to the NCAA Championship, which will be held May 23-28, at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
“We are very excited to get to Washington and compete at NCAA Regionals,” said head coach Grant Robbins, who will be leading a squad into the postseason for the ninth time in his career. “This is an exciting time of the year, and we can’t wait to get up there and see what we can do. The golf course is very good and will be demanding, especially from tee to green. It sets up well for our team. We have had a very good week of practice, so now it’s just a matter of knowing we are prepared, going out to play fearless golf and seeing where that takes us.”
The 2025 NCAA Bremerton Regional has a Big 12 flare as the Wildcats will be joined by Big 12 Champion and top-seeded Arizona State, No. 3 seed Utah, No. 6 seed Colorado and No. 8 seed Kansas. Joining the Sun Devils and Utes as top-five seeds are No. 2 seed and SEC Champion Florida, No. 4 seed South Carolina and No. 5 seed South Florida. The rest of the field consists of AAC Champion Charlotte, Colorado State, CAA Champion Elon, Sun Belt Champion Coastal Carolina, Summit League Champion Oral Roberts and WAC Champion Seattle.
K-State’s lineup remains unchanged from the Big 12 Championship with seniors Nicklaus Mason, Kobe Valociek and Cooper Schultz joined by freshman Erik Sabelström Holmberg and junior Alex Lindstrom. Senior Ian McCrary will serve as the Wildcats’ alternate.
Mason, a native of Shawnee, Kansas, leads the Wildcats this season with a 71.68 scoring average, which ranks eighth in school history. He has produced four top-10 finishes during his senior campaign, including victories at Wildcat Invitational and Steelwood Collegiate Invitational.
This will be Mason’s third NCAA Regional start as he went 4-over par 220 to tie for 32nd in the 2022 NCAA Norman Regional and 5-over par 218 to tie for 43rd in the 2023 NCAA Bath (Mich.) Regional.
Valociek ranks second on the team in scoring average at 72.32, just ahead of Schultz at 72.58. The duo has combined for three top-five finishes and eight top-10 showings.
Both players competed in the 2024 NCAA Austin Regional as individuals. Schultz tied for 30th place at 3-over par 216, while Valociek – who played for Virginia Tech – finished five shots back and tied for 46th place. Schultz also competed two years ago in Bath, tying for 43rd place with Mason.
Schultz and Mason are in the midst of their fourth and final seasons as Wildcats with Schultz holding a career scoring average of 72.00 to rank second in program history, while Mason ranks third at 72.26.
A product of Stockholm, Sweden, Sabelström Holmberg will be a member of the scoring lineup for a fourth-straight event. The freshman has produced a scoring average of 73.92 in his nine total starts this season. Lindstrom, who hails from Halmstad, Sweden, has also been in the last three lineups and carries a season average of 74.25 strokes per round, including a 73.90 mark over the last three events.
Kansas State begins play at the 2025 NCAA Bremerton Regional off the 10th tee on Monday starting at 9:25 a.m. (PT), and the Wildcats will be paired with Elon and Coastal Carolina. Live results can be followed on SCOREBOARD powered by Clippd.
College Sports
University of Oklahoma Athletics
NORMAN — The Oklahoma Sooners tallied a total of nine different All-Southeastern Conference Postseason honors, with head coach Patty Gasso and senior right-handed pitcher Sam Landry taking home superlative awards as announced Friday, May 9. The Sooners were the only team to have two different superlative honors, with head coach Patty Gasso being named SEC […]

The Sooners were the only team to have two different superlative honors, with head coach Patty Gasso being named SEC Coach of the Year and Sam Landry was tabbed SEC Newcomer of the Year. Six different Sooners combined for nine total awards between first team, second team, all-defensive and superlative honors.
Oklahoma was one of three teams to have at least three first team honorees, while the Sooners were the only team to have more than two all-defensive team picks.
Landry was also picked to the All-SEC First Team and the SEC All-Defensive Team. Joining Landry on the first team was redshirt-freshman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas and sophomore Kasidi Pickering.
