Minnesota Aurora 1 – 0 Chicago City SC (F–Playoffs)
This game might be the dictionary definition of the word “frustrating”. As I was home alone I got to watch and write along with the game and was stunned at first the weather (a sloppy, driving rain mixed with oppressive humidity) then the number of chances that Aurora missed, and finally the absolute apathy of the Chicago City side that clearly had been through enough facing Aurora this year. Ari Del Moral converted the vital penalty, and Minnesota advanced to the next round.
Minnesota Aurora 0 – 1 Indy XI (F-Playoffs)
Aurora met Indianapolis facing their fellow Central Conference division winner. The result was surprising in that Minnesota lost and went goalless for the first time this season. Full credit to goalie Amanda Poorbaugh (often left waiting around this season by a great defense). She stopped many Indy attempts but couldn’t stop the final free for all spot kick into the box.
It’s a discouraging end to Minnesotas excellent season as a league championship seemed thoroughly possible, but it doesn’t diminish a great year of growing and learning as a team.
Minnesota United 1 – 4 Austin FC (M)
A week after a great outing, the loons got the inverse service. Of course Austin is near the top of the Western conference and Portland is near the bottom, so it makes more sense.
Rosenborg 1 – 2 Lillestrom (M)
An early lead was promising for the Trolls with Ole Sæter scoring eleven minutes in. But the last seven minutes were a disaster, with LSK scoring twice to wipe out any chance for Rosenborg to get some credit.
Sporting Cristal 0 – 1 Emelec (M-Copa)
Emelec could not ask for a better way to start their knock out campaign in the Copa Sudamericana. They spent most of the game defending against Cristal’s attack. Jose Cevallos’ free kick set up his own off-ball run for the winning goal. Beyond winning this one game, they also got an away goal, so even if next week’s match ends 0-0 Emelec will advance.
Houston Dynamo 0 – 3 Minnesota United (M)
For several months Minnesota United games have been marked by two things: an offense that can’t score much, and a defense that is constantly having to save the day. While the game against Austin showed that the defense might be suffering a bit of fatigue, this game showed that the offense has started to click. It helps to have Emanuel Reynoso back, but it also helps to have new striker Teemu Puuki who helped set up the first goal for our buddy Bongi, and scored the second.
News & Notes
Weekly Kids Highlights
Celebrating!
Alex was back in action with his weekly soccer practice, and while the team didn’t fare as well as the last time, Alex was doing it all once again. He was noticeably upset when the opponents got their fifth goal, but when we remembered that fun was the main purpose, and that supporting your team was the goal, things seemed better–as if to prove it, went out got another goal and an assist.
Gold Cup-Date
After Honduras was dumped out at the group stage, our attention turned entirely to Jamaica and Canada. Kemar Lawrence’s injury left him on the bench for Jamaica’s defeat against Mexico, and somehow the strong showings for both Jayden Nelson and Viktor Loturi, they too didn’t make it to the pitch but Canada held their own against the United States, thanks largely to the one player who did come back: Dayne St. Clair. Big Save Dayne had a great match, keeping the United States in check, until Canada came back with a pair of late goals to take the lead (unfortunately the US got their own late equalizer and then survived the shoot out, so Dayne was back to Minnesota in time for the match against Houston.
Women’s World Cup-Date
Vive l’haiti!
In one week the women’s world cup will kick off in Australia and New Zealand. Of the five women’s teams we follow, three will have players down under for the tournament. Freiburg’s lone representative will be Janina Minge, who is part of the reserve list for Germany (just in case someone gets hurt), Rosenborg will send four players, three for Norway (Sara Horte, Mathilde Harviken, and Anna Josendal) and the starting keeper for Denmark (Lene Christiansen). But Grenoble has five players plus coach Nicholas Delpine who will all be supporting Haiti. So naturally we’re excited about seeing Haiti, Chelsea Surpris, Jennyfer Limage, Sherly Jeudy, Maudeline Moreyl, and Florsie Joseph.
Player of the Week
Dayne St. Clair had two great games in two competitions. I was surprised that he hasn’t already gotten a Player of the Week award this year, but this is certainly deserved.
Standings
With Aurora’s season at an end and the TrollKvinner on their World Cup break, Punjab can breathe easily. They won’t have many threats to their position until they hit the field again after the Monsoon season ends and they take the field in October.
Sophie French joined the dynamic duo of Rapp and Hansen in helping Aurora make the most of another trip to Wisconsin. Even more impressive: French was playing out of position as a defender before charging up and bringing her usual attacking brilliance and find the net.
Roa 0 – 3 Rosenborg BK (F)
Anna Josensdal continued to be an iron woman and netted another goal for the Trolls, young Synne Bronsted (only 20) did the same as Rosenborg rolled to victory.
Minnesota United 4 -1 Portland Timbers (M)
This was an absolutely wild match, and one that I got to go see with Alex! You had plenty of attacking football, you had a crazy number of calls by the referee (not all of them were dumb…no matter what the people sitting next to us said), you had a goal directly from the corner kick by Emanuel Reynoso. And that was just the half we watched! In the second half we had more goals, a brief bit of fear, and another goal from Alex’s new favorite Bongokhule Hlongwane (sorry Boxall, I was advocating for you but the kid likes goals)
Aurora wrapped up their second unbeaten regular season with what amounted to a bit of a curtain call as Cat Rapp scored twice (9 for her this year), Maya Hansen once (12 goals for her), and Hannah Adler once (11 for her). Those three accounted for half of the team’s total 60 goals during the regular season.
Aalesund 1 – 0 Rosenborg (M)
Coach Svein Malen’s second game in charge of Rosenborg went a lot like his first. Rosenborg looked okay, competent for sure…and then they gave up a second half goal and sunk deeper down the table.
Alex cheers and hits the guy in front of us…
News & Notes
Weekly Kids Highlights
We completed our two weeks of vacation with a fourth of July celebration that included grandparents, and all the assorted aunties, uncles, and cousins. While I was kind of hoping that Alex would get to challenge goalie Uncle Simon or midfielder Uncle Matt, we settled for seeing the MacKenzie kids deliver a thorough water balloon drubbing to the MacKenzie dads.
Gold Cup-Date
The Gold Cup’s opening round came to an end. Kemar Lawrence started for Jamaica against St. Kitt’s and Nevis. He was strong in distribution but not the best at stopping and spent the second half on the bench. ,Joseph Rosales did an excellent job with his usual two-way play for Honduras in a draw against Qatar and a win over Haiti. But, that wasn’t enough to pull El H into the second round.
Video from AP News
The real story that got us fired up though was the tournament saving win for Canada against Cuba. The Maple Leafs could have been knocked out in the first round (a major come down for the team after their first world cup in 3 decades). But that was why they clearly used our favorite players: Dayne St. Clair of Minnesota was in goal, Jayden Nelson of Rosenborg was an attacking substitute in the first half and Viktor Loturi of Ross County came in for the end of the game. (Sidebar one: Okay, yes, one of Cuba’s goals came after Dayne gave up a foul…but c’mon…it’s Bootroom or Bust for the Canucks!)
(Sidebar two: we somehow missed that Matthais Phaeton led the Guadaloupe team throughout the cup including a tie against Canada and a win–with two goals–against Cuba, but a missed penalty cost them a draw that would have pulled them through to the second round)
Transfer Time
Au Revoir Matthais
Last week I covered most teams, but failed to account for changes coming to Grenoble’s men’s side. While some of the strong willed GF38 back line (Loris Nery and Bart Straalman) reached the end of their contracts, the big change was seeing lead creator Matthais Phaeton depart for CSKA Sofia in Hungary. Aside from Hungary’s abysmal politics, we hope Mathais can step up to the Conference League and draw more attention by playing against Europe’s best.
But Grenoble brought on several strong young players, poaching players who have impressed them the last few seasons with Eddy Sylvestre and Mattheo Xanthippe coming in, the big fresh blood for the team is Belgian Dante Rigo coming in to settle the midfield.
