Okay, as promised/sworn/I’m going to update team performance each month.
Seriously.
I mean it this time.
For real!
Okay, fine, I’m going to TRY to update team performance each month.
With that, please stop laughing at my attempts to hold myself to a schedule and let’s get started.
Montana Grizzlies–7 W – 2 D – 2 L; GF: 19/GA: 8
It seems like most of college soccer has come to realise just how reliable the Griz are. They’ve consistently been a top ten team among western schools, and even got a vote to be one of the five best teams in the country.
The squad did slip twice, on the road against Washington State, and again in Fresno, but in general they’ve been clinical with Skyleugh Thompson’s leadership. Jen Estes, Eva Samuelson and Chloe Seelhoff have all taken big strides.
Arguably our favorite development has been seeing two team favourite Bayliss Finn take over in goal and rise to the occasion with three clean sheets, including the conference opener versus the North Arizona Lumberjanes.
October: away v. Northern Colorado, Home v Idaho and Eastern Washington, Away v Sacramento State, Home v Portland State. away v Idaho State and Weber State.
Other news: Because the purpose of American education is to make a lot of money, there are several falling dominoes that have opened up among bigger conferences (with more difficult games, greater national attention, and, yes, more money). Recent foes Washington State and Oregon State are looking for new conference members, while the Griz would be a long shot for that, Boise State (another Griz victim) already moved which may leave an opening in their old conference…more to come.
Ross County–1 W – 2 D-2 L; GF: 6/GA: 11
When the Stags ran out after our recap they suffered a brutal 6-0 drubbing v. Rangers. Conor Randall held his own, but everyone else looked overwhelmed.
From there, the play dramatically improved. The team as a whole did well against Aberdeen, but a missed penalty by Ronan Hale and a late goal for the Dons left them heart broken. They snapped out of the funk with a strong 2-0 win over Dundee FC (sorry Brian Cox.) Akil Wright notched his first goal and Jordan White convereted penalty. Next came a gutsy come back draw against St Johnston in front of the home faithful. Courtesy of Alex Samuel and Akil Wright, and then a 60 minute lead against Hearts in Edinburgh…only to be undone in stoppage time.
October: Home v. Celtic, Away v St Johnstone, Home v Kilmarnock and Hibs.
Other News: Our old Stag Ross Stewart has become made the climb all the way up to the English Premier League (playing for Southhampton). While a few Freiburgers have made it, Stewart took a long way.
Legon Cities–W 0 – D 1- L 3; GF: 1/ GA: 3
It has been a rough go for the Royals. Outside of brief hope of draws, most of their time has been spent chasing games that are out of their reach. After 5 years in the top flight, the team has never finished more than six points clear of danger…this year is setting up to be too much to overcome.
October: Away v Nsoatreman, home v Kotoko, Away v Berekum Chelsea, Home v Accra Lions
Other News: Legon’s preparation for the year was limited by a paucity of new faces. Six players joined the team, but none of them got preseason practice with the team. Only three players: Joseph Amoah, Ishmael Amoah, and Foster Twum have seen a lot of time on the field. Ishmael and keeper Kwame Aziz have been team of the week, but that’s about it.
Freiburg–6 W – 1 D – 3 L; GF: 18/GA: 12
M: 3 W – 0 D- 2 L; GF: 8/GA: 5
A Lead off win v. Stuttgart put Breigsau Boys on top of the table after the first match day, but Bayern brought them crashing back to earth. Still, the squad’s veteran core continues to provide much needed balance. Vincenzo Grifo and Ritsu Doan look impressively driven and thoroughly capable of running the show. New tip of the spear striker Chukwubuike Adamu has also looked impressive. While a frustrating defeat to fellow hippy haven St. Pauli might leave us questioning VAR, the truth is Freiburg looks solid to start the year.
October: Away v Werder Bremen, Home v Augsburg, Away v Liepzig (boo), Cup tie (Round 2) v Hamburger
F: 3 W – 1 D – 1 L; GF: 10/GA: 7
A couple of penalties made the 2-3 defeat against big bad Bayern Leverkusen look a little closer than it probably was. But a solid Pokal win v. Nurnberg, another against Hoffenheim, a draw versus Carl Zeiss Jena and another win in Koln set things back on the right track.
In addition to Samantha Steuerwald being a steadying figure in defense, Greta Stegman’s development as a left back, and winger Selina Vobian’s incisive attacks have given Freiburg a new look to frustrate opponents.
October: HOME v. Turbine Potsdam, AWAY v. Eintracht Frankfurt, HOME v. RB Leipzig (boo again)
Other News: It’s a good thing that some of the newer members of Freiburg’s women’s team have stepped up because the team is most certainly in a state of flux. Reliable winger Janina Minge moved on to Wolfsburg, and, at 32 and injured Hasret Kayici may be nearing an end to her strong career.
Minnesota–4 W – 0 D – 2 L; GF: 8/GA: 7
I’m a little worried that I’m not helping the cause here.
We were able to go to a couple of matches in the last month, first taking Owen to see the Loons play Seattle…which we lost. Then going on a date with your mom to see the Loons play Cincinatti…which we lost.
Perhaps my incessant support is bothering them? The team did win three times on the road and saw Bongokuhle Hlongwane return to excellent form and welcoming in new striker Kelvin Yeboah who has been lethal from close range. But the Loons last home game…which I DID NOT attend…was only the teams second clean sheet since April. Despite Dayne St. Clair doing his best, it raises questions about how to improve the defensive unit. (Looks quietly to the side hoping that he doesn’t have to criticize Defender/Dad Michael Boxall)
October: AWAY v. Salt Lake, and Vancouver, HOME v. St. Louis City…and then…maybe….Playoffs?