OU’s middle infield was honored for its work, with freshman Gabbie Garcia taking home All-SEC Second Team. Garcia alongside second baseman Ailana Agbayani were both tabbed to the SEC All-Defensive Team.
Head Coach Patty Gasso earned her 16th conference coach of the year honor and first SEC Coach of the Year laurel in the program’s inaugural season in the SEC. The Sooners won the 2025 SEC Regular Season Championship outright with a 17-7 record, which included sweeps against No. 15/12 Arkansas, No. 15/16 Mississippi State and No. 3/2 Texas. The Sooners were tabbed to finish third in the SEC Preseason Poll and finished atop the league after the regular season for the 16th time under Gasso.
Landry has gone 19-4 in the circle this season, building her résumé as one of the top pitchers in the conference and the nation. The senior currently ranks first in the country among active pitchers with 82 wins. The righty was named SEC Pitcher of the Week three times this season, while also being tabbed to the ESPN.com/USA College Softball Player of the Year Top 25 list. The Mont Belvieu, Texas, native has logged 150.2 innings of work this season, adding four saves, 154 strikeouts and a .195 opponents’ batting average to her impressive season and career ledger. Her defense was on display with her league-leading 47 assists in the circle, while helping turn two double plays. Landry has worked 15 complete games on the season, with her most recent coming in a one-hit victory against No. 9/10 LSU Thursday, May 8.
McEnroe-Marinas’ first full season saw her embrace the captain role and produce in a big way, especially during SEC competition. The redshirt-freshman entered postseason play tied for the league lead in home runs during conference play with 11. The third baseman was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Freshman of the Year Top 25 list and earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors April 29. McEnroe-Marinas tallied multi-home run series against South Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri and Mississippi State, while posting multi-home run games twice.
Pickering’s play was recognized in the preseason with a Preseason All-SEC nod and finishing with first team all-conference recognition. Pickering joined Landry as a member of the ESPN.com/USA Collegiate Softball Player of the Year Top 25 list last month and was also picked as Softball America’s Star of the Week for March 4. The outfielder is hitting .384 in games against SEC foes, while kickstarting the OU offense with a .516 on-base percentage. The Humble, Texas, native has walked a staggering 47 times, while homering 14 times and driving in 45 runs. Pickering generated a career-best 16-game hitting streak between March 15 and April 13, while also reaching in 15-straight plate appearances.
Garcia has produced with the bat and her glove all season long, earning All-SEC Second Team and SEC All-Defensive Team recognition in her freshman season. Her bat really came alive in the early stages of March as she homered in five consecutive games, becoming the first OU freshman since Jocelyn Alo to complete that feat. Following that stretch she was selected as D1Softball Freshman of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week. A week later she added SEC Player of the Week honors to her name. April 8 she took home her second Freshman of the Week honor after going 8-for-10. Over 149 chances, Garcia has permitted only three errors and hasn’t made a defensive miscue in the entirety of league play.
Agbayani joined Garcia with the impressive glovework in the middle infield, making just one error all season at second base. The junior didn’t make a mistake in the field until April 25, joining Garcia as the only duo in at least the Power Four level to not make an error up to that point in the season. Agbayani has made a number of headlining plays this year, including a diving catch on a line drive with the bases loaded in an 11-3 win against Oklahoma State April 9. She also put a bow on a 4-1 win against No. 10/9 Tennessee with a diving catch in shallow center to close the game.
No. 2/2 Oklahoma takes on No. 6/7 Arkansas in the SEC Tournament Semifinals Friday, May 9.
College Sports
Between the Lines: This Again? : College Hockey News
May 9, 2025 PRINT What the Shift to NPI Means for the NCAA Regionals Debate by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor (@chn-adam-wodon) After putting it on hold last year, the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Committee is planning to replace the Pairwise/RPI system with “NPI” starting next season. I’ve probably spilled more virtual ink writing about the Pairwise […]

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What the Shift to NPI Means for the NCAA Regionals Debate
by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor (@chn-adam-wodon)

After putting it on hold last year, the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Committee is planning to replace the Pairwise/RPI system with “NPI” starting next season.