One other team we haven’t discussed much (as they continue preseason before the league stars at the end of the month) is Alebrijes de Oxaca. Their primary change was to say so long to long time coach Jorge Manrique Islas and bring in new coach Carlos Guttierez
From Fox News 9
Player of the Week
Cat Rapp has been utterly outstanding all season long for Minnesota Aurora and if she wanted to be mad at us for not recognizing her as player of the week sooner we couldn’t blame her. But hopefully she’s understanding.
Standing
Half way through the summer holidays Punjab should be grateful to the guys in Minnesota and Rosenborg, becuase while the women’s teams might well be charging towards the title by now, the mens teams in each club setting are simply surviving. What happens when the Loons join Aurora in bringing the heat? Well…you can see how close it’s gotten.
Team
W
D
L
PPG
GFA
GAA
Punjab–b
12
2
3
2.24
2.29
0.94
Minnesota
20
6
7
2.00
2.61
1.06
Rosenborg
17
6
12
1.63
1.69
0.91
Legon Cities–b
9
7
8
1.42
1.25
1.29
Grenoble–b
15
6
17
1.34
1.16
1.13
Emelec
6
8
7
1.24
1.24
1.19
Freiburg–b
12
7
19
1.13
1.24
1.66
Alebrijes–b
5
5
8
1.11
1.33
1.39
Ross County–b
6
4
12
1.00
1.23
1.50
Vozdovac–b
4
3
11
0.83
0.67
1.65
Montana–b
0
0
0
—
—
—
Table Updated 6/22/23 b–Team is between seasons
What’s Next
Thursday, July 6th
Minnesota Aurora v. Chicago City SC (F–Playoffs)
Friday, July 7th
Saturday, July 8th
Minnesota United v. Austin FC (M)
Sunday, July 9th
Rosenborg v. Lillestrom (M)
USL-W 2nd Round Playoff (Minnesota/Chicago winner versus Flint City/Indy XI winner)
Gold Cup 2nd Round (with Canada’s Bootroom connection, and Kemar Lawrence in action)
Monday, July 10th
Tuesday, July 11th
Wednesday, July 12th
Sporting Cristal v. Emelec (M-Copa)
Houston Dynamo v. Minnesota United (M)
Plus tracking results for Gold Cup matches and the impending Women’s World Cup.
Rosenborg combined for two goals in the first half as the center of the attack was able to connect more effectively. The team held on for the rest of the match.
Real Salt Lake 2 – 2 Minnesota United (M)
The Loons combined for two goals in the first half with Emanuel Reynoso having an immediate impact in his return to the starting line up (and strong showings by both Hasani Dotson and Jeong Sang-Bin). But team was not able to hold on for the rest of the match, giving up two goals in the last 11 minutes (plus stoppage time) to turn an excellent road win into an acceptable road draw.
Bavarian United 0 – 2 Minnesota Aurora (F)
Aurora completed their biggest road trip of the year with another win, another pair of goals for Maya Hansen and another Heartland Division title (their second in as many years)
Rosenborg 0 – 3 Sarpsborg 08 (M)
The other team from Trondheim did not seem to have much of anything in this match as they defended as best they could, and saw Sarpsborg stride forward with purpose and intensity and Rosenborg was…there.
Emelec 2 – 1 Danubio (M-Copa Sudamericana)
Los Bombillos continue to save their best showings for the continental competition (though if they keep doing so, they may not qualify for next year’s competitions). They applied tremendous pressure throughout the match and it was a particularly great game for fullbacks as Bryan Carabali got a goal and Romario Caicedo notched an assist. They will move on to the knockout stages.
News & Notes
Weekly Kids Highlights
We were on a family staycation at your grandparents this week, so Alex was out of action for his regular Sunday practice. However both boys have taken to wrestling and punching…so…
Gold Cup-Date
Several Loons players are still on international duty (heh-heh, duty sounds like doody) at the Gold Cup, North America’s big international tournament. Dayne St. Clair didn’t start for Canada, but after Milan Borjan gave up two more goals to Guadaloupe, maybe it’s time for a change between the posts.
Joseph Rosales was on the struggling side of a 4-0 drubbing by Mexico. Kemar Lawrence came on for the second half for Jamaica against the United States, but the Reggae Boyz gave up a late equalizer to fall short of an epic upset.
Transfer Time
Every team is looking to upgrade in the summer season and ours have been impressively active.
Start with the Loons, whose offense I have bemoaned a fair few times. They responded by getting Robin Lod’s teammate and Norwich’s favorite Fin Teemu Puuki. So hopefully he and Bebelo are able to get together quickly to pull the Loons back into contention.
Freiburg has continued their routine of selling high and buying low, as long as the premier league continues to offer big sums, the Griffins will keep taking them and reinvesting in the next generation. As in addition to the Austrian Adamu they grabbed a replacement goalie in old pal Florian Muller.
Vozdovac and Ross County have trended to younger academy players, but the Dragons did bring in former Red Star defender Aleksandar Lukic, and the Stags grabbed recent thistle in their sides, Kyle Turner (because he played for Partick Thistle in the playoffs just a few weeks ago…get it?) and left back Josh Reid who just missed a trip to the Premier League with Coventry City. Unfortunately the Stags also said goodbye to stalwart defender Alex Iacovitti, so there will be some shoes to fill.
RBK’s Finances
I don’t much like writing about the business side of soccer, because (1) I don’t understand it and (2) I have no idea how to work it into life lessons for you boys. But it seems relevant at this point because, apparently Rosenborg’s women’s side has suffered financially in the last year, and the Norwegian Federation is worried about their ability to stay afloat. (I’m not quite sure why they’re struggling, they’ve been consistently one of the best teams in the country, the stands at Koateng arena are usually full, but like I said…I don’t understand a lot of the business stuff.) As a result they have been docked a point in the league dropping them further behind Valerenga…but I don’t have to do that, and I won’t.
Player of the Week
Her hat trick could have been rewarded last week, but there was a bigger point to make by standing with her fellow defender. But after another clean sheet boosting the best defense in our table, Sara Horte you are our player of the week.
Standing
Emelec will get a much needed break after their Copa Sudamericana tie this week and then it’ll be a summer of Minnesota and Rosenborg! (And a summer where Punjab keeps looking over their shoulders)
Team
W
D
L
PPG
GFA
GAA
Punjab–b
12
2
3
2.24
2.29
0.94
Minnesota
16
5
7
1.89
2.39
1.14
Rosenborg
15
6
10
1.65
1.74
0.90
Legon Cities–b
9
7
8
1.42
1.25
1.29
Grenoble–b
15
6
17
1.34
1.16
1.13
Emelec
5
8
7
1.15
1.20
1.20
Freiburg–b
12
7
19
1.13
1.24
1.66
Alebrijes–b
5
5
8
1.11
1.33
1.39
Ross County–b
6
4
12
1.00
1.23
1.50
Vozdovac–b
4
3
11
0.83
0.67
1.65
Montana–b
0
0
0
—
—
—
Table Updated 6/22/23 b–Team is between seasons
What’s Next
Thursday, June 29th
Green Bay Glory v. Minnesota Aurora (F)
Friday, June 30th
Saturday, July 1st
Roa v. Rosenborg BK (F)
Minnesota United v. Portland Timbers (M)
Minnesota Aurora v. Chicago City SC (F)
Sunday, July 2nd
Aalesund v. Rosenborg (M)
Monday, July 3rd
Tuesday, July 4th
Wednesday, July 5th
Plus tracking results for Gold Cup matches and the impending Women’s World Cup.
Aurora managed to balance their attack again with five different goal scorers (including the usual suspects of Cat Rapp, Mariah Nguyen, Hannah Adler, Maya Hansen, and Tiana Harris). These highlights do an excellent job of showcasing Abby Ostrem and Cat Rapp providing passes so dangerous they come with a surgeon general’s warning.
