Nov. 7—BEMIDJI — Five minutes in into the first period, Morgan Smith believed she gave the Bemidji State women's hockey team a 1-0 lead.

Then St. Thomas challenged.

Smith caught a pass from Kate Johnson just inside the blue line, then beat goaltender Julia Minotti for the game's first goal. However, after a lengthy review, the officials determined Johnson was offside carrying the puck into the zone.

"The way the rule reads, if you don't have possession coming over the blue line, it's (offsides), and the St. Thomas defender had her stick there and (Johnson) lost possession for a split second there," Fryklund said. "That was the explanation."

The NCAA Ice Hockey 2025-26 rulebook, rule 86.1, states: "A player controlling the puck who crosses the line ahead of the puck shall not be considered off-side, provided the player had possession and control of the puck prior to the player's skates crossing the leading edge of the blue line."

Under rule 55.4, the rulebook also states: "Control of the puck is defined as the act of propelling the puck with the stick, hand or skate. If, while it is being propelled, the puck is touched by another player or that player's equipment, hits the goal or goes free, the player shall not be considered in control of the puck."

Jenessa Gazdik mirrored Johnson on the play. She swatted her stick at the puck twice without making contact with the puck or Johnson's stick. Still, the officials ruled that Johnson lost control of the puck.

"There was a video we were sent earlier in the year on a play similar to that," Fryklund said. "It's certainly unfortunate for us. A split second and a lift of a stick changes that. We certainly would've loved that goal. But they took a long time to review it, which we certainly appreciate."

It was a beneficial break for the Tommies, who scored five unanswered goals after the review to win the series opener 5-0 on Friday night at the Sanford Center.

"Certainly, not the result we wanted," Fryklund said. "I thought we had a good first period, but I'm not excited about the result today. In the second period, credit to St. Thomas. They came out with a lot of jump. ... Our first period was unfortunate to have that goal overturned, and the rest of the game we couldn't find a way to score."

Chloe Boreen scored a one-timer goal five minutes later on the heels of a UST power play. The Tommies doubled their lead 40 seconds into the second period. On a goal from Gazdik, a Minnesota State transfer.

"They look like a different team, structurally and in their systems," Fryklund said. "They have a lot of talented players who can put the puck in the net. Some of those players are getting older and have that experience. They're well-coached, they have a good staff and they've done a good job."

UST scored thrice in the third period. After assisting on the first two goals, Rylee Bartz, a Warroad High School graduate, scored her eighth goal this season. Then Ella Boerger scored her eighth goal before Ilsa Lindman capped the scoring with just under five minutes left.

Despite conceding three goals in the final 20 minutes, Bemidji State had its best chances in the third period. Several of the Beavers' eight shots on goal came from high-danger scoring chances, including Hailey Armstrong's breakaway that prompted Minotti to make a stellar glove save.

"They blocked a lot of shots," Fryklund said. "I know that we had some good looks in the offensive zone, and there were a lot of blocks from their team when we tried to get pucks to the net. ... Their goaltender made some really good saves tonight, too. We had a breakaway and some good looks and chances. Every weekend in the WCHA, it's going to be a battle."

St. Thomas (8-5-0, 3-4-0 WCHA) blocked 14 shots on Friday. Minotti made all 17 saves to keep BSU (2-6-1, 0-6-1 WCHA) goalless.

"We had some momentum and chances there in the third period," Fryklund said. "There's nothing we can do about it now, but our response is what we talked about — finding ways to get pucks to the net and in the net. We have to reset today, come back tomorrow and have a fresh perspective."

St. Thomas 5, Bemidji State 0

UST 1 1 3 — 5

BSU 0 0 0 — 0

First period — UST GOAL: Boreen (Bartz, Ju. Gazdik) 9:10.

Second period — UST GOAL: Je. Gazdik (Ju. Gazdik, Bartz) 0:40.

Third period — UST GOAL: Bartz (Boreen, Je. Gazdik) 0:33; UST GOAL: Boerger (Hause) 5:04; UST GOAL: Lindman (Je. Gazdik, Boerger) 15:46.

Saves — Hills (BSU) 16; Minotti (UST) 17.

Nov. 7—At eight-plus hours, the Eureka Lions surprisingly don't have the longest road trip of the Montana high school playoffs this weekend.