I’ve probably spilled more virtual ink writing about the Pairwise in the last 30 years than anyone since the Benadictine monks transcribed bibles.
But I won’t be sad to see it go.
Not because it wasn’t a good system anymore — it was still doing fine. It’s just that, it’s boring now. There were so many changes made over the years, that essentially what we know as the Pairwise, became just the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index). The remaining components of the Pairwise were like Milton Waddams in Office Space, hanging around in the basement with his stapler for years, not realizing he’d been fired long ago.
The days of Pairwise craziness were exciting, breaking down the nuances, trying to talk fans off the ledge. Oh the fun we had with “TUC cliffs,” “bonus points,” the Pairwise Grid, “the Bentley effect,” and the list goes on. Let’s not even talk about how many times in the early days I wrote articles explaining to people — coaches, even — that “Yes, the Pairwise absolutely IS how the NCAA Tournament field is selected. I swear.”
So farewell old friend. You done good.
As it stands right now, moving to NPI is not that drastic a change. It’s still a method of taking a team’s winning percentage, and adjusting for strength of schedule. It’s good to see that latter part, however, done in a more iterative way, akin to KRACH (which the CHN Power Ratings are based on). I was calling for a change to KRACH as far back as 2004.
Personally, I would still like to see a “recency bias” in the formulation. The Pairwise once had a “Last 16” criteria, but it was scrapped long ago. There’s room for tweaks. But NPI will be fine, like Pairwise was fine. Certainly better than the so-called smoke-filled room, that no one wants.
For the nerds like me, there will be plenty of time to get into the weeds of how the NPI formula works in the coming months. But we’ll leave the math to another day.
For now, I’ll just tie this in to my other pet topic (which is also getting old and boring) — the NCAA Regional debate.
* * *
As the debate continues, I respect the college hockey people who want to see home-ice Regionals, and I don’t disagree with many of their points. But at the end of the day, I continue to believe that no formula is precise enough to use it for giving such an advantage.
The current neutral-site format eliminates that concern.
Yes, there are certainly issues with the current Regional format that we all know about, and are discussed ad nauseum. My continued belief, as I’ve also written plenty about, is that we can improve the current format, without having to switch to a home-ice format.
Switching to NPI, and seeing the difference with Pairwise, is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the point.
If you run the calculation, the NPI and Pairwise are fairly close, but with enough movement here and there to affect which teams would get home ice.
And using one over the other is a choice, about as subjective as anything else.
The decision of “which formula to use” only underlines the imprecision that will determine home ice. We are not talking about standings points. Those are cut and dried. You know what it is. Schedules are relatively balanced.
Not so with these algorithms. Yes, everyone knows the formula in advance of the season, but that doesn’t eliminate the point.
Even beyond the Pairwise vs. NPI difference, the Committee is still tinkering with what home-road weightings to use, what overtime weightings to use, and so on. Those decisions are also applicable to the Pairwise/RPI. There’s not a lot of math involved in those decisions. It’s based upon what feels right. What seems right. The six current members of the Committee are going to look at different tweaks to the algorithm — whether that be RPI or NPI — and pick the one that passes their own personal smell test.
And no disrespect is intended in that remark. I believe their decisions will be based upon sound, rational, good-faith thinking. But it will be fairly subjective thinking, nonetheless.
Mathematically speaking, you may be able to make an argument that NPI is “better” than Pairwise. But there’s no real math argument to the other factors.
* * *
Even if you concede that atmospheres would be better with home-ice NCAA games, there is still the issue of fairness.
You can’t get 100 percent perfection in atmosphere or fairness. You have to weigh which is more important to you, and what your definition of “atmosphere” and “fairness” are, which could be credited to either system in varying degrees, if you wanted it to.
Obviously, I fall on the side of “fairness,” even with — yes, I know — the obvious unfairness of certain things in the current neutral-site system (which I adamently want to fix as well).
Whenever I have written about these points in the past, inevitably I get people angrily asking me some variation of: “Hey, genius, if the Pairwise/RPI/NPI is good enough to pick the field, why isn’t it good enough to pick home ice” — although they say it with less perfect grammar.
