Minnesota

A dream had carried the boys so far from home, some 5,000 miles across the ocean to a cramped and dingy apartment in Philadelphia: a hope that ice hockey could change their lives. Ivan Pravilov could fulfill that dream, they were told. He could take them from the daily grind of post-communist Ukraine to the gleaming ice of the NHL. He'd done it before. He'd done if for Andrei Zyuzin, who went on to play for six NHL teams. He'd done it for Konstantin Kalmikov, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

Rick Zombo and Sergei Fedorov scored goals eight seconds apart in the third period as Detroit beat Minnesota, 8-6, last night, keeping the Red Wings unbeaten at home and the North Stars winless on the road. Detroit took 47 shots against goalie Kari Takko, recalled Monday from Kalamazoo (Mich.), where he was 4-0-1 with a 2.00 goals-against average.

AFTER FILING two separate antitrust lawsuits against the league in different states, NBA players are consolidating their efforts and have turned to the courts in Minnesota as their chosen venue. A group of named plaintiffs including Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash and Kevin Durant filed an amended federal lawsuit against the league in Minnesota yesterday, hoping the courts there will be as favorable to them as they have been to NFL players in the past. The locked-out players filed class-action antitrust suits against the league last Tuesday in California and Minnesota.

Make that nine Top 25 teams to fall to unranked opponents. Ranked 21st in the nation, Villanova couldn't avoid joining the list of early-season upsets as Minnesota ran away from the Wildcats, 85-64, last night in the semifinals of the Great Alaska Shootout. The Wildcats (1-1) will try to rebound tonight against Louisville (1-1) in the consolation round. Minnesota (2-0) will play another surprise finalist, Brigham Young (2-0) for the Shootout title (midnight, ESPN). BYU beat Louisville in the other semifinal, 75-60.

Al Settembrino, Archbishop Ryan's most prolific rusher, has scheduled a news conference for Monday in which he is expected to announce that he will attend the University of Minnesota this fall on a football scholarship. Settembrino, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound halfback, chose Minnesota over such schools as Tulsa, Massachusetts, Syracuse, West Virginia, Boston College and Wake Forest. He made official visits to Minnesota, Massachusetts and Syracuse. "On my visits, I felt Minnesota had the best facilities, and I liked the coaching staff," said Settembrino, who said he would major in business.

Perhaps Brian Dozier summed up his friend Art Layton's dilemma best when he said, "I'm sure his brain will be rattling. " According to Layton, it did exactly that. But the rattling is over. Last night, Layton, a 6-foot, 2-inch, 260-pound Chester lineman, was to announce that he will attend the University of Minnesota in the fall. The decision came after a trip to the University of Maryland last weekend, a trip that Layton said had only confused matters for him. "Sunday night, it was getting on my nerves a little trying to figure out where I would go, but I want to go to Minnesota," Layton said.

Camden High senior Kevin Payton, a 6-foot-7 forward, has made an oral commitment to attend the University of Minnesota on a basketball scholarship, Camden athletic director Mark Pease confirmed yesterday. "He visited last week and really felt comfortable there," Pease said. "He said the academic program was top-notch. " Payton attends Camden's Creative and Performing Arts High School, a satellite of Camden High. Senior basketball players can sign binding letters of intent Nov. 10-17.

Lawrence Westbrook and Travis Busch each scored 10 points and No. 22 Minnesota rallied from a 13-point deficit then hung on to beat host Iowa, 52-49, last night. The Golden Gophers (14-1, 2-1 Big Ten) shot only 33.9 percent from the field and nearly let the game slip away in the closing seconds. Minnesota led 50-44 with 24.5 seconds left. Jake Kelly of Iowa (11-5, 1-2) scored and Al Nolen of Minnesota missed two free throws. Jeff Peterson buried an open 3 from the corner with 5.3 seconds left to make it a one-point game, but Westbrook hit two free throws.

Games against Minnesota and Kentucky, two participants in last year's NCAA Final Four, highlight the Villanova basketball schedule for 1997-98, announced yesterday. The Wildcats will have one of their earliest openers ever, playing Minnesota on Nov. 14 in the BCA Classic at the Target Center in Minneapolis. They also have road games Nov. 29 at Bradley and Dec. 3 at Georgetown before playing their home opener Dec. 6 against Seton Hall at The Pavilion. Villanova also will meet Kentucky, last year's NCAA runner-up, on Feb. 8 at the CoreStates Center.