Lyn Football 2 – 0 Rosenborg (F)
Rosenborg took a third defeat this season, a sign that the Toppserien is much more equal than it has been in the past. Though it was a bit surprising that the loss came to Lynn who is currently just above the relegation zone, a rare occurrence as the TrollKvinner tend to drop points to others competing for the title instead. Perhaps this is a sign that the Toppserien has becomemore competitive, and a more competitive league means more fun for everyone
Deportiva Cuenca 3 – 2 Emelec
Los Bombillos wrapped up their spring season with another defeat. They got two goals back from their early goal by Cuenca, but despite Alejandro Cabeza’s best work, Deportiva came back again and Emelec settled into 13th place.
Arna Bjornar 0 – 5 Rosenborg (F–Cup)
Lyn may just have woken up the sleeping giants in Trondheim. Pouring 5 past the weakened Arna-Bjornar side gave them a much needed boost heading into the quarterfinals. The surprising star of the show: Defender Sara Horte, who notched a defender’s hattrick just a few days after being named to Norway’s World Cup team.
After thumping Racine by ten the last time out, the Aurora might have taken their foot off the gas by falling behind early and only scoring two in the first half. And then came six in a row in the second half. Hannah Adler and Kenzie Langdock each got a brace and the team saw Addison Weichers and Arianna Del Moral get goals off the bench.
News & Notes
Weekly Alex Highlights
It seems that big A has discovered a taste for scoring goals (3 of them). It helps when your team wins the game and you finally get a reason to gloat.
I made a lot of fatherly comments about “if you’re happy with how you played then you can always win,” and “I’m just proud that you played well with your teammates and supported them”. Which led to Alex groaning, “ugggh…fine dad, whatever.” (If only there was professional sassing, you’d be a prodigy.)
International Update
Teams are still warming up for the North American Gold Cup, and while he didn’t get on the field in Nations League finals for Canada, Dayne St. Clair will be at the ready for the second tournament.
Obviously, this comes from IMAGO (but it shows Adamu and Gregoritsch so I’m happy to provide a plug)
Fellow goalkeeper Mark Flekken also stayed on the bench for Holland and so did Mathias Ginter for Germany. Michael Gregoritsch and Phillip Lienhart did well in Austria’s Euro Championship qualifiers, getting a draw against Belgium and a win over with Sweden (they may also have made the final pitch to new Freiburg signee/Gregoritsch’s Austrian strike partner Junior Adamu). Roland Sallai wasn’t able to catch fire against Montenegro but did find the net to seal the win against Lithuana.
Beyond the west, Ritsu Doan got a goal in Japan’s drubbing of El Salvador, and Blongokhule Hlongwane put in a solid 15 minutes in South Africa’s win against Morocco, and Michael Boxall…well…
Standing with Boxy
The worst news that came out of this week of international soccer came from our favorite Minnesotan-Kiwi, Michael Boxall.
In the first half of a match against Qatar (yes, the same Qatar I snarked about all last December), Boxall reported being called a racial slur. When referees did nothing about it, the New Zealand team left the field and abandoned the match.
Qatar officials spent a couple days pretending that nothing happened, then claiming that it was just between two players, then claiming that the player in question (Yusuf Abdurisag) was actually the target of a slur from Boxall. Obviously, I’m not in a place to judge something that happened thousands of miles away, but given that New Zealand walked out when they were winning and that Boxall has never been accused of similar actions in six years within one of the most diverse leagues in the world…I have my doubts.
— Séamas Uinseann Mac Aoḋagáin (@MacAodhagainJ) June 20, 2023
It doesn’t mean much, but we also stand with Boxy.
Player of the Week
As we look to honor often over looked talents, it’s worth saying that Boxy has helped lead the third best defense in MLS’ western conference (which would be even better if it didn’t have the 13th offense in the conference). But setting aside the field, Michael Boxall is imminently worthy of being saluted particularly because, in leading a protest, Michael Boxall did so much more than play a soccer game. He showed the kind of character I hope you boys do too.
Standing
Emelec will get a much needed break after their Copa Sudamericana tie this week and then it’ll be a summer of Minnesota and Rosenborg! (And a summer where Punjab keeps looking over their shoulders)
Team
W
D
L
PPG
GFA
GAA
Punjab–b
12
2
3
2.24
2.29
0.94
Minnesota
16
5
7
1.89
2.39
1.14
Rosenborg
15
6
10
1.65
1.74
0.90
Legon Cities–b
9
7
8
1.42
1.25
1.29
Grenoble–b
15
6
17
1.34
1.16
1.13
Emelec
5
8
7
1.15
1.20
1.20
Freiburg–b
12
7
19
1.13
1.24
1.66
Alebrijes–b
5
5
8
1.11
1.33
1.39
Ross County–b
6
4
12
1.00
1.23
1.50
Vozdovac–b
4
3
11
0.83
0.67
1.65
Montana–b
0
0
0
—
—
—
Table Updated 6/22/23 b–Team is between seasons
What’s Next
Thursday, June 22nd
Friday, June 23rd
Saturday, June 24th
Rosenborg BK v. Asane (F)
Real Salt Lake v. Minnesota United (M)
Bavarian United v. Minnesota Aurora (F)
Sunday, June 25th
Rosenborg v. Sarpsborg 08 (M)
Monday, June 26th
Tuesday, June 27th
Wednesday, June 28th
Emelec v. Danubio (M-Copa Sudamericana)
Plus tracking results for Gold Cup matches and the impending Women’s World Cup.
It seems that Rosenborg’s ladies have found their full stride, four goals in the first half put them far ahead, and coach Steinar Lein chose to solidify the lead after half time. Familiar attackers Anna Joesendal and Emilie Nautnes each got a goal, and back-up goalie Lene Christensen returned for the first time this season with a clean sheet.
Montreal 4 – 0 Minnesota (M)
With your mom having a girls night, we celebrated boys night with thirty minutes of soccer watching. Well, I watched and Alex asked questions and Owen bounced around slamming Anna and Elsa into everyone and everything. Sadly, Anna and Elsa had more fun than the Loons who were over run by Montreal including former Loon/Sassy Librarian Mason Toye. Michael Boxall and Miguel Tapias couldn’t do everything and Montreal’s great passes made them too dangerous to stop. But the Loons attack looked better with Emanuel Reynoso involved (though, it may lead to the return of “hero-ball-starring El Rey”…)
Legon Cities 3 – 2 Samartex
The Royals raced out to a quick lead with Ahmed Rahman and Ebenezer Armegah hitting the net before 10 minutes had passed, the Royals repeatedly taking full advantage of some shaky Samartex defending. With the advantage, Legon was able to absorb a lot of Samartex’s attacks, and when Michael Otou got the third with nine minutes to play, the Royals were safe. (It should be noted that Michael received the most Man of the Match honors in the Bet Pawa league this season: cue the slow clap).
Stabek 2 – 2 Rosenborg (M)
Rosenborg fell behind early (an inverse of Legon’s game) but kept driving forward until Jayden Nelson got the first. The second half showed Rosenborg storming the Stabek goal, but coming up empty handed until Erlend Reitan set up Carlo Holse for a last minute equalizer.
Chicago City SC 1 – 3 Minnesota Aurora (F)
The Aurora gave up another goal, but it didn’t make much difference with Kenzie Langdok, Hannah Adler and Mariah Nguyen finding the net and Tianna Harris continuing to lock down the defense en route to being one of the players of the month in the whole USL-W
Emelec 0 – 0 Gualaceo SC (M)
Yup, I got nothing to say here. I do expect that Emelec won’t be overly disappointed to have the first half of the season end on Sunday. (They’ll have one more group match in the Copa Sudamericana, and a win should get them through to the knock-out stage, but a break would not be a bad thing.)
Minnesota Aurora 5 – 0 Green Bay Glory (F)
Rolling smoke from Canadian wildfires made it unsafe to play outside on Wednesday night, but even under a dome and without the normally raucous fans the Aurora continued to run roughshod over opponents, this time with Cat Rapp notching a brace and the steady defensive line once again pitching a shutout.