Well, I’ve addressed that question about a bazillion times (scroll down in that link), including in articles and numerous podcasts. But I’ll repeat things again in a nutshell:
Using an imperfect formula to choose the field is a better way than the alternative (smoke-filled rooms), 100 percent.
But using an imperfect formula to decide home ice for Regioanls is not better than the alternative — neutral sites. So, given the options, I go with neutral sites.
Anyway, I kinda wish we’d just stop talking about this already, but I doubt we will.
College Sports
Greenfield Recorder – Keeping Score with Chip Ainsworth: Bernardston’s Weiss in Europe with Team USA
Good morning!Any inclination Vladimir Putin might have of brokering a peace deal with Ukraine would likely be helped by his need to show off the Russian hockey team at next year’s Olympics. The Russians have been excluded from international hockey competition since the invasion more than two years ago. A precursor to the Games is […]

Good morning!
Any inclination Vladimir Putin might have of brokering a peace deal with Ukraine would likely be helped by his need to show off the Russian hockey team at next year’s Olympics. The Russians have been excluded from international hockey competition since the invasion more than two years ago.
A precursor to the Games is the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship which began Friday in northern Europe. Bernardston’s Doug Weiss flew out of Bradley last week to serve as Team USA’s doctor and orthopedic surgeon.
Others with Bay State connections include former Boston College forwards Cutter Gauthier and Will Smith — now with Anaheim and San Jose respectively — BU defenseman Cole Hutson and Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke and goalie Jeremy Swayman.
The team is captained by Clayton Keller who was 12th in scoring in the league for Utah this season. The alternate captains are Tage Thompson — a 44-goal scorer for Buffalo — and Nashville defenseman Brady Skjei.
The head coach is Ryan Warsofsky of Marshfield and the San Jose Sharks.
In a pre-tourney tilt this week the Americans beat the Germans 5-2, and outshot them 37-23.
“We have a really good team but Canada and Sweden are stacked,” Weiss texted. “Our roster isn’t finalized so we’ll see.”
The Americans are grouped with Denmark, Czechia, Hungary, Germany, Kazakhstan, Switzerland and Norway, and will be seeking their first IIHF World Championship since 1933.
Weiss was the team physician when they last reached the podium by winning the bronze in 2021. “You come here and see how every player loves to compete for his country,” he said. “It’s a playoff tempo.”
Canada has won 28 gold medals since the tourney began in 1920. The boys from north of the border have an NHL-laden roster helmed by Columbus Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason that includes Sidney Crosby (Penguins), Ryan O’Reilly (Predators) Brandon Montour (Kraken), Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche) and grizzled veteran Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes.
Defending champ Czechia is bouyed David Pastrnak’s presence. Last year, Pastrnak arrived in time to score the winning goal against Switzerland. The game was in Prague, only 200 miles from where Pastrnak was born in Havirov.
Team USA played Denmark Friday and has upcoming preliminary games against Hungary on Sunday at 6:20 a.m., Switzerland on Monday at 10:20 a.m. and Norway on Wednesday at 10:20 a.m., followed by puck-drops against Germany, Kazakhstan, and Czechia. All times are Eastern.
The quarterfinals are on May 22 in Hernig, Denmark, and Stockholm, Sweden, and the semifinals and finals will be at the Globe Arena in Stockholm on May 24 and 25. All games will be telecast on the NHL Network.
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Thoughts on the Sox: Through 38 games last season the Red Sox were 19-19 en route to finishing 81-81. This season they’re 19-19 and en route to who knows where, but in 200 games they’re 100-100 and the epitome of mediocrity.
At this writing they led the league in at bats, doubles, slugging percentage and strikeouts, and were tied with Seattle for stolen bases, yet were spinning their wheels. Why? Pitching of course. Boston’s hurlers are ninth in the league in ERA (4.01), one spot ahead of the mighty Chicago White Sox.
Alex Bregman and Wilyer Abreu have accounted for 40 percent of the team’s home run production. Bregman bats third, the same as Carl Yastrzemski, Big Papi and Mo Vaughn. He’s an MVP candidate and a hired gun, and $40 million might not be enough to keep him here.
