Yellowjackets report: UWS caps hockey regular season with sweep — and more

Feb. 16—Wisconsin-Superior men's hockey earned a road sweep of Wisconsin-Stevens Point last weekend to conclude the regular season and with it a chance to play at home one more time in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

The Yellowjackets won 4-2 on Friday, Feb. 13 and 3-2 on Saturday, Feb. 14 to get into a tie for third-place in the six-team WIAC standings. Though UWS loses the tiebreaker with Wisconsin-River Falls, the two wins ensure the Yellowjackets will host the Pointers this weekend in the 4th-vs.-5th playoff game.

UWS gained the upper hand on Friday with a pair of goals late in the first period from Roope Tuomioksa and Ikki Kogawa, the latter coming on the power play.

The Pointers made it a one-goal game again just 16 seconds later, but never led, as Collin Pederson scored near the game's midpoint and Tyler Rider had a late empty-netter.

Jan Skorpik made 19 saves in the UWS net.

On Saturday, UWS scored the game's first three goals, then held on as the Pointers made it a one-goal game again.

Tuomioksa scored early, Chris Ishmael made it 2-0 in the second period and AJ Reed scored the 3-0 goal early in period three.

Skorpik finished with 29 saves.

UWS finishes the regular season 13-10-2 overall, 6-8-1 in the WIAC and will host the Pointers in a single-game playoff on Saturday, Feb. 21 at Wessman Arena in Superior.

Wisconsin-Superior women's basketball could not get the better of a Bethany Lutheran team that is still unbeaten in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, as the Vikings took a 55-48 victory on their home floor on Saturday, Feb. 14 in North Mankato.

The UWS offense struggled with 20 turnovers and made only 2-for-14 3-point attempts but managed to stay within 25-22 at halftime and were still tied until the Vikings finished the third quarter on a 7-0 run for a 41-34 edge, then pushed their lead into double digits.

Hope Carlson scored 12 to lead UWS (10-13, 7-3 UMAC), while Maddie Reott added 10.

UWS will play at Crown on Wednesday night in its last road game of the regular season.

Wisconsin-Superior never fully recovered from a 25-point first half at Bethany Lutheran and stayed behind, falling 82-65 in North Mankato on Saturday.

A 19-4 run by the home team over a six-minute stretch of the first half made it 23-8 Bethany with 8:58 left until halftime. UWS trailed by 10 at halftime and closed to within four, 48-44, with 12:18 to play, but Bethany followed with a 15-2 run over the next four minutes to put it away.

Nick Nordaune's 11 points in 17 minutes led UWS offensively.

The Yellowjackets (6-17, 2-8 UMAC) travel to Crown on Wednesday, Feb. 18.

Wisconsin-Superior softball opened its 2026 season with two games indoors in Dundas, Minnesota on Saturday, Feb. 14: a 9-2 loss to Carleton and a 7-4 win over Macalester.

UWS scored its two runs against Carleton on one hit in the top of the third on an RBI fielder's choice by Karen Balabon and an error. Six Yellowjackets had one hit apiece.

Against Macalester, Balabon, Peyton Bennett and Larissa Snyder had three hits apiece, while Samantha Swartz and Sophia Otto had two.

Abby Mitchell (Carlton/Wrenshall) allowed four runs on 11 hits for the victory.

UWS (1-1) has another indoor weekend Feb. 28-March 1 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin-Superior took advantage of some warm weather to get on the baseball field at Gustavus Adolphus on Sunday, Feb. 16, though the host Gusties took both games, 2-0 and 3-2.

In game one, the home team made two first-inning runs hold up and held UWS to four singles. Zach Romans took the loss, allowing two runs on four hits in four innings.

Brian O'Dwyer had an RBI single for UWS in the fifth inning of game two and was part of a double steal that gave the Yellowjackets a 2-1 lead in the seventh, but Gustavus' Isaiah Hasz hit a two-out, two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the game.

UWS (0-2) is next scheduled to be on the field Feb. 28 vs. Carleton at Marion, Iowa.

On Monday morning, Borussia Dortmund confirmed that Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Süle will miss Tuesday’s Champions League knockout phase play-off clash with Atalanta due to injury.

With Emre Can and Filippo Mané already sidelined, the Black and Yellows have four centre-backs unavailable heading into the game, leaving them short of options at the back.

However, BVB head coach Niko Kovac is confident he can find a solution.

“It’s the coach’s job to find solutions and be creative. Our past experience shows that we always have options ready,” Kovac said at Monday’s pre-match press conference when asked about his defensive options.

“Julian [Ryerson] has played in central defence against Juventus, and Salih [Özcan] could also be deployed there. If necessary, we can even adjust the system.”

Eighteen-year-old Luca Reggiani, who came on to replace Süle at half-time in Friday’s 4-0 win over Mainz, is another alternative. However, it's doubtful if Kovac will hand the inexperienced youngster a start in what he expects to be a demanding encounter.

“Atalanta have a great team and have developed over the years. They won the Europa League two years ago,” Kovac said.

"It will be man-to-man all over the pitch and very intense. There will be moments where we can exploit space to create opportunities, but they are a very strong opponent. I see the chances as 50:50."

Bayern Munich board member Max Eberl has said he would not be put under pressure over the future of veteran goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer at the Bundesliga champions.

Neuer, 39, has been at Bayern since 2011 in a trophy-laden career and his current contract expires in summer.

The 2014 World Cup winner is yet to reach a decision whether he wants to continue or not, and Eberl told broadcasters Sport1 that the kiey is how the player feels.

"At almost 40 years he is still one of Europe's top goalkeepers. But of course, things have to continue that way. We need to talk about his motivation and his stress levels. That's what we expect as a club, and we want to work with him to find out," Eberl said.

"He has to perform at the highest level – just as he is doing now. That should also be the case in the coming season.

"It's about how Manuel feels, whether he wants to and whether he sees himself in a position to continue performing at this level for another year."

Neuer is currently sidelined with a muscle injury, with young Jonas Urbig to deputise again. Bayern also have veteran Sven Ulreich and Alexander Nübel, who is on loan at VfB Stuttgart.

Eberl named this set-up "comfortable" because "We are not rushing to keep up with developments, but can calmly talk to everyone involved. And the first person to talk to is Manuel."