The nonconference portion of the Gophers' 2015-16 men's hockey schedule will feature a heavy dose of Eastern opponents, including the season-opening Hall of Fame Game against Vermont on Oct. 10 at Mariucci Arena. Also visiting will be Northeastern for a two-game series on Oct. 23-24 and Connecticut and Harvard as part of the Mariucci Classic on Jan. 1-2.

Minnesota also has home-and-home series with Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State Mankato, along with a home series against St. Cloud State.

The complete schedule is in Scoreboard on this page.

Etc.

• Bunker Hills' Blake Onkka, Baker National's Jonathan Hanner, Valleywood's Trent Peterson and North Oaks' Sam Matthew advanced to the semifinals of the 37th Minnesota Golf Association Players' Championship at Spring Hill Golf Club in Wayzata.

Onkka beat Crow River's Ryan Alsleben 5 and 4 in the quarterfinals, setting up a semifinal against Hanner, who topped Baker National's Erik Christopherson 4 and 2. The other semifinal will match Peterson and Matthew. Peterson defeated Ridgeview's Taylor Sundbom 2 up, while Matthew beat Rochester Public's Dominic Kieffer 2 and 1.

Wednesday's semifinals will begin at 7:30 a.m. The championship match is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

• Vinny DiFazio hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Saints a 6-4 victory over the Sioux City Explorers at CHS Field. St. Paul improved to 26-5 and has won all 10 series it has played this year.