The barnyard and zoo animals cant make it Friday night. Theyre shipping up to Boston for hockey. No way around it; their scholarships require it.True story: The dozen or so students who turn out for University of Minnesota womens volleyball matches as cows, pigs, penguins, Super Mario Brothers and a gorilla arent just goofy students. Theyre actually athletes themselves, and outstanding ones at that -- the two-time defending NCAA champion Minnesota womens hockey team.Eight live in off-campus housing diagonally across the street from volleyball seniors Sarah Wilhite, Hannah and Paige Tapp, and Katie Schau. The volleyball Gophers are 2-0 when the hockey Gophers show up in costume, and Wilhite and Co. would love to see their pals cheering in the student section at this weekends NCAA regional in Minneapolis.Unfortunately, Friday night is out. The hockey team will be finishing its game at Boston University while, back home, Minnesota meets Missouri in the Sweet 16. But if the volleyball team advances to Saturdays regional final, the hockey team might be back in time to catch some of the match. Hockey starts at 3 p.m. EST and charters home afterward; volleyball tips at 10 p.m.Thats a game-changer, said junior forward Kelly Pannek, the leading scorer in Division I. It would be fun if we could swing by.Gophers volleyball is the hottest ticket on campus these days, reflecting the groundswell of support for Hugh McCutcheons dynamic squad that ranks No. 1 in one national poll and No. 2 in the other.The 27-4 Gophers sold out their last four Big Ten Conference matches at the 5,200-capacity Sports Pavilion -- the Pav for short -- as well as the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. Tickets were so tight for the second round against Hawaii that scalpers worked the perimeter of the Pav, rare for a Minnesota womens game.Athletes claim some of the 200 day-of-the-match student tickets, cramming into small bleachers behind each end line.Showing up in costume isnt unusual at Minnesota. The student section at basketballs Williams Arena, a.k.a. The Barn, is known as The Barnyard, and many dress the part. Basketball coach Richard Pitinos brother Ryan once came to a game in a chicken suit and sat next to their father, Louisville coach Rick Pitino. The photos of them went viral.The hockey dress-up gag began with volleyballs Oct. 29 match against Penn State. Senior defenseman Kelsey Cline said everyone already had their Halloween costumes, so as a goof they decided to wear them to the match. We said, What the heck? Cline said. The Gophers won in straight sets before a raucous crowd of 5,391.After the match we went over to the volleyball girls house, Cline said. They told us how much they loved it and how much it helped them. They said, Youve got to come to the rest of our home games.Conflicting schedules prevented that until Nov. 23, the night before Thanksgiving, when Minnesota faced top-ranked and reigning national champion Nebraska. Hockey coach Brad Frost keeps a stash of costumes in his office for an annual Halloween-themed practice, and the players raided the closet before heading over. Cline dressed as a penguin and Pannek a leprechaun.An even bigger sellout of 5,401 saw Minnesota drop the first two sets and trail 23-20 in the third before rallying to win, 28-26, 25-17, 17-15. The Big Ten Network televised the match and featured the players in crowd shots.It was something funny to do, like high school days, having a theme for the football game, Pannek said. We were just doing something a little bit different and standing out.The atmosphere at the Pav, a converted hockey arena, rocks. Thats not a recent development. Minnesota ranked among the top 10 in NCAA attendance in the final decade of former coach Mike Herberts 15 seasons (he retired in 2010), and the Pav attendance record of 5,840 dates to 1999.But the next four largest crowds all happened since McCutcheon, the two-time U.S. Olympic coach, arrived in 2012. This season, only Nebraska (8,199), Hawaii (6,579) and Wisconsin (5,915) topped the Gophers (4,766) in average home attendance.Because NCAA tournament regulations prohibit the host team from egging on their crowd, the customary public address call-and-response to Minnesota points -- Point U! -- is out for postseason play. But last Saturday night, by the end of Minnesotas three-set victory over Hawaii, some in the crowd yelled Point U! without prompting.Its loud, and the fans are supercrazy, Rainbow Wahine senior middle hitter Annie Mitchem said. It was hard to come back after we were down.McCutcheon appreciates the assist.If people are feeling connected to what were doing, thats great, he said. The reason for that would be, our athletes are authentic. They work hard. Theyre out there competing. Theyre trying to win the next point. And we happen to play in the best league in the country. If you like volleyball, its probably pretty good to watch. Theres no pretense to it.Or with their fans, even if they dont always come as they are. Teppo Numminen Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. Krys Kolanos Jersey . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. https://www.cheapcoyotes.com/938z-conor-garland-jersey-coyotes.html . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. Custom Arizona Coyotes Jerseys .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem. Dan Focht Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Dont you just love when youre shopping at the mall and you come across a promotional ad with yourself on it? So fun, right?Although most of us probably cant relate to this in any shape or form, this exact scenario happened to Aly Raisman on Monday. The six-time Olympic medalist posted a picture of herself posing next to a photo of Raisman in a Reebok ad at a sporting goods store -- in black and white for the proper effect, of ccourse.ddddddddddddPinch me moments ???A photo posted by Alexandra Raisman (@alyraisman) onOct 24, 2016 at 7:41am PDTYup, just a totally normal moment in the life of Aly Raisman.See something entertaining on social media that you think deserves to be shared? Let me know on Twitter, @darcymaine_espn. ' ' '