The second big night of high school boys hockey section tournament play again went very much according to seed.

Wednesday’s action included only one lower seed winning, with fifth-seed Andover (9-14-3) beating No. 4-seed Totino-Grace 2-0 at the Brooklyn Park Community Center. KJ Sauer and Chase Nadeau scored for the Huskies, who lost 3-2 to Totino-Grace (16-10) in the regular season. Taylor Hatton made 37 saves for the Eagles, but Wyatt Riemer stopped all 19 shots he faced for Andover.

The Huskies will face top-seed Maple Grove, which dispatched eighth-seed Anoka 7-0 on Wednesday. The Crimson got goals from Samuel Biederwolf, Luke Steen, Jaden Roueche, Grady Kranz, Henry Miller, Matthew Johnson and Wyatt Kuznik in the decisive win. Ryder Skanson only needed to make nine saves in goal. Landon Pender stopped 59 shots for Anoka.

Andover and Maple Grove will play Saturday in the semifinals at the Furniture and Things community event center in Elk River.

On the other side of the bracket — with the semifinals also set for Saturday in Elk River — No. 2-seed Blaine beat No. 7 Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids 6-1 on Wednesday. Krewz Harper opened the scoring for Blaine before Adam Kish tied the game early in the second period. But the Bengals controlled play the rest of the way, with Harper adding a second goal, Brody Lockman scoring twice, and Franklin Loo and Dylan Olson also scoring. Wesley Andrle made 19 saves for Blaine. Zach Bushy made 40 saves for Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids.

Third-seed Centennial will face Blaine in the semifinals after a 5-3 win against No. 6 Champlin Park.

Here is Wednesday’s other section quarterfinal results:

Class 2A, Section 2 quarterfinals

Top-seed Minnetonka cruised to an 8-0 win against eight-seed Chaska, and will face No. 4 Eden Prairie, which beat No. 5 Prior Lake 5-3, in Saturday’s semifinals at 3 p.m. at Braemar Arena in Edina.

Eight different players scored for Minnetonka on Wednesday, with Ethan Sturgis, Cash Hardie, Liam Schultz, Cooper Rannow, Danny Browning, Tate Hardacre, Caden Lindsay and Jordan Johnson all tallying goals. Chaska’s Nathan Brandt faced 60 shots, stopping 52. Chase Jerdee had 11 saves for Minnetonka.

Eden Prairie pulled away after Prior Lake kept battling back in the other quarterfinal. Jack Peterson and Riley Wolkove scored in the first period for the Eagles, but Gavin Lind and Brayden Lake eventually tied the game for the Lakers. Owen Konrad and Peterson scored for Eden Prairie before Parker Wenkus brought Prior Lake back within a goal. However, Konrad added his second goal of the game to finish the scoring.

Second-seed Shakopee got past No. 7 Bloomington Jefferson 6-1 with Landon Huh scoring twice for the Sabers. Tristin Wassengeso, Dylan Schmitz, Cody Sawyer and Cole Davis also scored for Shakopee after Chayton Lueck opened the scoring for Bloomington Jefferson. Jack Frein made 32 saves for the Jaguars, while Niklas Huson had 17 saves for Shakopee.

The Sabers will face No.3-seed Chanhassen, which beat No. 6 Holy Family 5-1. The semifinal is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Braemar.

Class 2A, Section 6 quarterfinals

There were just two quarterfinal games in Section 6, with fourth-seed Wayzata beating fifth-seed Buffalo-Annandale 5-2 at the Plymouth Ice Center and No. 3-seed Holy Angels beating No. 6 Benilde-St. Margaret’s 2-1 in overtime at the Richfield Ice Arena.

Buffalo-Annandale opened the scoring against Wayzata with Brandon Rodenwald scoring in the first. Eli Molde and Evan Lyke scored in the second for the Trojans. Evan Hinnekamp brought Buffalo-Annandale within a goal before Kruz Sauer had two goals and Tommy Colmenero added another in the third for Wayzata.

Logan Preugschas had 21 saves for Buffalo-Annandale, while Ryan Pellinger stopped 15 shots for the Trojans, who will face the winner of No. 1 Rogers and No. 8 Hopkins in Saturday’s semifinal at Bloomington Ice Garden at 4 p.m. Rogers and Hopkins play Thursday in Rogers at 2 p.m.