News & Notes
Overbearing Parent/Coach Update
Alex Steps up
Alex had another great week at soccer. He ran up and down the field a lot, and continued to love getting in the way of shots, which was convenient because his four man team was dwarfed by a pair of 5 year olds who looked 7 so there was a lot of running to do. And again he got his team’s only goal….but that’s not as much fun as defending. The best thing though: he found several chances to cheer on his team as they ran including little Jack (from Owen’s Pre-school class)
Let’s get Messi
You may remember that I wrote about the delights of watching a World Cup final with you both and seeing one of the greatest players of this generation reach the greatest pinnacle of this sport. Well, that same legendary player has decided to write the last chapter of his story here in the United States, including in Minnesota (eventually).
Messi turned down hundreds of millions from Saudi Arabia (literally the Saudi Arabian government owns four teams…) just for playing, to instead accept hundreds of millions from American companies who will pay him for existing and thereby selling more streaming services, shoes and tickets.
The Loons won’t see him until 2024 at the earliest…assuming he’s willing to play on an icy/sweltering Minnesota pitch in the first place. I’ll continue my internal debate: go watch him, or sell the tickets for much more than they are worth.
International Update
We’ve reached the time in the year where (most) soccer players finally, mercifully, have a break.
Unless you’re really good, in which case you need to play more…but this time for your country!
We don’t have exact names of which players will be going where so here’s a brief overview of possible places to look.
North American players will be gearing up for the Gold Cup, but we’re surprisingly light on those. Dayne St. Clair will likely be hanging around Team Canada’s bench, while Samuel Rogers of Rosenborg could line up again for the US. Kervin Arriaga and Joseph Rosales will look to team up in Honduras’ midfield.
In Europe, we have more players based, but just as many hanging around. Mark Flekken the (now former) Freiburg keeper will be hoping to play in the Nations League semif-finals after start Justin Biljow was smoked by Croatia’s attack). Phillip Leinheart and Michael Gregositch will be ready to go for Austria, and Rolland Sallai will be on hand for Hungary in their Euro Tournament qualifiers, and Mathias Ginter will be the lone Freiburg representing Germany.
Finally, Asian/African teams will simply be getting their work outs in preparing for games ahead with Woo-Yeong Jeong joining South Korea, and Ritsu Doan suiting up for Japan, and Bongokhule Hlongwane aims to help South Africa.
Bet Pawa’s Final Update
And that, as they say, is that.
Medema SC held on to claim the title they were driving for. Their win over Tamale City also doomed the northerners to relegation, when Great Olympics got a big win over Nsoatreman to save their bacon…or fried plantain if you prefer. And unless I’m much mistaken Legon Cities’ 9th place finish equaled their best ever showing.
Player of the Week
As we enter the stage of the season where we only have a few teams playing each week, we’ll be able to reward some players who do extremely well and a few who had good years but weren’t able to be the best player on a given week. This week, it’s time to give an overdue shout out to Tiana Harris. As Alex continues to admire defenders, Ms. Harris is a heckuva role model.
Our Queen T is Captain of the May 2023 @USLWLeague Team of the Month! 👑
The quiet season means we’re not real likely to see much movement in the standings, but with Minnesota and Rosenborg the only two sides still clicking along after this week (sorry for my pessimism Emelec), we should still have the race to pressure Punjab in full swing.
Rosenborg had never lost to Stjorsdal before…but they sure lost here marking an unexpectedly early exit from the League Cup…again.
Partick Thistle 2 – 0 Ross County (Premiership Playoff)
It’s hard to imagine the first leg of Ross County’s do or die playoff game going any worse than it did. They were behind within ten minutes. Teenage defender Dylan Smith committed a foolish foul and was sent off the field (forcing the Stags to play down a man when they needed to score–and putting Smith on the bench for the return leg). Partick’s second goal was utterly predictable and the Stags left a lot for themselves to do on Sunday. (TO BE CONTINUED)
Grenoble 0 – 2 Guingamp (M)
The men of Grenoble wrapped up their season with a pretty disinterested showing at home. The defensive corps rested, Brice Mableu let in an own goal, and Amine Sbai missed a penalty.
Rosenborg BK 2 – 0 Brann (F)
It took a while for Rosenborg to find their footing in the game. But once they did they jumped in head first (sorry, that’s my overly complicated metaphor for the week). Within one minute Emilie Joramo and Synne Hansen both scored to turn the tide decisively toward Trondheim’s favorite daughters.
Barcelona SC 1 – 3 Emelec (M)
As maddeningly flat as Emelec has been this year, they do have a habit of turning up when the moment requires it. Rarely has that been more true than last weekend in the passionate feud with fellow Guayquil side Barcelona, where Emelec ran the show for most of the first sixty minutes, including a stellar penalty stop by Pedro Ortiz. But when Barcelona got a goal, Emelec came right back. Miller Bolanos converted two penalties (albeit one on a rebound) and Samuel Sosa’s stoppage time dagger to steal a win.
Minnesota United 1 – 1 Toronto FC (M)
The Loons also left it late to make their comeback against Toronto FC. With the team relying on substitute Kervin Arriaga’s blast in the 89th minute to get a point from their match, there have to be sincere hopes that the first game time for Emanuel Reynoso this year will start setting up more of an attack for the Loons…goodness knows they need it.
King Faisal 3 – 1 Legon Cities
After arguably their most high profile victory in the club’s history (finally besting Hearts of Oak), the Royals were outmanuevered and totally deflated against an on-life-support King Faisal. Ebenezer Armagah’s consolation goal won’t mean a lot if the team is relegated next weekend.
Rosenborg 4 – 0 HamKam (M)
A lackluster season for Rosenborg looks a lot better now (4-0 victories tend to have that effect). The Trolls looked great with Olaus Jair Skansen getting two goals, Erlend Dahl Reitan looking the best we’ve seen in his new midfield role with two assists, and Canadian youngster Jayden Nelson getting a goal and an assist. Now we just cross our fingers and hope this wasn’t all the offense they can muster for the month of June.
Rochester FC 0 – 1 Minnesota Aurora (F)
Several line-up shifts for Aurora resulted in an unusually low-scoring outing for them as guests as Rochester held them to just one goal. But it came from Iron-Woman Tianna Harris who has two goals, and has played every minute in defense for the still unbeaten (and unscored-on) Aurora.
Ross County 3 – 1 Partick Thistle (Premiership Playoff)
I do not recommend watching the most vital game of a team’s season in the boiling heat and oppressive crowds that flocked our neighborhood party (Grand Ol’ Day). With Thistle in front and an away goal advantage at half-time I was feeling totally doomed. And then we saw the most remarkable thing…
A suitably miraculous depiction of County’s game (from the Economist)
County came back…all the way back. Back enough to tie the game and send it to penalty kicks (as, apparently the away goal rule was conveniently chucked just in time for County’s moment of need). Yan Dandha got the first, Simon Murray the second and George Harmon’s miracle in stoppage time saved the season. But not my stress levels.
After stoppage time clangers and cringes, it went to Penalty Kicks, and though County had an early advantage, the game went through seven rounds (including goals for Dandha, Murray and Harmon) before Ross Laidlaw stopped his second pk of the shoot out and Josh Sims converted his to win the day.
LSK Kvinner 1 – 2 Rosenborg (F)
Somewhere your great-great-grandma Synne might be wondering why we’re shouting her name with such glee, but when Synne Hansen (no relation to our family…I think) scores twice more to get a win over arguably the greatest rival Rosenborg has in the Toppserien, well, Bra, Synne! Bra!!
Emelec 1 – 1 Guarani (M-Confederation Cup)
It was not ideal to drop points at home, but Emelec still had a fine showing against the Paraguayan side. Diego Garcia made a great slashing shot from outside the box to open the scoring, but the defense was caught out by a cleverly quick free kick. (Pedro Ortiz can’t beat them all)
Minnesota Aurora 6 – 1 Chicago Dutch Lions (F)
The Aurora remain unbeaten, but finally conceded a goal this season. Hannah Adler picked up the team’s second hat trick of the season, and Mariah Nguyen picked up a brace with some great footwork.
News & Notes
“STOPPING GOALS!”
