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QUEBEC CITY — If Mykyta Staskevich needed another reminder of what his boys’ hockey team of Ukrainian refugees was playing for back home, it came in the poignant form of the nation’s flag unfolded in the locker room before its game against Romania on Monday.

In blue, representing the sky, were the nicknames of a player’s father and the father of a player’s friend, who have died on the front lines in the war with Russia. In yellow, representing the ground, were the nicknames of two of the player’s fathers — including Staskevich — who are still fighting.

Speaking in Ukrainian, Staskevich’s eyes welled as he provided an answer to what the flag symbolized.

“He wants Ukraine to win the war and to stop the war,” Ukrainian Selects coach Evgheniy Pysarenko said, translating his team’s captain. “Peace.”

The flag was brought to Pysarenko by one of the player’s parents, and served as both motivation and a poignant reminder of why the team is competing in the International Peewee Tournament in Quebec City. The Selects are more than just a hockey team of 11- and 12-year-olds. They’ve come to represent a symbol of peace and a far more hopeful future for a battle-torn nation nearly a year since Russia invaded Ukraine.

“You can imagine a kid, he saw the name of his father, and he start to cry. And the whole team come to him and give big hug. It was quiet a couple of minutes,” Pysarenko said, following a 2-0 victory over Team Romania Wolves.

“It was more than a hockey game,” he said. “This game we dedicated to these people.”

Tears turned to smiles by the end of the game, when Ivan Bilozerov capped the scoring by converting a rebound with 61 seconds remaining. And the excitement in the locker room grew when word got around that the Selects were boarding a bus headed for Montreal, where the team will be the special guests of the Canadiens for their game against Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

One of the team’s dreams was having a chance to attend an NHL game during what’s now growing into a three-week stay in Canada.

The Selects extended their stay by beating Romania in an elimination game. Maksym Kukharenko scored a power-play goal and Matvii Kulish earned the shutout (shot totals are not tracked at the tournament).

The Ukrainians, who have been celebrated around town since their arrival some two weeks ago, are three wins from clinching a spot in the tournament Class AA championship on Sunday. They advanced to play the Vermont Flames Academy on Friday.

“It’s a special story, special kids,” Pysarenko said of the resilience his players have shown. “They’re a lot more grown up than everyone else.”

The Selects blamed nerves and the pressure of playing in front of a near-capacity crowd of 18,000 blue-and-white flag-waving fans as a factor in their slow start to a tournament-opening 3-1 win over the Boston Junior Bruins. Ukraine overcame a 1-0 deficit by scoring three times in the final five minutes.

On Monday, the Selects had pre-game emotions to overcome.

This time, they got an early lead with Kukharenko scoring 4:37 into the 10-minute first period off a shot from the left point that appeared to deflect off a Romanian defender. The Selects weren’t able to exhale until Bilozerov scored by slapping in a shot from the right circle.

The Ukrainians once again celebrated with a victory lap, while paying tribute to their supporters, who made up a majority of the fans who filled about half of the lower bowl of the arena.

A smaller contingent of Romanian fans were gathered in one section, and made their presence known with chants, songs and the banging of cowbells.

Tournament officials don’t release attendance figures, but the crowd on Monday was still far larger than the 20 or so people Selects forward Zahar Kovalenko said he was used to playing in front of in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian’s presence has placed a larger global spotlight on the 63-year-old tournament with the war in Ukraine showing signs of once again escalating. The Selects are regarded as symbol of peace for Ukraine and hope for a better future, and they’ve merited mention from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The matchup of teams from bordering nations featured several coincidences. Romania is where the Selects held training camp, because that’s where Pysarenko now lives, and began holding camps for players after watching many youth fleeing Ukraine with hockey equipment in tow.

And the Romanian team’s presence in the tournament stems from Pysarenko, who recommended to the nation’s hockey officials to seek sending a team to the Quebec City tournament four years ago.

“I know these kids and I saw them crying after the game and I was so sorry for them because I work with them, too. And know, personally them, and parents and coach,” Pysarenko said. “But the situation was we need this win probably more than them.”