Pat Wright, the starting quarterback at Valley Forge Military Academy, has announced that he will accept a full scholarship to play football at the University of Minnesota. He cannot officially accept the scholarship until Wednesday, but he committed orally Friday to play for the Gophers. "On Wednesday, I went to talk to Pat to see where he might be leaning to," said Trojans coach Jim Burner. "Before I even had a chance to ask him any questions, he told me that he was going to Minnesota.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Dave Weaver was in his usual seat, 20 rows behind home plate, drinking a beer and shouting instructions to his son in the quiet lulls between pitches. His wife, Gail, was alongside him, calmly enjoying a little night baseball. It really could have been any night in three lives filled with similar evenings at ballparks all across Southern California. Instead, Jered Weaver made an ordinary Wednesday at Angel Stadium unforgettable for the close-knit family that put him on that mound.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Swarm defeated the Wings, 15-10, in a National Lacrosse League game at Xcel Energy Stadium Saturday night. The Wings must defeat the Knighthawks in Rochester, N.Y., on Saturday to guarantee home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, which begin the weekend of May 4. Dan Dawson led the Wings (7-8) with five goals and an assist, tying the single-season record of 100 points in a season set by former Wings forward Athan Iannucci in 2008.

The Wings lost to the Minnesota Swarm, 15-10, in a National Lacrosse League game in St. Paul on Saturday night and now must win at Rochester (6-9) on Saturday to gain a home playoff contest. The Wings (7-8) were led by forward Dan Dawson who tallied five goals and one assist, tying the single-season record of 100 points in a season set by former Wings forward Athan Iannucci.

(x-Subject to change) Wednesday, Sept. 5 Dallas at N.Y. Giants, 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9 Indianapolis at Chicago, 1 p.m. EAGLES at Cleveland, 1 p.m. St. Louis at Detroit, 1 p.m. Miami at Houston, 1 p.m. Atlanta at Kansas City, 1 p.m. Jacksonville at Minnesota, 1 p.m. Washington at New Orleans, 1 p.m. Buffalo at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m. New England at Tennessee,...

Stanford's young guards Chasson Randle and Aaron Bright each scored 15 points, and the Cardinal routed Minnesota, 75-51, to win the NIT title Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Stanford forced two turnovers to open the second half to take a 10-point lead and stayed up by double figures the rest of the way. The Golden Gophers turned it over 22 times on the night. The third-seeded Cardinal (26-11) won their second NIT title, the first coming in 1991. The final minutes turned into a celebration of three-pointers and fastbreak layups for Stanford, with bench players jumping up to cheer on nearly every possession.

When Western Michigan University was knocked out of ice hockey's version of the NCAA Sweet 16 on Saturday night, a race to sign Broncos defenseman Dan DeKeyser likely began at the buzzer. DeKeyser, a mobile 6-3 sophomore, is the top undrafted free-agent recruit this season. He is expected to generate offers from all 30 teams, including the Flyers. Tonight's opponent, Tampa Bay, is also believed to be interested. "It's not unfathomable to think Danny DeKeyser could get an offer from every team," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said recently.

MINNESOTA outscored La Salle, 11-4, over the last 6 minutes, 40 seconds to spoil the Explorers' return to the NIT with a 70-61 victory Wednesday night at Tom Gola Arena. The game marked La Salle's first appearance in the NIT since the 1990-91 season, and the first major postseason berth since the 1991-92 squad made the NCAA Tournament. After Earl Pettis hit a corner jump shot to get La Salle (21-13) within 59-57, the home team went stone cold, managing only another Pettis field goal and a pair of free throws from Ramon Galloway.

1. Bubbling up There are only four weeks to go before Selection Sunday and the NCAA tournament bubble is getting quite crowded. Our favorite bracketeers, Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com and Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com, provided fresh conjecture on selections Friday, and both have Minnesota and North Carolina State among their last four teams in. But they differ on Miami and Northwestern (Lunardi both out, Palm both in) and on Texas (Lunardi in, Palm out). Other teams that shouldn't make hotel reservations just yet are Colorado State and Washington.

WASHINGTON - A resurgent Rick Santorum won Minnesota's Republican caucuses with ease Tuesday, relegating front-runner Mitt Romney to a distant third-place finish that raised fresh questions about his ability to attract ardent conservatives at the core of the GOP political base. Santorum was victorious, as well, in a nonbinding Missouri primary that was worth bragging rights but no delegates. Colorado held caucuses, too, with Santorum leading Romney in early returns. A jubilant Santorum declared to cheering supporters in St. Joseph, Mo.: "Conservatism is alive and well in Missouri and Minnesota!"

Sam Gagner was having trouble Friday believing his name is in the Edmonton Oilers record book alongside Wayne Gretzky's and Paul Coffey's. Gagner moved himself into such lofty company by registering a club record-tying eight points in Edmonton's 8-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. "You can't really recreate a memory like that," Gagner said. "I'm not sure if it's even sunk in fully yet. " Gagner had four goals and four assists to become the 11th player in NHL history to register eight points in one game.