Alex, in better shape than me
I got to watch Alex playing “competitive” soccer for the first time (note that in this case, “competitive” means wildly chaotic and unconventional mob ball with frequent water breaks.) He got transferred part way through the game when his first team was far ahead (they also had 5 players to the other side’s three), but Alex took it in stride and made it his mission to get between any shot and goal, he seemed to love running down the field to do exactly that. Afterwards, even though he had also given a beautiful run for the losing side’s only goal, he said he really liked stopping goals.
I can relate, as this week saw my return to the competitive pitch for the first time since I was seven. Playing against my students (25 years younger than me) I was grateful to get in the way and stop one student…just don’t ask me to head anything…another chance, another whiff.
Der Umzug
Just as I can set my calendar by the return and departure of Canadian Geese in their beautiful flying V, I can reliably expect that after the season wraps, Freiburg will have to say sincere farewells to talented players who are being picked up by more prestigious (and wealthier) clubs. This year is no different. Already in the week since the team played, goalie Mark Flekken is bound for Brentford in the Premier League where he seems likely to join Kevin Schade (already on the cusp of making his loan permanent
Ross County seems to have opted for a less is more approach with lots of blue and a little white striping though I appreciate that they did it in Gaelic. Meanwhile, I appreciate the stylish risk that Grenoble has adopted, any thing Mountainy is right up my alley.
Bet Pawa Update
Finally we have some clarity in Ghana’s Bet Pawa league as we head into the final match.
The title will either go to Medeama SC or Bechem United (if Bechem beats third place Aduana and Medeama loses a shocker to Tamale City).
But Tamale has some serious motivation of their own as they are one of seven teams facing relegation. They have the goal difference advantage (for now) but lopsided results could let both Great Olympics and King Faisal pass them up. Meanwhile, Legon faces Smartex knowing that a win will see them safely through. (Especially as they have a better goal difference than the three teams above them in the escape from doom: Accra Lions, Karela United, and Hearts of Oak–all of whom also are deseprate for a win). But a loss and Both Olympics and Tamale could pass them by.
Player of the Week
Laidlaw Rules (The Scotsman)
Unlike last week there are a great many candidates to choose from. Hanna Adler’s hat-trick, Synne Hansen’s offensive jolt, Tianna Harris’ tremendous defense, Erlend Reitan and Jadyn Nelson’s combination play, Pedro Ortiz’s saves. But we’ll go with someone who had a great game and made a crucial contribution to the context of the match: Ross Laidlaw, whose two Penalty saves rescued Ross County when they needed it most.
Standing
Well, our teams came back with aplomb, and we got to see Aurora’s continued strength pushing them closer to that 2.00 Points Per Game mark that should confirm a strong challenge to Punjab’s leadership. Rosenborg isn’t far behind, despite some frequent scuffles a few rounds with the same kind of offense could make this year’s race for the cup quite compelling. Meanwhile Grenoble and County hit the end of their seasons in some solid but not superlative settings.
Emelec is in an odd spot, floundering in the league but competitive in the confederation cup. Few things show that better than making a trip to Buenos Aires and walking out with points despite an absolutely staggering gaffe to give Huracan an early goal. But they fought back with a great volley from Alejandro Cabeza on Bryan Carabali’s cross and Miller Bolanos’ late goal saved the day. But the last fifteen minutes were extra painful, especially for Cabeza who went from winning the match to being sent off after a pair of VAR checks found him both offside and aggressive with the elbows.
Valenciennes 1 – 0 Grenoble (M)
The Alpiners did a fine job of building up out of the back and connecting their attack, but couldn’t get anything across the goal line.
Frankfurt 2 – 1 Freiburg
Freiburg dropped only their second game to teams outside the top 4. Frankfurt came in motivated for a short at the Europa Conference League if they got a strong result and Leverkusen didn’t but this wasn’t enough.
Valerenga 3 – 1Rosenborg BK (F)
The top of the Toppserien turned into a less competitive match than you might expect with the Oslo side beating our girls from Trondheim, and using a five player midfield to overwhelm Rosenborg. It’s already a nine point gap between the top two teams who won’t meet again until November.
Partizan Belgrade 2 – 1 Vozdovac
The Red Dragons wrapped up their season with a predictable loss to one of the bigger Belgrade clubs. Partizan will have to settle for playoffs into the Europa Conference league, but at least Vozdovac don’t serve as a front for facists….yeah, I said it.
Minnesota 1 – 1 Real Salt Lake (M)
The Loons got some help from Real Salt Lake with an own goal only moments after Salt Lake took the lead. Again, they should feel unlucky as they had enough quality to probably score twice on their own, rather than relying on good fortune just to snatch a draw. Bongokhule Hlongwane was dangerous again, Will Trapp and Hasani Dotson boosted the midfield, and Minnesota rejoiced at the news that Emanuel Reynoso was nearing match fitness again.
Minnesota 4 – 0 Chicago Dutch Lions (F)
The Aurora came out with a fury in Chicago, pestering the goal until Kennedy Faulknor notched a gorgeous goal from a long distance shot. From there Maya Hansen and Cat Rapp continued their impressive double act to add another couple goals and put Minnesota in position to run away with their USL-W division again.
Vfl Wolfsburg 2 – 1 SC Freiburg (F)
Wolfsburg continued to be Freiburg’s bete-noir with another win at the griffin’s expense. Judith Steinert got a consolation goal, and the defense again showed some strong skills to keep things pretty close, as the Frauen of the Black Forest settled in their comfortable 6th place position.
Kilmarnock 3 – 1 Ross County
County needed a victory to ensure they’d stay up, there was pressure and intensity galore. And Kilmarnock scored. Then Alex Iacovitti committed a penalty that Kilmarnock converted. With a thoroughly deflated feeling, County did grab a consolation goal through Yan Dhanda’s penalty, but gave another one up shortly after. So, the loss was settled.
Legon Cities 1 – 0 Hearts of Oak
While Hearts of Oak has long been a dominant force in Ghanaian soccer, the upstarts of Legon have often seemed like the little brothers in the greater Accra landscape. But Legon looked great throughout the game, pushing Hearts of Oak around until Kofi Kordzi’s goal slipped through (it was probably the least likely to go in in). The “Phobians” grew into the match in the second half, but Legon’s defense held firm for their first ever win against one of the local league’s giants. (To be fair, Hearts have dropped five of their last six, so it’s maybe not that shocking, but a win is always welcome).
Le Puy Foot 1 – 1 Grenoble Foot (F)
Les Iseroises had a lot of confidence coming into play Le Puy on an excellent winning streak and facing a team who trailed in the table and had lost by two in their prior meeting. But Le Puy did well, the Grenoble side was frustrated and in the end it was only a point…a very…very painful point (see note below)
Brann 3 – 1 Rosenborg (M)
The Trollguter lost again as Carlo Holse has not been able to find the attacking vim he had in the past and Rosenborg’s anemic offense has them down in the unfamiliar territory of 11th place (the same rank as their goals for). This time, only a penalty saved them from getting blanked.
Emelec 0 – 0 Guayaquil City (M)
An unremarkable Guayaquil face off for Emelec has left the side down just one point off the absolute bottom of the table…yeesh.
Austin FC 2 – 1 Minnesota United (M)
Down in the heart of Texas, the Loons have had some strong showings and some suspect ones. They held their own against Austin and (again) could feel unlucky not to have more balls bounce their way (their expected goals were 3, their total goals were 1…that’s unfortunate. Mender Garcia did do an excellent job setting up Joseph Rosales equalizer, but for the first time in a while the defense looked taxed and unable to keep up.
Minnesota Aurora 10 – 0 RKC FC (F)
Honestly, I was a little frustrated preparing for this because I could not figure out RKC FC’s alphabet soup of a name. Turns out the team is from Racine (R) in Kenosha County (KC) and it is a football club (FC). They also have yet to win this season, and facing last year’s finalists…they were not in a good position to change that. Maya Hansen got a hat trick with the help of Cat Rapp’s assists and took over as the club’s all-time leading scorer (though that is only a two year record)
News & Notes
So…how did it go?
