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.

Kaylin Kinney pitched a three-hitter for the Cornhuskers (32-9, 12-0 Big Ten). Autumn Pease took the loss for Minnesota (19-17-1, 5-6).

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.

• Gunnar Thoreson, 20, forward for the NAHL's Minnesota Wilderness, which is based in Cloquet, has committed to Division I St. Lawrence. He is an Andover native.