Leadoff hitter Jarren Duran is a latter day Rickey Henderson. Durran can run, hit, hit for power and steal. The only thing he can’t do is walk — six times since April 12 when he sat out against the White Sox.
Abreu has steadily moved up the order from seventh on opening day to cleanup until Cora dropped him to fifth behind ROY candidate Kristian Campbell.
Trevor Story has been dropped to sixth in the order. Story was the Giancarlo of Boston for three years, playing in just 163 of 486 regular season games. He’s missed three games this season and gets an A for staying healthy.
Ceddanne Rafaela is batting .225 and is utterly expendable; the catching corps of Carlos Narvaez and Connor Wong is batting .201 with three home runs and utterly forgettable. Boston gave up one of the best catching prospects in baseball for a pitcher whose velocity is dropping which is the first sign of arm trouble.
After the Red Sox lost to Texas on Tuesday, Jason Kelly said on the Bastards of Boston Baseball podcast: “I’ve never heard so many people call into sports radio saying Alex Cora needs to be fired.”
One way to keep the wolves away from the clubhouse door would be to give the people what they want and put Rafael Devers at first base. It might not work, but you’ll never know until you try. Tristan, we hardly knew ye.
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Fifty years ago they wanted to put a nuke plant on the Connecticut River in Hinsdale, but the town said no and they built it across the river in Vernon. Protests ensued and vandals changed a Vernon exit sign on I-91 to read Vernobyl.
Vernon had the green but Hinsdale High School had the gold. In 1971, the boys soccer team won the state championship. It was the first of 18 state titles and six runner-up finishes in 20 years in either soccer, basketball or baseball.
“All the coaches and most of the players are still alive,” said Joe Sarsfield, who lettered in all three sports from 1968-72. Many of them will be at the Branch and Blade Brewing Company in Keene on May 31 to browse through photos and press clippings and remember the good times. The event will be from noon to 4 p.m. and everyone is invited.
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Northfield’s Chloe Rourke helped the West Texas A&M Horse Team win its first D-I championship last month at the National Ranch Association’s National Championship in Amarillo.
The Buffaloes out-performed four-time defending champion Texas Tech and other schools like Texas A&M and New Mexico State.
A sophomore and NMH grad, Rourke and four of her teammates placed in the top 10 in ranch reining, stock horse pleasure, ranch trail and cow work.
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Former NFL linebacker Brandon Copeland of athletes.org spoke with Ross Tucker this week about organizing a players’ association similar to the NFL’s. “Thirty-five percent of college football players who’ve said they’ve been promised money have never received it,” said Copeland. “These are not small schools. These are Top 25 schools. The players get there and the schools find a way not to pay it.”
“And most of the kids are too scared to say anything,” said Tucker.
****
SQUIBBERS: Before the Knicks-Celtics series started, Mike Francesa criticized betting apps for dishing out crooked odds: “Right now the Celtics are minus-835 to win the series. There’s no reason that bettors should have to bet $835 to make $100 on the Celtics but get only $550 for betting the Knicks. That’s outrageous.”… Francesa had Sovereignty to win the Derby at 7-1. “Will I take a bow on the Derby?” he asked himself. “Yeah, I guess so.” … Pablo Sandoval the Kung Fu Panda who ate his way out of Boston, is playing for the Staten Island FerryHawks. … One take that makes sense about why Bill Belichick has his 24-year-old girlfriend at spring practice is that she can help Mr. Grouch learn to relate to the young players. … Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is out $12 million after an employee at Stocks and Securities Ltd. made off with his loot. … After decades of service at the courthouse, Brennan McGuane has retired and can now watch all the soccer he wants. Congrats Brennan, for reaching your goooaaalll!! … BC football has sold out its season ticket allotment. The Eagles host California, UConn, Clemson, Notre Dame, SMU and Ga.Tech this season. … Joe Maddon to Bob Costas on fighting words between Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal and Angels rookie Zach Neto: “I loved it. Skubal’s as old school as it gets and Neto gives the Angels some kind of culture shift as regards to toughness.” … As the great Bob Gibson said about what it takes to win: “In a world filled with hate, prejudice and protest, I find that I too am filled with hate, prejudice and protest.”