That honor belongs to St. Regis, which will need to travel more than nine hours to face Scobey in the 8-man quarterfinals Saturday.

For the Lions, who play at Red Lodge Saturday, it is stlll a haul.

Awaiting the Lions are the 8-1 Red Lodge Rams, who boast a University of Montana commit in senior running back Kougar Kappel. The 175-pounder is explosive, as witnessed by his 55-yard run on Red Lodge's first snap from scrimmage last week against Townsend.

Kappel ended up with 35 carries for 299 yards and three touchdowns. One TD covered 69 yards and another tying the game 33-all in overtime. The Rams hit the extra point for the 34-33 playoff win over the Bulldogs.

In between the Rams got help from quarterback Brock Johnston, who has an excellent target in Caton Pierce (who also plays QB). Red Lodge's lone loss came 33-12 at Glasgow to start the year.

Eureka (7-2) had an easier time with its first-round playoff foe, beating Fairfield 47-13. Quarterback Rogan Lytle ran his season totals to 837 yards and 13 touchdowns passing and 995 yards (and 12 TDs) rushing.

Complementing Lytle are, among others, running back Josh Lambertsen (571 yards, 11 TDs on the ground), receiver Tyce Van Orden (12 catches, 245 yards and 4 TDs) and tight end Emmet McKim (23-301, 5 TDs).

It will be interesting to see how McKim, who has 86 tackles, Ayden Helgert, Lytle and the rest of Eureka's impressive run defense hold up against Kappel and Co. The Lions allow just over 72 rushing yards per game; the most they allowed is 133, against Missoula Loyola.

The Rams' lone loss came 33-12 at Glasgow in their season opener.

The Gophers football program gained a commitment Friday from  Michael “MJ” Graham, a sophomore safety from Hutchinson Community College. He is the fifth pledge to Minnesota’s 2026 class over the previous week.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound safety, with a three-star rating from 247Sports, had offers from Michigan State, Kansas State, West Virginia, Costal Carolina and Central Florida and others.

He and two other Hutchinson teammates visited the Gophers during their bye this week. Defensive lineman KJ Henson and receiver Derrick Salley were also on the trip, according to 247Sports.

Graham has 28 total tackles and six interceptions so far this season. He had 16 tackles and two picks as a freshman.

The Oklahoma City, Okla., native played quarterback as well as basketball at Westmoore High School. He was committed to play football at Houston before going to a JUCO.

Related Articles

• Loons vs. Seattle: Keys to match, storylines and prediction 
• Why is P.J. Fleck always mentioned for coaching vacancies?
• Gophers football adds former Ohio State pledge Aaron Thomas
• Gophers flip Madison, Wis., lineman Beckett Schreiber from Washington State
• Gophers flip big running back Jett Walker from West Virginia

Nov. 6—BEMIDJI — The second NCAA D-II women's soccer regional rankings were announced Wednesday afternoon, and the Bemidji State women's soccer team came in at fifth in the latest Central Region ranking ahead of the regular-season finale.

The Beavers hold a 13-2-3 record against Division-II opponents this season, trailing just Minnesota State (15) and Pittsburg State (13) for most D-II wins in the region. The No. 2 Mavericks lead the Central Region rankings, with Washburn, Pittsburg State and Central Missouri above the Beavers. BSU is one of fivw teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in the rankings.

The NSIC, the Mid-America Athletic Association and the Great American Conference make up the 36-team NCAA Central Region. The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA region tournament. The two top-seeded teams in each region shall be offered the opportunity to host, provided minimum site selection criteria are met and a bid has been submitted. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis.

The NCAA Women's Soccer selection show will be streamed online at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 17, at NCAA.com.

The month of October saw great success for the program, going 7-0-2 during the month and averaging 2.22 goals per game while holding opponents to just 0.56 goals per game. Senior Katrina Barthelt led the Beavers during the month with 15 points and scored seven goals. She scored a goal in five of nine matches in October, including two multi-goal efforts.

Graduate goalkeeper Sonia Alfieri was nearly flawless during the month with an unbeaten 7-0-1 record between the posts for the Beavers. She allowed just four goals in October, totaled four shutouts, made 23 saves and boasted a 0.52 goals against average and .852 save percentage.