Overtime was needed with Holy Angels and Benilde-St. Margaret’s with Cole Cheeseman scoring in the extra session to advance the Stars to Saturday’s semifinal at noon in Bloomington. After a scoreless first period, Benilde-St. Margaret’s struck first with a goal from Tyler Kirschner in the second. But Avi Kasargod scored before the end of the period and the two teams played a scoreless third.

Alex Beaton made 36 saves for the Red Knights. George Sill stopped 24 shots in goal for Holy Angels, which will face the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal between second-seed Edina and No. 7 Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Braemar Arena.

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Riding an eight-game win streak and ranked in the top 25 for the first time this season, the Gophers women’s basketball team couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn in the first half against 10th-ranked Ohio State.

The 23rd-ranked Gophers missed a panoply of shots from inside the paint. Layups, hook shots, putbacks, whatever option it chose, Minnesota missed 14 shots from the paint. It wasn’t just from the paint, either. Minnesota was 2 of 10 from 3-point range and shot 28% (11 for 40) in the first half.

But they did the other stuff so well — rebounded, played defense, took care of the ball — that they were still in the game, down 29-26 at intermission. And once they started hitting their shots, everything changed.

Sophie Hart stabilized the game for Minnesota with 18 hard-earned points from the post, and Mara Braun added 18 from the perimeter as the Gophers ran away in the second half to beat Ohio State 74-61 at Williams Arena.

It was the Gophers’ second victory over a Top 10 team this season after beating then-No. 10 Iowa in Iowa City. Amaya Battle added 13 points with a game-high 12 rebounds and five assists for Minnesota (21-6 overall, 12-4 Big Ten), which plays host to 18th-ranked Michigan State on Sunday.

Grace Grocholski scored 12 points, five assists and two steals for Minnesota, which hit 10 of 15 shots in the third quarter and rode an 18-4 run to take nominal control in the third, an 11-point lead that had the Buckeyes chasing the rest of the game.

Jaloni Cambridge and Chance Gray did what they could to keep the Buckeyes (22-5, 11-4) in it, scoring all but two of Ohio State’s 19 points in the fourth, but the Gophers used a pair of big offensive rebounds to kill some clock and generally handled OSU’s desperate pressure late.

Cambridge scored a game-high 23 points, and Gray added 17.

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Hundreds of activists rallied at the state Capitol on Wednesday, pushing for Minnesota lawmakers to address the impacts of the federal immigration surge across the state.

The rally, organized by a coalition of faith leaders and immigrant groups, called for monetary relief, along with other actions such as eviction moratoriums, as the state enters a “recovery” phase after more than two months of Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s aggressive campaign that it said targeted illegal immigration and social services fraud.

“Minnesotans deserve relief now. Minnesotans deserve recovery now. We need relief for the harm that has been caused. We need relief for our kids. We need relief for our neighbors. We need relief for our businesses. We need relief for our renters,” said Amber Jones, a minister with Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.

Molley Burgee Kamara, owner of Waterside Grocery and Deli in Brooklyn Park, said he’s unsure how long he can keep his doors open because of the surge.

“Now that ICE activity is beginning to draw down, what do we do next? We restore. We restore our businesses … restore our housing,” he said.

It’s not clear how much wiggle room lawmakers would have to be able to provide any kind of financial support this session, given the state’s two-year budget was passed in the 2025 session. Gov. Tim Walz proposed on Feb. 12 that lawmakers pass $10 million in targeted small business loans.

The Legislature isn’t in a budget year, but a supplemental budget is an option. An updated budget forecast is set for the end of the month and will give more information on what lawmakers can do.

Lawmakers hear ICE-related bills

Also Wednesday, the House Education Policy committee heard HF3435, which would limit federal agents’ access to schools, and HF3409, which would prohibit the denial of education based on immigration status, and create a civil cause of action if education rights are denied.

“Schools should not be put in the place of becoming the go-between or the middle person in these divisive situations, and shifting the responsibility to schools in these interactions, I don’t believe, is fair, nor right. Our job should be to provide clarity to schools on how to comply with federal law to keep our students and staff safe,” said Co-Chair Rep. Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, a candidate for governor.

Bennett said it’s also her belief that federal immigration actions involving schools should be “very rare and only with extenuating circumstances,” and that she hopes the federal government will adjust their policies accordingly.

