Gophers defenseman Jackson LaCombe to return for another season

Gophers junior defenseman Jackson LaCombe on Saturday announced he will return to the team for the 2022-23 men's hockey season.

LaCombe, who led the Gophers with 27 assists among his 30 points, was a second-round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2019. A second-team All-America honoree in 2020-21, LaCombe has 10 goals and 54 assists in his Minnesota career.

He's third prominent Gopher to announce his return for 2022-23, joining sophomore defenseman Brock Faber and freshman forward Matthew Knies. Junior center and co-captain Ben Meyers signed a two-year, free-agent contract with the Colorado Avalanche.

RANDY JOHNSON

The Gophers baseball team lost to Iowa 2-1 in the second game of a Big Ten series in Iowa City. J.P. Massey took the loss, giving up two runs on five hits in 4⅔ innings. Three relievers held the Hawkeyes (19-12, 5-3 Big Ten) to one hit.

Chase Stanke hit a homer for Minnesota (10-22, 1-7) in the second inning. Iowa took the lead on back-to-back RBI singles in the fifth by Izaya Fullard and Ben Tallman.

Caitlynn Neal was 3-for-3 with a homer and two doubles for six RBI as Nebraska beat the Gophers 11-0 in five innings in Big Ten softball in Lincoln.

Concordia (St. Paul), led by medalist Thomas Huettl, won its first NSIC men's golf tournament in Blue Springs, Mo. The Golden Bears finished with an 18-over 882 total, qualifying for the NCAA Central/Midwest Regional May 5-7 in Noblesville, Ind. Winona State was second, nine shots back.

Huettel shot rounds of 70-73-71 for a 214 total. He finished seven strokes ahead of teammate Brandon Sperling, who closed with a tournament-best 68 for 221, and Minot State's Carlos Caloca.

• The Gophers' Matthew Wilkinson finished fifth in his 5,000-meter race (13 minutes, 35.45 seconds) in the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif. His time is the second-best time in program history and a top 10 time in the nation this season.

• After posting the highest score of the first round, the Gophers men's golf team combined for a 6-under 282 — an improvement of 20 strokes — the second round to jump to third place in the 14-team Hawkeye Invitational with a 8-over 584. Minnesota's top golfer was Antoine Sale, who had rounds of 76 and 69 for 1-over 145, tying him for 11th.