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@gmail.com
College Sports
Baseball’s Weekend Schedule with Yale Adjusted
By: Rebecca Osowski Story Links HANOVER, N.H. – Due to projected weather in the area this weekend, Dartmouth baseball’s regular season series finale with the Yale Bulldogs has been adjusted. The Big Green and Bulldogs will now play a single game on Saturday, May 10 at 3 p.m. The […]
HANOVER, N.H. – Due to projected weather in the area this weekend, Dartmouth baseball’s regular season series finale with the Yale Bulldogs has been adjusted.
The Big Green and Bulldogs will now play a single game on Saturday, May 10 at 3 p.m.
The two teams will now play a doubleheader Sunday. The first game will begin at 11:30 a.m. and the second game will start at approximately 3 p.m.
Sunday’s games are sponsored by Milton CAT. Following the second game on Sunday, there will be a kids run the bases event as well as post-game autographs with the team.
All three games this weekend will be streamed on ESPN+. You can also follow the live stats on DartmouthSports.com.
College Sports
Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby together at ice hockey worlds
Be aware: Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon join forces to play for Canada at the ice hockey world championship after 10 years. As all eyes are on the NHL playoffs, the two major stars are in Europe for the worlds opening on Friday across the Swedish capital of Stockholm and Denmark’s city of Herning. It […]

Be aware: Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon join forces to play for Canada at the ice hockey world championship after 10 years.
As all eyes are on the NHL playoffs, the two major stars are in Europe for the worlds opening on Friday across the Swedish capital of Stockholm and Denmark’s city of Herning.
It is the final men’s international test before the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, where NHL players return to the Olympics after 12 years.
The two friends and neighbours in Halifax, Nova Scotia, were on the team that Crosby captained to gold at the 2015 worlds. By winning the tournament in Prague then, Crosby joined hockey’s Triple Gold Club, a small group of players who have won the Stanley Cup, the Olympics and the worlds.
These are the third worlds, and first since 2015 for Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup winner (2009, ’16 and ’17) and double Olympic champion (2010 and ’14). He’s captured gold for Canada at every international tournament, including the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the 2005 world junior championship.
In February, the 37-year-old also shone alongside MacKinnon as he captained Canada to the 4 Nations Face-Off trophy, beating archrival the United States in overtime.
Crosby has behind him a 20th NHL season featuring 33 goals, 58 assists and 91 points in 80 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who missed out on the NHL playoffs.
MacKinnon opted to join Canada after his Colorado Avalanche were knocked out in the first round. It will be the fourth worlds and and first since 2017 for the 29-year-old center, who recorded the second highest points in the regular season — 116 — and added another 11 in the playoffs.
Crosby will also reunite with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury who has just exited the NHL but postponed his retirement at age of 40 to play again with Crosby and at the worlds for the first time.
“It’ll be fun to go spend some time together and yell at him in practice a bit, keep him honest,” said Fleury, who won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins three times.
Among the rising stars, Canada includes the 18-year-old Macklin Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft who collected 63 points from 25 goals and 38 assists in his rookie season for the San Jose Sharks.
Canada is the most successful nation at the tournament with 28 titles and is a favorite every year no matter who is available. With Crosby and MacKinnon, it is definitely the team to beat.
Other contenders
David Pastrnak is back for the defending champion Czech Republic after his Boston Bruins didn’t advance to the playoffs.
The Czechs beat Switzerland 2-0 in the final in Prague last year with Pastrnak scoring the winner. It was the seventh title won by the Czech Republic — or Czechia — since the 1993 breakup of Czechoslovakia. Pastrnak racked up 106 points in the NHL, reaching one hundred for the third straight season.
Utah captain Clayton Keller will also captain a U.S. that is seeking a first worlds medal since a bronze in 2021. Alternate captains, forward Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres and forward Conor Garland of the Vancouver Canucks, were on that team four years ago. Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski and Boston net-minder Jeremy Swayman were on the team that was fifth last year.