“So if we want ICE away from schools, the solution, in my mind, is not more school mandates. Our schools don’t deserve that,” Bennett said.

Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis, who is sponsoring the bills to limit federal agents’ access to schools, said she agrees with much of what Bennett said.

“Our schools should not be in the position of enforcing our immigration laws,” Jordan said. “Every child in Minnesota has a right to an education … but lately, it has been impossible not to notice the profound impact ICE, DHS and our federal government has had on Minnesota schoolchildren’s ability to learn.”

Several school administrators and students testified in support of HF3435 and HF3409. Among those who testified in favor of HF3435 was Fridley Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Lewis. She said of their 2,700 students, 400 have moved to virtual learning and 112 are “no longer with us.”

HF3435 tied 7-7 along party lines Wednesday evening, did not advance, and was laid over in committee. Members ran late for a vote on HF3409, which was also laid over.

Additionally, the House Housing Finance and Policy committee heard HF3403, which would establish $50 million in emergency one-time rental assistance, and HF3410/HF3424, which would adjust eviction periods and notices in light of Operation Metro Surge. HF3403/HF3410 also split 7-7 along party lines and did not advance out of committee. Members ran out of time on HF3424.

On Thursday, the Senate Housing and Homelessness Prevention Committee will discuss several housing-related bills, including one-time funding. Also Thursday, the House Labor and Education Finance committees will review the economic impacts of Operation Metro Surge.

On Friday, the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee will hear proposals to address federal immigration enforcement activity in Minnesota — specific bills have yet to be listed.

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A man arrested for allegedly overstaying his student visa and making false claims to U.S. citizenship was a Minnesota corrections officer at the Lino Lakes prison until last fall.

Morris Brown, who is 45 and from Liberia, last entered the U.S. in 2014 on a student visa that was terminated the next year because he did not enroll in a full course of study, according to a Wednesday announcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Brown, whom USCIS referred to as a “serial fraudster,” was “identified as part of the major enforcement operation that targeted suspected immigration fraud in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area last fall,” Operation Twin Shield.

He “tried every trick in the book to remain in the United States after losing legal status,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in the statement. “We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure he faces justice for his many violations of the law.”

Minnesota Department of Corrections “records reflect that it followed federal document verification requirements on hiring Mr. Brown,” the state agency said in a Wednesday statement.

“If these federal allegations are accurate, this individual engaged in sophisticated efforts to misrepresent their identity, extending well beyond Minnesota,” said DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell. “We are grateful to USCIS and ICE for their work in investigating and addressing immigration fraud.”

Brown, who USCIS said was arrested Jan. 15 in Minneapolis, is being held in a U.S. Enforcement and Removal Operations detention facility in El Paso, Texas. It wasn’t known Wednesday whether he has an attorney.

USCIS said they referred Brown’s case to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and he faces removal proceedings and potential criminal prosecution for immigration fraud.

Joined National Guard, tried to naturalize as U.S. citizen

Brown joined the Pennsylvania National Guard in 2014 and went absent without official leave in 2015, USCIS said. He was apprehended and discharged from the military under “other than honorable conditions” in 2022.

After he applied for a green card in 2020 under the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness program, USCIS denied his application “due to misrepresentations, including his failure to disclose prior military service and his false claim to U.S. citizenship,” the agency’s statement said. “In 2024, in another commission of fraud, he applied to naturalize as a U.S. citizen based on prior military service.”

USCIS investigators during Operation Twin Shield looked into Brown’s application for citizenship, and said they found evidence of marriage fraud and prior instances when he falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen in official documents.

Brown was married in St. Paul in September 2023; he and his wife never lived together, according to a court document from April in Brown’s divorce filing in Ramsey County.

Worked for DOC for 2+ years

He was employed by the Minnesota Department of Corrections as a corrections officer from May 2023 to October 2025, with a base salary of $64,561, according to the department.

USCIS requested employment eligibility documentation for Brown last month, and the DOC says they provided Form I-9 records.

The state agency said it “verifies identity and employment eligibility for all new hires in compliance with federal law by completing Form I-9 on the date of hire.” Form I-9s, or employment eligibility verification, is a mandatory USCIS document used to verify the identity and employment authorization of all new employees hired to work in the U.S.

Brown had no complaints or discipline during his employment at DOC, and a spokesperson said the reason for an employee’s departure is private data under state law.

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