Last time we talked through all the permutations and possibilities. Now things are settled, and here’s where we stand
Grenoble: The men have one last game left, but are firmly grounded in the mid table. I thought the ladies were firmly placed in the mid-table, but ended up getting relegated due to a change in the French leagues set-up (see next news).
Vozdovac: The dragons were in the unusual position of knowing as soon as they landed in the top half of the table that they weren’t going to be relegated and they had no chance of topping the league. Still, it was more fun than being constantly afraid.
Freiburg: the women were settled in the mid-table, but the men had an outside chance to join the top sides going to the prestigious Champions’ League. But Eintracht Frankfurt’s victory spoiled those plans and the Griffins are going back to the Europa League (where they looked great until running in to Juventus).
Ross County: The good news, the Staggies aren’t relegated! Bad news…yet…After their loss County will have to take a two leg tie against Partick Thistle to keep their spot in the Premiership.
Wait, wait…what happened to the Grenoble ladies?
I’ll be honest, I was stumped when the Grenoble social media accounts were upset at a 1-1 draw to end the season against Le Puy. Because (silly me) I had neglected to read a memo from the French Football Federation a year ago announcing a change to the league. Instead of two divisions in Ligue 2, there will be only one next year. Grenoble was right on the cusp of qualifying for the redesigned Ligue 2…but the draw left them level with Albi Marsac…but ahead on goals…which didn’t matter as much as the fact that back in September and December they lost to Albi by a total of 3-0.
So…having a better goal difference, a similar offense, a better defense, and a run of six unbeaten…Grenoble is going down to Ligue 3 because of two games in the last calendar year.
Sometimes the rules around this game are dumb. But we can make the best of the bad situation and hope that Grenoble comes out to win Ligue 3 and jump up a level next year.
Bet Pawa Update
The impossible to expect Bet Pawa league in Ghana is two matches away from it’s conclusion and things are becoming much clearer.
Only three teams can win the title (down from 12 two weeks ago), Medeama SC is in the lead with Aduana Stars and Bechem United needing things to break their way. The relegation battle is still wild. Everyone from sixth place Berekum Chelsea down to King Faisal could still be knocked out (including the Royals of Legon). Things should be clearer after the coming weekend when King Faisal must win against the Royals to have a chance of survival, but a win for Legon might make them safe (provided one team ranked 14-16 also loses)
Player of the Week
Maya Hansen has had one heck of a run this past week. With five goals in two matches this week, she’s been vital in making Aurora the familiar indomitable selves. The question may not be: can they win, the question may be “who is going to stop them?”
Standing
Oof , that was a rough…rough…ROUGH week. There were 15 matches, and our favorite teams got 3 wins, 3 draws and 9 defeats. That’s 10 points from a possible 45. If not for Maya Hansen’s dominance and a superb showing by Legon this would have been utterly miserable.
Team
W
D
L
PPG
GFA
GAA
Punjab–b
12
2
3
2.24
2.29
0.94
Rosenborg
10
5
5
1.75
1.50
0.70
Minnesota
8
3
6
1.59
1.35
1.29
Grenoble
15
5
15
1.43
1.23
1.11
Legon Cities
7
7
7
1.33
1.19
1.24
Freiburg
12
7
17
1.19
1.22
1.67
Emelec
4
4
6
1.14
1.14
1.21
Alebrijes–b
5
5
8
1.11
1.33
1.39
Ross County
5
4
10
1.00
1.21
1.42
Vozdovac
4
3
10
0.88
0.65
1.65
Montana–b
0
0
0
—
—
—
Table Updated 5/25/22 b–Team is between seasons
What’s Next
Thursday, June 1st
Stojorsdals Blink v. Rosenborg (M)
Partick Thistle v. Ross County (Premiership Playoff)
Friday, June 2nd
Grenoble v. Guingamp (M)
Saturday, June 3rd
Rosenborg BK v. Brann (F)
Barcelona SC v. Emelec (M)
Minnesota v. Toronto FC (M)
Sunday, June 4th
King Faisal v. Legon Cities
Rosenborg v. HamKam (M)
Rochester FC v. Minnesota (F)
Ross County v. Partick Thistle (Premiership Playoff)
It was not a great start for the Freiburg frauen, but Janina Minge struck an excellent header before the half time whistle to give Freiburg something to dream about. Then Wolfburg did a lot of Wolfburg things all throughout the second half….but thanks for the 20+ minutes of dreaming Janina
Grenoble 1 – 1 Rodez (M)
While Rodez got the first goal, 22 year-old midfielder Baptiste Isola got the equalizer and the Grenoble defensive juggernaut of Mathys Tourraine and Adrien Monfray contained the action there after.
Freiburg 2 – 0 Wolfsburg (M)
Der Herr von Freiburg got revenge on Wolfsburg the day after the cup final. Roland Sallai delivered both assists, and Nils Peterson scored an emotionally charged goal in the strong showing from Freiburg continuing to put pressure on opponents to seal their spot in Europe.
Motherwell 1 – 0 Ross County
The Staggies were in fine shape throughout the match, holding off a Motherwell side that’s the class of the relegation league. Then a late red card and an ugly penalty gave Motherwell the opening they needed to take all three points and arrest the Ross County momentum.
Bechem United 2 – 0 Legon Cities
Bechem United’s two strikes in the first half were more than William Essu could handle. We’ll see how Legon does with the pressure going forward
Universidad Catolica 3 – 2 Emelec
Los Bomillos have not had their usual swagger this spring, as again is evidenced by the penalty ceded to Universidad early on. From there, chasing the matchdid not work out well, and though Alejandro Cabeza and Jhon Sanchez got consolations later on, it wasn’t particularly close.
Portland Timbers 0 – 1 Minnesota (M)
Add another verse to the legend of Bongokhule Hlongwane! Most of this match featured strong defense (thanks again Michael Boxall) and midfield action limiting quality chances. It took until stoppage time to get a goal on the board, and when it came it came from the man who has been at the center of the action for seemingly months: The one they call Bongi.
SC Freiburg 1 – 3 FC Koln (F)
Die Frauen had a hard go of it against Koln (after having an unpleasant experience in Koln during the final earlier in the week). Falling behind quickly led to a four player swap out at half time. And while that did again reward one of our favorite players in Hasret Kayici (who scored in her appearance), it was an underwhelming outing to say the least.
Rosenborg 6 – 0 Avaldsnes (F)
Sometimes, it seems like Rosenborg is working overtime to keep up with the growing intensity of the Toppseiren. Sometimes, it looks like they’re toying with kids. This was a time to toy with others. The Jo-Jos (which is a nickname that looks like a Trader Joe’s cookie, but would be pronounced like one of your favorite spinning toys), Emilie Joramo and Anna Joesendal each scored, and there was a brace from defender Sara Horte to close out the scoring (which seems a little unfair as Horte is approximately 12 feet taller than everyone else…okay that’s a bad approximation, but I’m serious, she dominated).
Vozdovac 1 – 1 Cukaricki
This was a wild one. The opening goal for Cukaricki wasn’t terribly shocking, but then came the second half. It started two goals awarded, and then drawn back for very narrow offsides calls. A series of aggressive tackles led to a red card for Cukaricki (that even I as a Vozdovac supporter, don’t fully believe). And then came a 90th minute equalizer from Danilo Teodorovic that slipped through the other side’s packed back line. Until the final touch: an empty net opportunity for Vozdovac….that they whiffed on.
The score doesn’t tell the whole story.
Grenoble Foot 3 – 1 Yzeure Allier (F)
Melanie Charber and Florsie Joseph struck again to let les Iserois close out their home schedule with a strong win. That makes it 5 in a row for the ladies of the mountains, and with one match left, they can hold their heads high however it turns out
Houston Dynamo 4 – 0 Minnesota United (M-Cup)
The Loons had an ugly outing in the last sixteen of the US Open Cup. After beating Philadelphia in a thrilling match, going to Houston might have been a let down, but maybe not a Kervin-Arriaga-gets-a-first-half-red-card-and-the-team-is-too-short-handed-to-stop-Houston’s attack, sized let down.
