Results & Recaps
Rosenborg BK 7 – 1Arna Bjornar [F]
Rosenborg had all the flow in this game, dominating from whistle to whistle. Lisa Marie Utland led off, and Julie Blakstad and Sarah Kanutte Forness added a pair a piece. We even got a closer sense of Norway’s : Blakstad, Bragstad and Bronstad.
Grenoble Foot 2 – 0 Nimes Metropole Gard [F]
The ladies of the Alps continued their strong opening weeks of the campaign, surging to a four way tie atop their half of Ligue 2. It was Andrea Compper’s show on Saturday, with a pair of goals to win going away.
FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1 – 5 SC Freiburg [F]
To complete the clean sweep of our women’s European leagues, Freiburg ceded an early goal on a strong attack. And then, they struck back. It was Hasret Kayicki’s hat trick that set the tone of consistently capitalizing on Jena’s defensive lapses and the ladies of Breigsau never looked back.
Minnesota United 1 – 3 Colorado
Despite an early goal from Adrien Hounou and a man advantage in the second half, the Loons couldn’t get a point at home. They might explain it away with a complaint that many top talents were away on international duty. But another explanation is that Minnesota just isn’t that good.
Northern Colorado Bears 1 – 0 Montana Grizzlies
The Griz dropped a game to their mascot match in Big Sky Conference Play. Greely has been a haunting locale for the Griz, going winless there in the last 12 years (back when Camilla Xu was in second grade). For the first time in a while, the Griz defenders were second best, with the Bears pounding the net, and the Griz limited to 3 shots on target.
Alebrijes 2 – 2 Jaibos
Again, the Oaxacans got themseleves got into a tough situation falling behind by two goals in the first half. To be fair, after the utterly befuddled defending, two goals was a gift. But a pair of penalties (one of which led to the ejection of Jaibos’ keeper) gave them enough life to get the late equalizer courtesy of Julio Cesar Cruz.
News & Notes
Around the World in a Couple Hot seconds
Several players from our favorite sides made appearances in international duty this last weekend: here’s a quick snapshot of how they fared.
Most of our action happened in Europe, and it turned out pretty darn well. Vozdovac’s striker Justas Lascikas got a goal in Lithuania’s win over Bulgaria (it was also Lithuania’s first points in seven qualifying matches). The Loon’s Robin Lod factored in Finland’s win over Kazakhstan, but neither he nor club/country teammate Jukka Raitalta could stop the loss to Ukraine (leaving the Finns one point out of qualification position with two to play). Freiburg’s Ermedin Demirovic was a substitute for Bosnia against the same teams to no avail (B&H is two points back with two to play). But the match highlight was probably Roland Sallai who got the opening goal in Wembly stadium against the mighty England national team. That goal set up a draw to end England’s 12 year winning streak in competitive home games. The point also kept Hungary alive (if only mathematically)
Meanwhile in Africa, Romain Metanire was on the field for both legs of the matches Madagascar split with DR Congo, but their hopes of another Cinderella story at Qatar 2022 are effectively over. Grenoble’s David Hennen played the first half in Togo’s draw against Congo (just the Regular Republic variety) in similar academic matches. While Emelec had native son Joao Rojas came on twice for Ecuador’s legendary Enner Valencia in both the win over Bolivia and the loss to Venezuela.
And in friendly matches: Michael Boxall helped the Kiwis to a sweep of their games (against Bahrain and Curacao, but still).
That didn’t last long…
Somehow, after all the praise we heaped on Claire Howard, Camilla Xu took one of her predecessor’s records while still in her freshman season. By keeping Northern Colorado off the board for the first 38 minutes, Xu set a new program record with 703 scoreless minutes. Breaking a seemingly massive streak. Then, of course, Northern Colorado broke the streak 2 minutes later…sigh.
Player of the Week
While Sallai and Lascikas can be proud of their contributions to their countries, this was a ladies week and the woman at the center of a European sweep was Hasret Kayicki. Her hat trick and consistent leadership has buoyed Freiburg during an up and down season..and even if it means that she like Klara Buhl before her, leaves Freiburg for greener pastures/bank accounts, it’s a pleasure to see her strive every week.
Standings Update
I’m running well late, so I’ll leave the standings update for next week, but the duel between the Griz and Trolls continues to pick up steam at the top of the table.
| Team | W | D | L | PPG | GFA | GAA |
| University of Montana | 16 | 1 | 6 | 2.13 | 1.6 | 0.7 |
| Rosenborg BK | 31 | 4 | 12 | 2.06 | 2.3 | 1.2 |
| Emelec | 22 | 10 | 12 | 1.73 | 1.6 | 1.2 |
| Punjab FC–b | 7 | 4 | 6 | 1.47 | 1.2 | 0.9 |
| Grenoble | 16 | 9 | 14 | 1.46 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Freiburg | 17 | 8 | 16 | 1.44 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Minnesota United | 10 | 8 | 9 | 1.41 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| Legon Cities–b | 11 | 6 | 11 | 1.39 | 1.2 | 1.0 |
| FK Vozdovac | 10 | 7 | 16 | 1.23 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
| Ross County | 10 | 5 | 15 | 1.13 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| Alebrijes | 5 | 12 | 11 | 0.96 | 1.1 | 1.7 |
b–Team is between seasons
What’s Next
Wednesday, October 13th
Rosenborg BK v. LSK Kvinner [F]
Thursday, October 14th
Friday, October 15th
Idaho Vandals v. Montana Grizzlies
Saturday, October 16th
SC Freiburg v. Bayer Leverkusen [F]
Klepp v. Rosenborg BK [F]
Freiburg v. RB Leipzig [M]
Ross County v St. Mirren
Vozdovac v Napredak
SC Bastia v Grenoble
Austin FC v Minnesota United
Sunday, October 17th
Rosenborg v. Valerenga
Emelec v. Orense
Eastern Washington Eagles v. Montana Grizzlies
MacKenzie's Boot Room 