Coming off its best season in program history, the Gophers softball team will open its 2018 schedule with two games Friday. Minnesota will face Southern Utah at 11 a.m. and Utah Valley at 3:30 p.m. in the SportCo Kick Off Classic in Las Vegas. Minnesota finished 56-5 last season.

Fleck reshuffles staff

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck officially announced two additions to his staff on Thursday and three new assignments.

The additions are Marcus West from Austin Peay as defensive line/pass rush specialist coach and Jahmile Addae from Arizona as defensive backs coach. Brian Callahan, who coached tight ends last year, will move to offensive line coach, and Clay Patterson, hired in January, will coach tight ends. Also, Daniel Ifft, a recruiting assistant last year, was named director of football operations.

Randy Johnson

Loons, FSN reach deal

Minnesota United and Fox Sports North announced a multiyear agreement to broadcast 32 Loons matches, 19 on FSN and 13 on FSN Plus. Additionally, all matches will be simulcast on Fox Sports Wisconsin, which reaches 1.5 million homes.