Gophers

Minnesota Scene: Gophers ranked first in men's hockey

September 30, 2014 at 1:10AM

The Gophers will open the season ranked No. 1 in college men's hockey. Last year's national runner-up received 36 first-place votes to top USCHO's preseason poll for the first time since 2003. They're also No. 1 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

North Dakota, Providence, Boston College and defending national champion Union round out USCHO's top five.

St. Cloud State (No. 7) and Minnesota State Mankato (No. 13) are ranked among the top 15.

The Gophers return most of their scoring from last season and one of the nation's best goaltenders in Adam Wilcox. They were also picked to win the Big Ten.

The Gophers will play a home exhibition Saturday against Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. The regular season opens Oct. 10 against Minnesota Duluth at the Ice Breaker Tournament in South Bend, Ind.

• MSU Mankato was named the WCHA preseason favorite by coaches and media on Monday.

JASON GONZALEZ

Gophers add an 11 a.m. starts

Five games into the season, the Gophers football team has yet to face an 11 a.m. kickoff, but that is about to change. Their next three games — against Northwestern and Purdue at home, and Illinois on the road — will start at 11 a.m. The Oct. 11 Northwestern game time was announced Monday, and that game will be televised by Big Ten Network. Kickoff times for the' final four regular-season games have not been set.

JOE CHRISTENSEN

Etc.

• Medtronic and Twin Cities In Motion, the organizers of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, announced a five-year, $2.5 million agreement that will keep Medtronic as the title sponsor of the Twin Cities Marathon and three additional Twin Cities In Motion events — the TC 1 Mile, TC Family Events and TC 10 Mile — through 2010. The Twin Cities Marathon is Sunday, starting at the former site of the Metrodome and finishing at the State Capitol.

• Krista (Stoltz) Bellefeuille, who graduated from Northwestern (Roseville) this year, is one of nine finalists for NCAA Woman of the Year as the field was narrowed from 30 candidates Monday. The Centennial High School graduate will join the eight other finalists at a ceremony to name the winner in Indianapolis Oct. 19. Bellefeuille, an elementary education major at UNW, had a 3.96 grade-point average and was UMAC volleyball player of the year in 2013.

• After scoring one goal and leading a Gophers defense that kept Purdue and Indiana to the combined total of one goal, sophomore women's soccer defensemen Ashley Pafko was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.