On the season, Bemidji State averages two goals per game while averaging just 0.59 goals allowed per game to rank second in the NSIC with a 1.41 scoring margin. The Beavers' 34 goals scored are the third most in the NSIC, while their 10 goals against are tied for the third least in the conference. BSU has scored first in 13 of 17 matches this season, tied for second most in the NSIC.

The Beavers have clinched home-field advantage for the first round of the NSIC Tournament and play at Chet Anderson Stadium on Monday, Nov. 10.

No. 2 Minnesota State secured its eighth NSIC regular-season championship this past weekend and clinched the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the tournament.

Fans of the Ada High School football team will have to pull double duty in Week 10.

Not only do the fifth-ranked Cougars hope to have a strong following at No. 7 Sallisaw for a Top 10 District 4A-4 showdown Friday night, but Ada faithful must also become temporary fans of the Poteau Pirates.

Poteau hosts No. 4 Broken Bow in another key district matchup, and the Pirates could help Ada claim the district title if they can upset the Savages.

Ada would capture the district championship with a win over the Black Diamonds and a Poteau victory. In any other scenario, the Cougars would settle for second or third place in the 4A-4 standings.

The top two teams in the district are guaranteed at least one home playoff game.

“This game will change a lot of things in the district. You can go up or you can go down. It’s absolutely a big, big game for our district and our program,” Boyles told The Ada News.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.

Sallisaw enters Week 10 at 7-2 overall and is tied with Ada and Broken Bow at 5-1 in district play. The Black Diamonds opened the season with a 45-22 loss to Class 5A No. 4 Pryor, and Poteau edged them 28-13 in Week 8. Sallisaw has an unblemished 5-0 record at home this season.

The Cougars are 8-1 overall.

“They’re really good. They’re well-disciplined and execute well on both sides of the ball,” Boyles said.

Ada leads the series 5-1 since 1994 and has won the previous three meetings. The Cougars rolled past Sallisaw 40-14 last year and edged the Black Diamonds 7-0 in 2023.

Scouting Sallisaw

Sallisaw has been lighting up the scoreboard lately, scoring at least 35 points in each of its last six victories.

“They do a lot of different things offensively,” Boyles said. “They’re primarily a rushing team, but they can throw it too.”

Junior quarterback Kase Adams makes the offense tick. He has completed 101 of 154 passes for 1,105 yards and eight touchdowns, while also rushing for 809 yards and 11 scores.

“Their quarterback is a good football player. He makes them go,” Boyles said. “They’re more of a run-heavy team, but they’re really good on offense.”

Senior running back Jackson Harris has rushed for 820 yards and 18 touchdowns. Kenyan Hill has added 187 yards on 44 carries..

Sallisaw’s leading receivers are Brodi Nickell and Caden Blount. Nickell has 30 receptions for 307 yards and four touchdowns, while Blount has 20 catches for 286 yards and two scores.

Boyles said the Black Diamonds are also fundamentally sound on defense.

“Defensively, there’s no drop-off either. They give you some different looks and are very sound. They just do everything right and try to make you snap it over and over again and try to make you drive the ball down the field to beat them,” He said.

Linebacker Noah Briley has been a disruptive force with a team-high 74 tackles. Blount is next with 65 stops and three interceptions, while defensive end Hunter Smith has recorded 39 tackles and eight quarterback sacks.

Air revival

Boyles and offensive coordinator Joe Foster hope to get the Ada passing game back on track after back-to-back subpar performances. Quarterback Brock Boyles has completed a combined 12-of-40 passes in games against Broken Bow and Glenpool.

Wade Boyles expects Sallisaw to force the Ada offense into passing mode after running back Caron Richardson has erupted for 446 yards during his last two outings — including a school-record 347 yards in Ada’s 42-6 win over Glenpool last week.

“We just have to take advantage of some of the things they give us, especially in the passing game. We expect them to stack the box and make them beat us throwing the ball because we’ve been running the ball so efficiently the last couple of games,” Boyles said.

The Ada coach said the Cougars’ aerial attack has looked much sharper in practice this week.

“The last couple of weeks, we’ve kind of sputtered, throwing and catching the ball. It’s either getting to them and we’re dropping it or we’re not putting it on them like we should,” he said.