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Police eye Sugar Bowl safety after truck attack

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Police eye Sugar Bowl safety after truck attack

New Orleans’ police commissioner said the Sugar Bowl will be played as scheduled Wednesday night amid an investigation after a driver in a pickup truck plowed through crowds on Bourbon Street, killing 10 and injuring at least 35.

Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said officers would work to ensure safety at the Sugar Bowl, indicating that the game would go on as scheduled.

The attack occurred around 3:15 a.m. CT Wednesday in New Orleans’ bustling French Quarter district, known worldwide as one of the largest destinations for New Year’s Eve parties. Crowds in the city had also ballooned in anticipation of the College Football Playoff game between Georgia and Notre Dame at the nearby Superdome on Wednesday night.

“He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said. “It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could.”

The male driver was shot and killed by police when he got out of his truck, law enforcement officials told ABC News. The man was in possession of an assault rifle and had allegedly been firing a gun while he was driving through the crowd, the officials said.

The FBI said in a statement that it was heading an investigation “with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism.” At a news conference, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the killings as a “terrorist attack.”

Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said officials were investigating the discovery of at least one suspected improvised explosive device at the scene.

“The Sugar Bowl Committee is devastated by the terrible events from early this morning,” Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. We are in ongoing discussions with authorities on the local, state, and federal levels and will communicate further details as they become available.”

NOLA Ready, the city’s emergency preparedness department, said the injured had been taken to five local hospitals. Two police officers who were shot after the driver emerged from the truck are in stable condition, Kirkpatrick said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Boise St. coach’s message to all: ‘Watch our team’

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Boise St. coach's message to all: 'Watch our team'

GLENDALE, Ariz. — For weeks, since his team received the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff, Boise State coach Spencer Danielson has heard the gripes about the selection process and that the Broncos didn’t earn their spot in the quarterfinals.

In the wake of a 31-14 loss to sixth-seeded Penn State in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl, Danielson said the Broncos showed they belonged.

“A lot of people counted us out and we were a couple plays away from winning,” Danielson said. “That’s football, though. We could lose to anybody in the country. But I also believe we could beat anybody in the country.”

After Boise State fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter, it seemed as if the game had a chance to turn into a rout, but the Broncos cut the deficit to 17-14 early in the third quarter despite limited production from star running back Ashton Jeanty.

“Hopefully everybody just watches the film,” Danielson said. “That’s been my big message all year: watch the film. Watch the game tonight. They had 387 yards; we had 412. Yes, we didn’t execute. We lost the game. That is what it is but watch our team.”

Danielson lauded his team’s effort to roll off 11 straight wins to close the regular season, culminated by the program’s first back-to-back Mountain West Conference championships.

“There’s been a lot of teams that have said that they should be in it. I’m curious how they played their bowl games,” Danielson said. “To me it’s all about putting the ball down, play the game, whatever they set to make the playoff, that’s on us as coaches and competitors to go get it done.”

Alabama, Miami and South Carolina — three of the teams that just missed the playoff cut — all lost their bowl games.

“With the expansion of the College Football Playoff, all you want is to give teams a chance,” Danielson said. “Everybody knew how to make the playoffs to start the season. There was no gray area.

“We’ve been in playoff mentality since September. We knew after we lost on the last-second field goal in Oregon, we can’t lose again and we didn’t.”

With Jeanty bottled up for most of the night — he was held to a season-low 104 yards — most of Boise State’s production came through the air. Quarterback Maddux Madsen completed 23 of 35 passes for 304 yards, but threw three interceptions. Jeanty also had two fumbles, one of which was lost. Those four turnovers, combined with 13 penalties for 90 yards and a pair of missed field goal attempts, proved to be too costly to overcome.

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PSU D relishes thwarting Jeanty’s record pursuit

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PSU D relishes thwarting Jeanty's record pursuit

GLENDALE, Ariz. — As the Penn State players made their way through the tunnel and into the bowels of State Farm Stadium after a historic 31-14 win against No. 3 seed Boise State on New Year’s Eve, 305-pound defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas had a bounce in his step as he yelled, “Jeanty who?!” before disappearing into the locker room.