Trygg Lade 0 – 1 Rosenborg (M–Cup)
Agon Sadiku struck early and Rosenborg had everything they needed to beat the little neighbor kids from down the road in Trondhiem. Would have been nice if they’d taught that to the bigger kids (including Uncle Matt) who whooped me in every competition imaginable.
Ross County 3 – 3 St. Johnstone
It sure seemed like Ross County saw how wild Vozdovac’s game got and promptly decided, “hey, hold my dram”. The match started out with a St. Johnstone taking advantage of some miscues and opening up a two goal lead. When suddenly, shockingly, County roared back. A penalty of their own opened the scoring, then Jordan White equalized and then, in the 90th minute, Jack Baldwin got the glorious go-ahead goal for joyous celebrations from the Jail End supporters, and then…after five minutes of stoppage time, St. Johnstone leveled it up again!
Minnesota Aurora 5 – 0 Rochester FC (F)
This was much more comfortable than the wildness of Dingwall earlier in the day. Cat Rapp found the net twice and Maya Hansen continued to show strong form at the top of the attack. Rochester’s new to this, but it was a pretty impressive day none the less.
News & Notes
Our Boy is a Number 10!
After his first soccer practice, Alex came home with a number 10 jersey. I immediately imagined him becoming the American Messi, or better still an American Attaquaye. In reality, he grabbed a shirt from a pile, and he was much happier revealing his shin guards than anything else. So, everybody wins. (He also just graduated from Pre-school, or as he put it “I’m going to Kindergarten and then on and on and on and on”).
Griz Soccer Schedule
Most teams just look at the schedule to see when they play their fiercest rivals, and how the sequence of matches could play out. But college sports are a special (strange) beast. In addition to playing the teams in your league (or conference) you have to fill out your schedule by playing other sides. So a team like Montana, which consistently challenges for the top of the conference can go one of three routes: book a bunch of fairly easy games to have an even better record and show off, book a bunch of hard games against teams to raise your level, or mix the two approaches together.
Coach Chris Citowicki consistently chooses the third option, but has leaned more and more on the harder games. To wit, this year sees the Griz taking on some of the top teams in the Big Ten conference (which actually has like 14 members, but…I digress). This season the Griz will host both Ohio State and the University of Maryland, and go on the road against Oregon State and Oklahoma. There are also matches in the blood feud against North Dakota schools (our dinosaur sites are better than your dinosaur sites!) and the Brawl of the Wild substitute against MSU-Billings near the end of August.
Big news of the day, Part II: You can get your season tickets today!
— Montana Griz Soccer 🐻⚽️ (@MontanaGrizSOC) May 18, 2023
Vielen Dank, Nils!
Nils Peterson is something of a cult hero in Freiburg. He has an uncanny knack for scoring vital goals in the limited time he spends on the pitch. But Peterson’s decided to retire at the end of the season. So, in the final home match of this season, playing in front of the fans who love him, scoring one more time, was a special way to end a career. We only started watching comparatively recently, but we can’t help but agree: thank you Nils!
Down to the wire
As May comes to a close, so too do most of the leagues we follow. This weekend will see the end of the Bundesliga and French Ligue-2s (both for men and women), the Scottish Premiership, and Serbian Premier League. There’s not a lot of drama in these for our sides as both Grenoble teams, and Vozdovac are set for solid but not superb mid-table finishes. Freiburg is guaranteed more European football next year, but doesn’t know yet if they’ll be in the top dog Champion’s League or the Best of the Rest Europa League (given how they performed against the top four in Germany and Juventus, another year in the Europa league feels right). The greatest drama lies in Dingwall, where the Staggies will face Kilmarnock, and after the action on Wednesday, it will mean that a Staggies win will see them safe and Killie into the relegation playoff. A draw or a loss by itself would put County in the relegation playoffs. And a loss coupled with a Dundee United win over Motherwell might (depending on goal totals) push County down to the second tier of Scottish soccer.
The Tightest League no one is talking about
While things are pretty calm in the leagues that end this weekend, that’s not he case in Ghana’s Bet Pawa Premier League. Coming into this weekend’s slate of games, 16 of 18 teams were still at risk of relegation, and 12 teams were still in mathematical contention for the title….which means seven teams could have either won or been knocked out with a month to play. (These numbers will adjust a bit with each week, so we’ll keep an eye on it to see if the drama holds to the very end)
UPDATE: After this weekend’s matches, 9 teams can win the league (not Legon *tear*), and 14 teams can join Kotoku Royals in going down (including the Royals *eep*)…3 matches to go!
Player of the Week
Anna Josensdal was in complete control for Rosenborg this weekend. Though the Kvinner ran out winners with a lot of excellent performances, Josensdal running the show from midfield was a huge factor (and the two goals didn’t hurt either).
Standing
I’m sneaking in this writing after everyone else has gone to bed…tabulating points per game seems a little farther than I’m willing to go…this will be updated in the morning.
Okay, Update time: With another win, the ladies of Grenoble have kept the good times rollingand moved themselves comfortably into fourth place for the moment. The United Minnesota force of the Loons and Aurora nearly caught up with Rosenborg, but then the cup ties happened and the Trolls inched up closer to Punjab.
Freiburg’s had a fabulous season, but it’s worth noting one key difference between them and the four teams that are ahead of them in the Bundesliga. As good as Freiburg has been they have only gotten 3 points of a possible 18 against the teams that are ahead of them (that’s one win, zero draws and seven losses). I’m not sure what will get Freiburg up to the top tier, but it will for sure need it.
Dundee United 1 – 3 Ross County
Jordan White hasn’t been the most dominant striker this season, but he did everything he needed to do to boost county off the foot of the table. His hattrick was a huge pendulum shift to knock Dundee down below them. It is by no means over, but that’s a big help to County’s cause.
Bodo/Glimt 3 – 2 Rosenborg (M)
Rosenborg was left continuously chasing this match as their defense. After giving up two goals in the first four matches, Samuel Rogers and his partners in the backline three have given up eight in the last three. Midfielder Edvard Tagseth still put together his best match of the season with both of the assists, but Rosenborg’s going to need to sort out the defense to get back on track this year.
Backa Topola 2 – 0 Vozdovac
Vozdovac looked strong until the final 15 minutes when Topola notched both their goals, and the Dragons could only sigh and accept their continued slide to the bottom of end of the championship division.
Metz 1 – 0 Grenoble (M)
Metz has excelled this year and is trying doggedly to keep themselves in contention for a promotion, this was the kind of win they needed to confirm their position, it’s a shame that it came at the expense of Grenoble, but so it goes.
Sporting KC 3 – 0 Minnesota (M)
The friendliest rivalry in soccer may not be quite as friendly in future after the lowest ranked side in the Western Conference smacked the Loons around in Kansas City, but that’s where we are. Looking around, hoping that something gets better before it gets worse.
MSV Duisburg 1 – 1 SC Freiburg (F)
Riola Xhemaili made an instant impact after she came on as a second half substitute, notching her 3rd goal of the campaign. But a poorly timed foul gave Duisburg a penalty and Freiburg had to share the spoils.
Brann 1 – 4 Rosenborg (F)
Emilie Nautnes scored within four minutes and Anna Josenesdal notched two goals (including one posted below) as The Trolljenta got back to their winning ways in Bergen. They are still only six points off the top of the table despite a lackluster few weeks.
Miller Bolanos returned and almost immediately scored! That’s the good news. The bad news is that Samuel Sosa’s foolish red card at the end of the first half opened the door for Quito to equalize making it seven straight league games without a win for los bombillos.
Rosenborg 1 – 0 FK Haugesund (M)
The menfolk of Trondheim also got back to winning with this result. Markus Henriksen was the most dangerous defender setting up almost every attack RBK had and providing sterling defense, which they needed. Despite being up a man for the last sixty minutes of the match, the Rosenborg attack continues to struggle, but did get an assist from 16 year old Sverre Halseth Nypan..who, and I can’t stress this enough: is 16 years OLD!
