Minnesota
Minnesota State announces leadership group for 2024-25
MANKATO, Minn. — Minnesota State has announced the four skaters that will be captaining the Mavericks for the 2024-25 season.
Forward Sydney Langseth will serve as captain while Jamie Nelson, Shelbi Guttormson and Madison Mashuga will each be alternate captains. All four athletes are from Minnesota.
“We are excited about our leadership group for the upcoming season,” said Minnesota State head coach Shari Dickerman in
a press release from the University.
“All four bring effort, energy and enthusiasm in everything they do. They have been leading by example since long before they stepped foot on our campus. We cannot wait to see how far this group will take us as we aim for new heights in the WCHA.”
Langseth, a native of Eden Prairie, is entering her fifth-year of eligibility with the Mavericks in 2024-25. She just finished up her senior season where she led the entire team in overall point scoring by earning 15 goals and 17 assists through 38 games played. The 22-year-old is also no stranger to being a leader both on and off the ice as she wore an ‘A’ in 2023-24. She puts in quite a bit of work in the classroom too as she was a 2023 Krampade Division I All-American Scholar and she is a three-time WCHA Academic Team member.
Shelbi Guttormson will be the lone defender of the leadership group in 2024-25. The native of Moorhead came to the Mavericks after competing with Shattuck-St. Mary’s in high school. She has now just finished up her junior season of collegiate hockey where she scored two goals and three assists through 38 contests in 2023-24. The 21-year-old has appeared in 109 total games for Minnesota State and she is a two-time WCHA All-Academic Team member.
Madison Mashuga will also be wearing an ‘A’ for the Mavericks in 2024-25. The forward from Anoka scored 11 points through 26 games played this past year as a senior. She served as an alternate captain in 2023-24 and will do so again in 2024-25. The 22-year-old has appeared in 117 career collegiate games as she enters her fifth-year of eligibility with Minnesota State and she is a three-time WCHA All-Academic Team honoree.
Forward Jamie Nelson rounds out the three skaters that will be alternate captains in 2024-25. Nelson, from Andover, had an outstanding senior season in 2023-24 as she led the entire Mavericks roster in goal-scoring with 20. She tallied a total of 30 points through 38 contests over the past year. The 21-year-old is entering her fifth-year of eligibility at Minnesota State this fall after a successful four-year collegiate career so far. She was named the 2021 WCHA Rookie of the Year and has since been honored as a 2023 Krampade Division I All-American Scholar and was put on the WCHA All-Academic Team three different times.
Sydney Wolf is a reporter for The Rink Live, primarily covering youth and high school hockey. She joined the team in November of 2021 and graduated from St. Cloud State University with a degree in Mass Communications and a minor in Writing and Rhetoric Studies.
Minnesota
Driver who fatally struck bicyclist in Minneapolis may have been impaired, police say
Minneapolis police suspect a driver was under the influence when he hit and killed a bicyclist on the city’s southside early Monday morning.
Officers responded to the crash at the intersection of Hiawatha Avenue and East 35th Street around 3 a.m., according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
Upon arrival, police found a man in his 50s suffering from apparent life-threatening injuries. Officers provided immediate medical aid, including CPR, before the man was transported to Hennepin Healthcare, where he later died.
The Minneapolis Police Department says that preliminary information indicates the driver, a 23-year-old man, had been traveling south on Hiawatha Avenue in a Ford Edge when he struck the bicyclist.
Officers arrested the driver and took him to the hospital, where police say “a search warrant for evidence collection was carried out.” Police later booked the driver into Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide.
The incident is still under investigation.
Minnesota
I-94 rest area in Minnesota closed until Independence Day for $2.9M improvement project
A rest area along Interstate 94 in Minnesota has been closed to trucks until about Independence Day to accommodate an almost $3 million improvement project.
The eastbound I-94 Enfield rest area between St. Cloud, Minnesota and the Twin Cities between Wright County Road 8 and Highway 25 is now closed to cars and commercial vehicles as crews resurface the entrance and exit ramps, and update nearby sidewalks.
According to KNSI, the full closure is just the first phase of the project. The rest area will reopen to passenger vehicles only the week of May 11th. During that time, the truck parking area will remain closed as crews repave the lot.
The truck parking lot will reopen the week of June 30th, right around Independence Day. During that time, the passenger vehicle area will be shut down to allow for the resurfacing of the lot. The Minnesota DOT expects the rest area to be fully open by late July. The entire project is expected to cost $2.9 million.
Drivers heading east on I-94 are encouraged to use the Big Spunk Lake rest area near Avon, or to drive a little farther out to the Elm Creek rest area.
Minnesota
UCLA baseball remains perfect in Big Ten by beating Minnesota
Could a UCLA baseball team that’s perfect in Big Ten play get better?
Bruins coach John Savage thinks so, which is a frightening prospect for the rest of a seemingly overmatched conference.
While Savage’s top-ranked Bruins completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota on Sunday with a 5-2 victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium — stretching their Big Ten winning streak to 21 games — he said there’s more upside to be realized.
“Offensively, we just really couldn’t get a lot going,” Savage said after his team went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded six baserunners. “We just weren’t able to put a lot together, but when that pitching and defense shows up every day, it gives yourself a chance to win, and that’s kind of what we did all three games, really.”
Those elements were so good Sunday that they overshadowed Roman Martin’s solo homer in the third inning and Will Gasparino’s two-run shot in the sixth.
Bruins left fielder Dean West made three superb catches — two leaping and one diving — and four relievers combined to give up only one run in 4 ⅔ innings. Closer Easton Hawk needed only six pitches to record a 1-2-3 ninth inning while notching his third save in as many days.
Savage credited Minnesota’s pitching after the Golden Gophers (22-17 overall, 5-13 Big Ten) held the Bruins (36-3) to an average of five runs during the series and said many of his team’s offensive struggles were situational.
“We have very, very good offensive players — some of them are in … little ruts right now, but that’s OK,” Savage said. “These guys play a lot and get a lot of at-bats; there’s a lot of ups and downs.”
When it comes to UCLA’s conference record, it’s all been up.
What it means
UCLA’s sweep is further evidence that the Bruins aren’t getting complacent because of their record.
“This culture is really solid, and these guys truly believe in one another and they’re playing for the team,” Savage said. “We’re very fortunate to have this group, and so they love playing together, so there’s no complacency and there’s no reason to because we haven’t done anything; I mean, you’re 36-3, that’s great, but at the end of the day it’s about getting better and playing your best baseball the next 75 days.”
Turning point
Spotting a dominant team an early lead is never a good idea.
That’s what happened when the Bruins struck for two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
West led off with a single to center field, took third on Roch Cholowsky’s double to left and scored on a balk. With one out, Martin hit an RBI infield single off the pitcher’s glove. UCLA was up 2-0, and the Golden Gophers could never catch up.
Did you see that?
Minnesota did not like it when Gasparino admired his home run by lingering in the batter’s box before commencing his trot around the bases.
There was consensus in both dugouts because Savage also didn’t care for it.
“I thought he probably stayed in the box a little too long for me,” Savage said. “That’s kind of not who we are, and they didn’t like that; I wouldn’t like that either, really.”
MVP
West saved multiple extra-base hits with his catches.
Which was his favorite?
“Probably the diving one,” West said. “I think that was the coolest one. I got to leave my feet and make a play on it.”
Up next
The Bruins will open a five-game stretch of nonconference games when they host Hawaii on Tuesday evening at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
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