What looked like heartbreak turned into jubilation in a matter of moments for St. Thomas on Friday night.

Austin Herro was called for a foul on a 3-point attempt with two seconds left in a tie game at the Portland Invitational, which sent Northern Colorado’s Quinn Denker to the free-throw line.

Denker made two of the three shots to put Northern Colorado up, 72-70.

Ben Oosterbaan got the ball to Nolan Minessale, who let a heave fly from well behind the half-court line with more than 1.5 seconds still on the clock.

He drained it.

The Tommies poured onto the floor in celebration after securing a stunning 73-72 victory.

St. Thomas trailed for much of the evening, and still was down by eight with seven minutes to play. But the Tommies closed strong, knotting the game at 68-68 on a Nick Janowski triple with 2 minutes, 5 seconds to play.

Minessale led the Tommies with 20 points, while Janowski added 17.

The Tommies (4-2) play Cal State Fullerton on Saturday as the Invitational rolls on.

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The Minnesota Frost have made a habit of ending the Toronto Sceptres’ season in the playoffs. Toronto got a chance to start a season by beating Minnesota on Friday night at Grand Casino Arena.

The Sceptres had a score to settle with the Frost and wanted to be the ones to hand Minnesota a loss to start the year, and Toronto was able to do just that with a 2-1 victory on Friday as the PWHL kicked off its third season.

Before the action started, the Frost and their 9,138 fans in attendance celebrated with the silver glistening of the Walter Cup in a pregame ceremony, raising another championship banner into the rafters of Grand Casino Arena. The crowd was more than ecstatic to celebrate history that put the Frost in an exclusive group with the WNBA’s Houston Comets, winning the first two championships of their league’s existence.

Toronto was left to watch Minnesota celebrate again. In 2024, the Frost won the best-of-five series, 3-2, over Toronto, and this past spring, they advanced to the championship in a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over the Sceptres.

The Frost were in control for most of the first period, with captain Kendall Coyne Schofield scoring their first goal just four minutes into the game. Coyne Schofield finished after a setup pass from forward Britta Curl-Salemme to Kelly Pannek, who got it to Coyne Schofield as she skated right up to Toronto’s goal.

The Frost had 11 shots on goal in the first period, but their next best chance to capitalize on their 1-0 lead came when Pannek was awarded a penalty shot with 4:11 left. Pannek missed the shot, and 1 minute, 16 seconds later, Toronto defender Ella Shelton sneaked one past Maddie Rooney to tie it up 1-all.

The game remained tied in the second period but not without opportunities for both teams. The Sceptres were able to get the first power play early into the period, as they caught Frost forward Katy Knoll on a hooking penalty, but didn’t score. Later, Pannek drew a penalty from Toronto defender Emma Maltais to provide the Frost with their own power play, but they too failed to score on the power play.

Minnesota got another power play early in the third but was unable to capitalize once again. Toronto found an opportunity for its first lead shortly after, as forward Kiara Zanon scored her first professional goal for a 2-1 lead.

The Frost resume play next Friday for their first match-up against the Seattle Torrent, one of two expansion teams this season.

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday night that he’s “immediately” terminating temporary legal protections for Somali migrants living in Minnesota, further targeting a program seeking to limit deportations that his administration has already repeatedly sought to weaken.

Minnesota has the nation’s largest Somali community. Many fled the long civil war in their east African country and were drawn to the state’s welcoming social programs.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said Friday in a news release that President Trump’s announcement that he will end deportation protections for Somali immigrants in Minnesota “will tear families apart” and called on the president to reverse his decision.

“We are deeply disappointed that the administration has chosen to end the Somali (Temporary Protective Status) program in Minnesota, a legal lifeline for families who have built their lives here for decades,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director for CAIR-MN, in the release.

“This decision, fueled by harmful misinformation campaigns that we believe have external political motives, will tear families apart and send individuals to a country they have not known for over 20 years,” Hussein said. “This is not just a bureaucratic change; it is a political attack on the Somali and Muslim community driven by Islamophobic and hateful rhetoric. We strongly urge President Trump to reverse this misguided decision.”

But how many migrants would be affected by Trump’s announcement that he wants to end temporary protective status could be very small. A report produced for Congress in August put the number of Somalis covered by the program at just 705 nationwide.

Congress created the program granting Temporary Protective Status in 1990. It was meant to prevent deportations of people to countries suffering from natural disasters, civil strife or other dangerous conditions.

The designation can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary and is granted in 18-month increments.

The president announced his decision on his social media site, suggesting that Minnesota was “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”

“Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from,” Trump wrote. “It’s OVER!”

Trump promised while campaigning to win back the White House last year that his administration would deport millions of people. As part of a broader push to adopt hardline immigration policies, the Trump administration has moved to withdraw various protections that had allowed immigrants to remain in the United States and work legally.

That included ending TPS for 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians who were granted protection under President Joe Biden. The Trump administration has also sought to limit protections previously extended to migrants from Cuba and Syria, among other countries.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press contributed to this report. 

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PITTSBURGH – The night before Halloween, the Wild lost a disheartening home game versus Pittsburgh, finishing October with three wins in their first 12 games.

A clear sign of their ongoing November resurgence came Friday night in Pittsburgh, where Minnesota dominated those same Penguins on both ends of the ice, winning 5-0 and running their record to 8-1-1 in the season’s second month.

Matt Boldy had a pair of goals and an assist for the Wild, who got 19 saves from Filip Gustavsson and improved to 11-7-4 overall this season. Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov each added a goal and assist for Minnesota. It was the Wild’s most dominant performance since a 5-0 win in St. Louis on the opening night of the regular season.

For Kaprizov, it was nothing new, as he now has at least a point in all eight of his career games versus the Penguins.

The game was not four minutes old when Boldy deposited the rebound of a Brock Faber shot. It was the franchise-record 11th consecutive game in which Minnesota has scored first.

A few minutes later, while battling Jake Middleton behind the Wild net, Blake Lizotte’s stick blade caught Middleton under the visor. The Wild defenseman dropped to the ice immediately, then went to the bench and down the tunnel with the aid of team trainers. Lizotte — the former Chisago Lakes and St. Cloud State standout — received a four-minute, high-sticking penalty.

The Wild needed all but 14 seconds of the extended man advantage to double their lead, when Eriksson Ek tipped a Zeen Buium shot between the Pittsburgh goalie’s pads.

Marcus Johansson made it 3-0 for the visitors later with his eighth goal of the season, firing a wrist shot through a crowd.

Pittsburgh did not get a puck through to Gustavsson on their only power play of the opening period, and managed just two shots on goal in the initial 20 minutes, including a wraparound by Sidney Crosby on the game’s opening shift.

Middleton returned for the start of the second period and made his presence felt right away, firing a shot that Kaprizov tipped to give the Wild a four-goal lead. That was all for Penguins starter Arturs Silovs, who was pulled after allowing a quartet of goals on 10 shots.

Sergei Murashov played the final 39 minutes in the Penguins’ net, finishing with nine saves.

The Wild lost winger Vinnie Hinostroza in the second period after he was hauled down from behind while skating behind the Wild net. He left the game with some assistance and did not return.

Pittsburgh had been off the previous four days following a 1-0-1 trip to Stockholm, Sweden, where they played the Nashville Predators twice.

The Wild’s three-game, pre-Thanksgiving road trip makes its next stop in Winnipeg, where they will face the Jets on the road for the first time this season at 3 p.m. Sunday.

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