Minnesota 1 – 0 Houston Dynamo
The Loons got their first home win of the year just last night. It was a long time coming, but it came with both common sights (Miguel Tapias, Michael Boxall, and Kemar Lawrence playing strong defense) and strong trends (great work in space by Bongokhule Hlongwane, and all around presence by Dayne St. Clair).
News & Notes
All aboard the youth sports train
Alex now has three athletic activities a week booked up and ready to roll. There’s swimming lesson Saturday’s, Soccer Sundays, and T-Ball Mondays (Go Purple Caribou). So far your favorite position seems to be: “doing things” as evidenced by the rugby scrum for every t-ball grounder (which is to say, every t-ball hit). Owen was too young to get signed up this year, but does ask constantly if it’s his turn yet. So…it begins, and I likely won’t have a free moment for a good while to come.
Women’s Endings and Beginnings
Freiburg plays for the German Cup in a few hours, facing off against European giant side, Wolfsburg. They are underdogs, but they seem to thrive in that role, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed. Grenoble will play their final home match of the season this weekend, having escaped danger of relegation. And Minnesota Aurora will kick off their season this weekend including dual Aurora and Griz Keeper Bayliss Flynn, while the Griz will get their first peek at the fall schedule, while celebrating the players who recently got their degrees!
— Montana Griz Soccer 🐻⚽️ (@MontanaGrizSOC) May 13, 2023
Player of the Week
I try not to only pick goal scorers, but when you get a hat trick in the most important game of the season so far, you have to be player of the week. Kudos to you Jordan White!
Standings
A rough week for Freiburg sees them slide down the table (even though our table doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot…I mean, if you finish 8th here on a random blog competition, but still qualify for the biggest leagues in Europe, you’re probably doing all right). But County’s big win boosts them farther away from Vozdovac…though again, beating Vozdovac doesn’t keep them in the top flight of Scotland…though I might petition otherwise.
Two losses at home to the same team in the same week. I try not to loathe anyone but man Leipzig makes it tempting…like the Yankees of German Fusball.
Ross County 2 – 0 Livingston
The Stags took their destiny by the horns (If you’ll forgive the pun) in a big win to kick off the relegation group against comfortably mid table Livingston. Yan Dhanda returned for his second match in nine weeks with two assists, including two great assists on superb crosses (Alex Iacovitti’s finish was particularly satisfying). Look out, County isn’t out of it yet! (Beating Dundee next week would be a big help)
Rosenborg 1 – 3 Valerenga (M)
A makeshift back line (absent Erlend Reitan) couldn’t give Rosenborg enough support, and a foolish foul by Andre Hansen sealed the team’s fate.
Paris FC 1 – 0 Grenoble (M)
The Alpiner’s defense finally cracked, and as the offense was unable to get a shot on goal, there wasn’t enough there to do anything but accept defeat.
Vancouver 3 – 2 Minnesota
The Loons were better at creating chances and threatening goal than they have been the last few matches, but it came at a cost of the defense giving more room and allowing the Whitecaps to capitalize.
SC Freiburg 1 – 1 Werder Bremen (F)
Lisa Kolb has made most of her appearances off the bench this season, as the Austrian works to establish herself as a top tier of the Griffins’ attack. She absolutely showed why she belongs at the tip of the attack creating a lot of danger with both passes and headers and finally setting up the vital equalizer.
Legon Cities 3 – 2 Nsoatreman
The Royals made the most of their best half in months. They haven’t notched three goals in one game since February, with strikers Samuel Armah and Ahmed Rahman notching goals, and Eric Bonsu cracking a gorgeous corner kick (or so I’ve been told as I can’t find video). The win it came at a great time. With matches against two top 5 teams in the next two weeks, any result would be a huge help.
The top of the Toppserien was too close to call in Trondheim. it was a little surprising that each team only made 1 substitute, we hope there’s a little more strategy in the next match-up.
Cumbaya 0 – 0 Emelec (M)
I’ve found something to say about other nil-nils but I’ve got nothing here.
Nimes Metropole Gard 0 – 6 Grenoble Foot (F)
That’s three at a trot for Grenoble’s ladies. Granted Nimes has only gotten 8 points this season, and they came in having allowed almost 70 more goals than they scored, but a win is a win and Melanie Chabrier’s brace offered a big addition to the cause from a less frequent source of offense (Claudia Fabre and Chelsea Supris, a bit more expected)
Red Star is a dangerous team in any competition, and this was no different. Even with homefield advantage, Vozdovac couldn’t find a way through…but that’s practically expected at this point.
Minnesota 3 – 3 Philadelphia (M-Cup–Loons advance on penalties 7-6)
Philadelphia has put together several years as one of the best teams in MLS, and while they rotated a lot of players out of the mid-week match, they took it seriously. But so did Minnesota, as Bongokhule Hlongwane continued his excellently aggressive approach with an assist and a goal within five minutes to give them a great lead. But then, fellow substitute Kai Wagner helped equalize deep in stoppage time to force overtime. Then Bongi did it again, with a second goal…and then Wagner did it again…and we ended up in a penalty shoot out. It took 8 penalties to decide it, when finally Kai Wagner was stopped to end the game, courtesy of Clint Irwin (who just last year was mockingly named “Old Dutch” when he was in goal for a different team)
News & Notes
El Rey in happier times
Return of the King
Emanuel Reynoso is back in Minnesota. The team has managed to hold their own without him, but as a dynamic playmaker it could be really helpful. Of course…letting a malcontent midfielder run the show while players who want to be there twiddle their thumbs…could be seriously harmful.
Irresponsible conjecture
We said hi to an old friend during the county game, former Punjab talisman Kurtis Guthrie who made a brief substitute cameo before getting a red card.
Kurtis hasn’t had a great season in Scotland, but Footmob ranks him at 6.1 per game…just as good as County’s strikers this season.
So…if Punjab’s best striker last season would make the grade as County’s best too…maybe Luka Macjen or Juan Mera or just maybe Chencho Gyeltsen…might look good in Dingwall…LET THE RUMOR MONGERING BEGIN!!!
Beograd Jak
Serbia has been rocked by tragedy the last two weeks. People have used a variety of guns to shoot groups of people without any clear reason.
To be honest, there is no reason that could justify these senseless killings. We see them far too often here in the US, but, despite Serbia’s fondness for guns, it rarely happens there. So the acts, and the victims shocked many.
So, Monday Vozdovac took the field and stood in silence, even though it was a marquee match against front running Red Star. Players advocated for change by wearing shirts that read:
The dragon’s heart is sad these days because something ugly is happening in our Serbia.
Nine lives were extinguished one day, and eight were lost the next day too.
We have nothing left but to ask our neighbors to love even more.
Let’s all fight for a better tomorrow, let’s create a more beautiful Serbia for children!
Kudos to them
This is my best attempt to clean up what Google identified as Bosnian but I’m pretty sure was Croatian.
I have read about questions regarding the government’s use of strict laws and endorsements from public figures (like soccer clubs) to push an agenda. Frankly, I’m not inclined to doubt people’s intentions. Vozdovac saw pain and (along with Red Star) spoke out to comfort their supporters.
My hearts are with the families and friends of the victims in Serbia, and my voice is raised along with Vozdovac.
Bongi Unleashed (from Star Tribune)
Player of the Week
It seemed like pretty slim pickings for best player of the week. Only three sides (County, Legon, and Grenoble’s Ladies side) managed to get wins, but they all did it with a degree of difficulty: relegation staring down the sides in Scotland and Ghana and a road trip for the French. While Yan Dhanda’s distribution and Eric Bonsu’s delivery and Melanie Charbier’s breakthrough were all positives, it’s hard to overlook the massive positive that was Bongokhule Hlongwane’s sterling performance in a knock out cup game. I’ll also hope that not recognizing County and Legon encourages them to keep it up and earn plaudits in future weeks.
Standings
There’s only one change in the standings this week, with County’s big win pushing them up off the bottom of the table (for now). Legon and Grenoble also got closer to Minnesota and Rosenborg, but the gap between those four and Punjab just seems to be growing.
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MacKenzie's Boot Room 