Penn State and Boise State had never played each other before Tuesday night’s College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl, but the Nittany Lions were all too familiar with No. 2 — Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty, who entered the game 131 yards shy of tying Barry Sanders’ FBS single-season rushing record set in 1988.

“We had it in our mind that, ‘Oh, he’s going to try to break the record on us tonight,'” J-Thomas said, a huge grin across his face as he sat on a chair in a locker room buzzing with celebratory photos and cigars. “That’s not going to happen.”

It didn’t.

Even with defensive end Abdul Carter, who is ranked No. 2 in Mel Kiper’s latest Big Board, sidelined by an undisclosed injury for most of the game, Penn State’s defense stifled Jeanty, holding him to a season-low 104 rushing yards, his first time not rushing for at least 125 yards in a game this season. Jeanty finished 28 yards shy of breaking Sanders’ record.

“I think we did corral him,” Penn State coach James Franklin said, correcting a reporter. “Not ‘sort of.'”

Penn State, which won 13 games for the first time in school history, will face the winner of Notre DameGeorgia in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Jan. 9. The Nittany Lions are two wins away from the school’s first national championship since 1986.

Though Boise State’s running game struggled, Penn State’s flourished with the dynamic duo of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. The two combined to rush for 221 yards, the most yards that Boise State has given up to running backs in a game this season. Franklin said it was the first time the program has had two 1,000-yard rushers in a single season since joining the Big Ten.

“Obviously, I’m biased, but I tell everybody we have the two best running backs in the country,” PSU running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider said. “You give them 300 carries a game and their stats will look different, too. I didn’t have to say anything all week. They knew what was at stake. I mean, the kid deserved the praise and credit he got, but I also knew what I had.”

Jeanty finished without a rushing touchdown in a game for only the second time this season; it also happened against Portland State on Sept. 21.

“I think defensively, I think our team was sick of me talking about him,” Franklin said. “I think we got the point across about the respect that we have for that young man and the type of running back he is. Even today, I think our defense would say they have a ton of respect for him and how many tackles he was able to break and how strong he is and the contact balance. He’s an impressive guy. But we’re pretty good on defense. Thought our D-line did a really good job of being disruptive and getting in the backfield. I thought we did a really good job gang tackling. There were a few times where we didn’t wrap like we should have. But for the most part, our defense played lights out.”

Carter left the game in the second quarter, an apparent upper-body injury as he was able to ride a stationary bike and roam the sideline for the rest of the game. During the final two-minute timeout, Carter stood alone on the field near the 45-yard line with a towel on his head, facing the crowd, pumping his fist and cheering along with them as they yelled “P-S-U! Let’s go PSU!”

It was the most Penn State fans got to see him on the field in the second half. Penn State doesn’t release injury information, and Franklin didn’t have much of an update afterward. Though the rest of his team was celebrating in the locker room after the game, Carter went to the trainer’s room.

“We’ll get that checked out and see,” Franklin said. “Obviously, No. 1, the safety and health and welfare of our guys is priority No. 1. But then, I know Abdul will want to play next week and he’ll do everything in his power to play next week, if he’s able to. We’ll find out more. I don’t have a whole lot more information than that.”

Without Carter, Penn State leaned on Amin Vanover, who added 6 tackles, 1 sack and 2 tackles for loss. Defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton added a sack and 2.5 TFLs. Defensive end Max Granville also helped on third-down situations. According to ESPN Research, Jeanty had 29 yards on nine rushes when Penn State had seven or more defenders in the box. He led the FBS with 1,507 such yards during the regular season.

“It was numbers in the box,” Franklin said. “Obviously, being able to play man coverage also helps with that, because you’re able to drop a safety down there and get an extra man to add numbers.”

This season, Jeanty had averaged 4.8 yards after contact per rush, and in the first quarter, Penn State limited him to an average of 1.1. The Broncos’ 48 rushing yards in the first half were their fewest in a half all season.

“They heard about No. 2 the entire time, so it was like a little edge they had to themselves to make sure that he didn’t take over the game at all,” defensive line coach Deion Barnes said. “They wanted to be known for taking over the game.”

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