“Our kids know they have the ability to make big plays at any point in time. We’ve worked on that this week, and they’ve caught a lot of balls during practice,” Boyles added. “We’re certainly not afraid to throw the football — that’s for sure. But our running game has been really good, so hopefully we can establish that and keep it rolling as well.”

———o———

DISTRICT 4A-4 SCENARIOS

Key Games: Poteau at Broken Bow, Ada at Sallisaw, Hilldale at Tulsa McLain

Broken Bow: First with a win and Sallisaw loss. Second with a win and Sallisaw win. Can finish second or third based on district points with a loss and Sallisaw win. Fourth with a loss and Sallisaw loss.

Ada: First with a win and Broken Bow loss. Second with a win and Broken Bow win. Third with a loss and Broken Bow win. Can finish second or third based on district points with a loss and Broken Bow loss.

Sallisaw: First with a win. Third with a loss and Broken Bow win. Can finish second or third based on district points with a loss and Broken Bow loss.

Poteau: Second with a win and Ada win. Fourth with a win and Sallisaw win. Fourth with a loss and Hilldale loss. Fifth and out with a loss and Hilldale win.

Hilldale: Fourth with a win and Poteau loss. Fifth and out in any other scenario.

Nov. 5—PULLMAN — Washington State is adding another running back to its class of 2026.

The Cougars' latest commitment comes from New Orleans native Tre Garrison, who announced his decision Wednesday morning, becoming the 21st member of WSU's class of 2026.

Listed at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, Garrison was previously committed to FCS Nicholls, a school local to New Orleans. But in mid-October, Garrison received an offer from WSU, and he visited Pullman last weekend. A few days later, he's a Cougar.

A senior at Edna Karr High in New Orleans, Garrison also turned down offers from FCS Alcorn State and NAIA Graceland to join WSU's class of 2026, which now has three running backs: Junior college transfer Daniel Swinney and Houston-area native CJ Toney, both of whom announced their decisions in October.

In a win last weekend, Garrison totaled 19 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

Garrison adds another member to the Cougs' class of 2026, which has now had seven players decommit from the class. The latest was three-star offensive lineman Beckett Schreiber, who announced Monday night he's flipping his commitment to Minnesota.

In October, five players decommitted, including running back Gabriel Wilson, safety Kaden Olson, wide receivers Maurice Purify II and Hudson Lewis (flipped to Utah), and linebacker Josh Faraimo — all three-star prospects. Three-star running back John Hebert, a Houston native, flipped his commitment from WSU to Houston earlier this summer.

WSU has about a month until college football's early signing period, which runs from Dec. 3-5.

The Cougars' updated class of 2026:

—RB Tre Garrison (Edna Karr, New Orleans, La.)

—3-star CB Willie Breland (Mississippi Gulf Coast, Perkinston, Miss.)

—3-star S Jarvse Dickerson (Brazos, Wallis, Texas).

—CB Bryce Heckard (City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif).

—RB CJ Toney (Atascocita, Humble, Texas)

—RB Daniel Swinney (Iowa Western CC, Council Bluffs, Iowa).

—DL Andy Burburija (Iowa Western CC, Council Bluffs, Iowa).

—Three-star OL Ashton Mozone (Iowa Western CC, Council Bluffs, Iowa).

—Three-star QB Hudson Kurland (Lake Oswego, Lake Oswego, Oregon).

—Three-star edge JaVon Joseph (Oak Ridge, El Dorado Hills, California).

—Three-star S Matthew McClain (Prestonwood Christian, Plano, Texas).

—Three-star TE Luke Galer (Del Oro, Loomis, California).

—Three-star TE Drew Byrd (Rocky Mountain, Meridian, Idaho).

—Three-star CB Kameron Hurst (Lift For Life, St. Louis).

—Three-star edge Jacob Lopez-Veasey (San Antonio).

—Three-star edge Tyler Burnstein (Liberty, Peoria, Arizona).

—Three-star S Bradley Esser (Harrisburg, Harrisburg, South Dakota).

—Three-star OL Kingston Fotualii (O'Dea, Seattle).

—Three-star OL Cooper Daines (Spokane).

—Three-star DL Jake Jones (Campo Verde, Gilbert, Arizona).

—Three-star ATH Landon Kalsbeck (Dakota Ridge, Littleton, Colorado).