SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Jaxon Nelson and Bryce Brodzinski are cooking at the perfect time for Minnesota.

Nelson and Brodzinski connected on two goals in the third period, and the Gophers rallied for a 3-2 victory over Nebraska Omaha on Thursday night in the semifinals of the Sioux Falls Regional at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.

The victory sends Minnesota (23-10-5) into the regional championship against Boston University at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The winner will secure its spot in the Frozen Four.

With 4:13 to play in the game, Brodzinski corralled a turnover and skated to the middle of the right circle, firing a shot toward the high slot that Nelson redirected past Mavericks goalie Simon Latkoczy.

It stood as the eventual game-winner, as Gophers goaltender Justen Close stood tall in the final seconds to close things out as Omaha played with an extra attacker.

Close stopped 34 shots to pick up his 22nd win of the season, while Latkoczy notched 36 saves in the loss.

After neither team scored in the first period, the pace of the game picked up considerably in the second.

A penalty on Ryan Chesley for making contact to the head gave the Mavericks (23-13-4) five minutes on the man advantage near the end of the first frame, and at 1:51 of the second period, Omaha capitalized.

Joaquim Lemay skated toward the top of the left circle and fired a shot past Close into the top-right corner of the net. Close’s goal, which was set up by Jacob Guevin and Brock Bremer, was the only power-play tally of the game, and it gave the Mavericks an early 1-0 advantage.

The Gophers then regrouped and had an onslaught of offense to close the period. They were finally rewarded with 1:59 left when Jimmy Clark lifted a rising shot from the left circle after teammate Connor Kurth forced a turnover inside the blue line.

In total, Minnesota outshot Omaha 22-16 in the second.

In the third, UNO took the lead again, 2-1, at the 15:32 mark on a goal from Ty Mueller. Jack Randl picked up the primary assist on Mueller’s tally, while Lemay was credited with a secondary helper.

However, near the midway point of the period, Nelson knifed to the net and buried a pass from Brodzinski past Latkoczy, who had no time to react to the shot, tying the game at 2-2.

The Gophers outshot the Mavericks 39-36. Jimmy Snuggerud led Minnesota with eight shots on goal, while Nelson added six.

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The Gophers football program pulled in a commitment from Torin Pettaway, a defensive lineman rom Middleton, Wis., who was officially committed to the Badgers late Thursday night.

“After a lot of thought and considering I have decided to reopen my commitment and de-commit from the university of Wisconsin,” Pettaway posted on X at 10:01 p.m.

At 10:02, Pettaway said “100 % committed,” tagging head coach P.J. Fleck and defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere and a graphic of a No. 98 maroon and gold jersey.

Pettaway is listed as a 6-foot-5, 265-pound defensive lineman with offers from Illinois, Nebraska, USC, Washington and Rutgers, according to 247sports.com.

Pettaway committed to Wisconsin after Luke Fickell and Co. gave him one-on-one treatment in Madison after a Junior Day scholarship offer. He originally committed to the Badgers in March.

Pettaway is the second commitment to Minnesota for its growing 2025 recruiting class. Zach Harden, a defensive back from Covington, Ga., was the first pledge on Saturday.

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In his first game back from a five-game injury absence, Joel Eriksson Ek quickly reminded the Wild on Thursday what he brings to the table.

Not that his teammates had forgotten. He’s the Wild’s top-line center, plays on the first power play and penalty kill units and started the night second in goals and points to linemate Kirill Kaprizov.

Those two combined for Minnesota’s first goal in a 3-1 victory over the skidding San Jose Sharks at Xcel Energy Center, Eriksson Ek tapping in a tape-to-tape pass from Kaprizov with 3:59 left in the first period. It was the first of two assists for Kaprizov.

It was Eriksson Ek’s 30th goal of the season, marking his first 30-goal NHL campaign and making him the 11th Wild player to achieve that feat.

Matt Boldy scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 26 shots to improve to 3-0-1 in his past five games, four of them starts. Ryan Hartman sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 53.3 seconds left.

The victory kept alive the Wild’s slim hopes of earning a postseason spot. They started the night 10th in the Western Conference, nine points behind Vegas for the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot and three behind St. Louis and now have 10 regular-season games remaining.

Since the NHL moved to an 80-game schedule in 1974-75, no team has ever made the postseason after being more than seven points out through 70 games.

Vegas was playing at Winnipeg, and the Blues were host to Calgary on Thursday.

Eriksson Ek became just the 11th Wild player to score 30 goals in a season, joining Matt Boldy, Kevin Fiala, Marian Gaborik (5), Ryan Hartman, Kirill Kaprizov (3), Zach Parise, Jason Pominville, Brian Rolston (3), Eric Staal and Jason Zucker.

Former Wild center Mikael Granlund scored San Jose’s goal, and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 30 shots for the Sharks, who have now lost 19 of their past 21 games (2-15-4) and are flirting with one of the 20 worst NHL seasons since 1974-75.

The teams are scheduled to meet again April 13 in San Jose.

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