Other News: After a dismal summer, the team seems to have been rejuvenated, not least due to the arrival of Yeboah, and another talented Argentinian midfielder in Joaquin Pereyra. Though hopefully, that won’t come to mirror the last talented Argentinian midfielder situation (death star at Emmanuel Reynoso). It was pretty big spending by the Loons, but all on prime age players.
Punjab– 3 W – 0 D – 0 L; GF: 6/GA: 2
The team started the season on a high, opening with their first win against Kerala Blasters, but felt that deflated by word that talismanic striker Luka Macjen would be out for six to eight weeks following a…questionable challenge in the penalty box that led to two fractures in his jaw.
But if anything, the pain seems to have spurred the Warriors on to stay the course until the captain can rejoint hem. To wit: they went on to win games without Luka (a very rare occurrence the last three years.) They’ve gotten contributions from all over the front line, including Luka’s fellow Slav, Filip Mrzljak, as well as Indian nationals and Leon Augustine. Combine that with a stalwart backline and you have a team that’s a serious contender for the league title.
October: AWAY v. Bengaluru, HOME v. Chennaiyin
Rosenborg–9/2 on
M: 2 – 1 – 0; GF: 6/GA: 1
Draw v. Lillestrom, meh…good match for RB Adrien Pereira, assisting on equalizer and winning 7/9 ground duels. But the team turned up the heat with a convincing thumping of FK Huagesund and a less convincing win over Sandefjord. But they all count, and they all get sweeter when you have the Konradssen Ceide twins (Emil and Mikkel) making beautiful music together!
October: A long lay off and then HOME v. Brann, and AWAY v. Bodo/Glimt
W: 2 W -1 D – 2 L
There were some lofty highs for the Kvinner this last month or so. To start with, they beat Mighty Athletico Madrid in the Champions League!!! (To be fair, we’re still counting it as a 2-2 draw, and they required Penalties to advance, but it’s still a pretty big scalp to score!) Little heralded Andrine Tomter gave them the lead in extra time, and though Madrid equalized, Rugile Ruylte showed up big during penalty kicks to push them on to the next round!!
Unfortunately, the spent squad gave up an early goal to Arsenal and couldn’t get enough possession to swing the game, back, so just a little bit after their triumph, they were out of European competitions.
But there was another high to follow, as a clear 3-0 win against Arna-Bjorner served notice that they might still have a chance to finish near the top of the table this season too! And then Koboltn came out and beat them against strong possession leaving them to make up ground quickly if they want to get back to the big time.
Then again, perhaps their big time will be at the end of November again. As a 3-1 win over Roa in the KvinnerKup Semi final set up a rematch of last year’s final against Valerenga.
October: HOME v. Lyn and LSK Kvinner, AWAY v. Stabaek
Other News: I said in their catch up post that Froya Brennskag Dorsin, had really taken off. I was excited to watch more of her, and her showings during the Champion’s League matches were exciting. But, Paris St. Germain, they of much greater resources, snatched her up. Fingers crossed for the next Rosenborg product to be a European sensation…
Vozdovac– 1 W – 0 D – 3 L; GF: 5/ GA: 7
Remember when I recapped Vozdovac’s campaign and pointed out that they actually now had a good opportunity to dominate a lower division and earn promotion quickly?
Yeah…about that…The whole dominating thing is a lot easier when you…you know…beat opponents.
They did do that to begin with, a 3-0 win over Dubocica Leskovac boosted them up the standings further with Milan Kolarevic getting his third goal of the year, and supersub Djordje Belic getting his second. But then came a defat against Smederevo, and then another defeat (this one at league leading Macva), and another to fellow demoted side FK Radnik Surdulica.
The dragons are still in the top half of the league…but it’s getting dark early on the Mall roof top.
October: AWAY v. Borcac Cacak, HOME v. Grafica, AWAY v. Radniki Sremska, HOME v. Vrsac
Grenoble–5 W – 1 D – 1 L; GF: 14/GA: 4
Men–3 W – 0 D – 1 L; GF: 10 /GA: 3
Pape Meissa Ba has led the charge for Grenoble this month, with three goals over the team’s two wins. despite the set back against AC Ajaccio, the team came right back out to dominate Clermont Foot en route to a 3-0 win (including Ba scoring AGAIN and Jessy Benet running the show as we all love to see).
Women 2 W – 1 D – 0 L; GF: 4/GA: 1
While I’m always a little conflicted about beating our friendly rivals the squirrels of Albi Marssac, les alpineres, have continued to do exactly what they always do so well: attack together, defend consistently, and celebrate like crazy after the match. The one thing that seems different this year is that they now have highlight reels!
Alebrijes–W 0 – D 2 – L 0; GF: 3/GA: 3
The Alebrijes turn around continued with two draws, running their record to four undefeated (though giving up a two goal lead, including one late equalizer at home might be a bit of a stinger).
Emelec–W 1 – D 0 – L 1; GF: 3/GA: 2
M: W 1 – D 0 – L 1; GF: 3/GA 2
Emelec’s record isn’t too shabby, but dropping points against a team in the bottom 2 (Cumbaya) does not help their cause. Also, failure to pay their debts lost them three additional points when they needed it most. Juan Pablo Ruiz notched another goal to make up for some of the injuries that have sucked the life out of Los Bomibillos offense.
F: W 1 – D 1 – L 0; GF: 4/GA 0
Despite only just kicking off, Las Electricas picked up where they left off in the Guyaquil women’s league: undefeated! While the owls of Buhos ULVR were able to stymie the strong attack of the Emelec furies, the team still looks every bit as potent as it was last year in its march to the title.
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