Recap

Griz Biz

Returning home after an impressive road trip, the Griz didn’t let up with a decisive 2-0 win against Sacramento State that sealed another Big Sky Regular Season title. The regular season finale was an appropriate celebration of senior night and appropriate send offs from Delaney Lou Schorr who got the winning goal (1-0) and Ashlynn Dvorak who tied Camilla Xu’s record for shutouts in a season. (While the Griz were undefeated during the regular season, No Big Sky team has gone undefeated through the playoffs…so the pressure is still on the Griz to qualify for the NCAAs).

Up next: Nov 3rd (v. either Portland State or Idaho State), Nov 5th (Big Sky Championship, if they qualify)

What’s in Store at Rosenborg?

For the first time since June 18th the Kvinner were beaten, this time by Brann (0-2). The loss stung as it dropped them out of first place with only three matches left in the campaign. If they win their next two (not a sure thing with a desperate Avaldnes and old rival Lillestrom) the final two against Valerenga may end up deciding two trophies (the League in the first match and the Cup in the second).

On the other hand, the men were able to hold on to a 1-1 draw against Stabaek courtesy of an excellent penalty save by young keeper Sander Tangvik. The diving stop at the end of the first half was only one ample of his excellent defense to help his team hold on. They turned up with one of their best performances of the season, with Emil Frederiksen and Jayden Nelson offering a tremendous tandem to hit the net twice en route to a 3-1 win over Valerenga (featuring another Sander Tangvik penalty save)

Next: The Menn face Molde; the Kvinner face Asvaldnes

Minnesota a la Mode…ah

The Loons dreams of another playoff trip were dashed by Johnny Russell as the nicest rivalry in sports gave Kansas City what they needed to advance, but sent Minnesota home for a long cold winter (with sizeable changes afoot) (1-3).

Punjab Zindabad

Ravi Kumar saved the day again with Punjab’s first clean sheet of the campaign to mark a draw with Jamshedpur (0-0). Unfortunately, that goalless draw was the high point, as Chennaiyin FC steamrolled the Shers for a 1-5 scoreline. Luka Macjen, Juan Mera, and Brandon Vanlalremdika have struggled to connect and create in attack at the Super League level, so here’s hoping they can sort it out soon.

Up Next: @ Mumbai City, v Hyderabad FC (battle to stay off the bottom of the table)

On Break (But we’ll update with news as it arises)

Grenoble’s Games

It was a wild one in Grenoble with a thrilling back and forth featuring beautiful goals in the run of play, clever volleys off set pieces and a raucous home crowd rendered silent when the visitors went ahead near the death. Then Armine Sbai saved the unbeaten run for the men against Valenciennes by tapping home an injury time scorcher that was deflected equalizer and the night was complete (3-3). Pape Meissa Ba did everything he could do to keep the streak going with two great goals at Pau, but an uncharacteristic defensive collapse from the backline let in two late goals and gave Pau the win to hand Les Alpiners their first defeat this season.

The women were outworked by the narrowest of margins in their two matches, both against Olympique Valence. First they were bested 2-1 in the league, and then they fell to Valence on penalty kicks (0-0; 5-4 on kicks). It’s disappointing as Valence has not been in great form, but Grenoble remains tied for the lead in Poule B of Division 3

Next: AC Ajaccio for les hommes; our old friends the squirrels of Merignac Arlac for les femmes

Live from Legon!

Nsoatreman jumped to the top of the table by beating the Royals (0-2) good for them, lousy for us. But Kwabena Boateng got the points right back with a first half goal to beat Dreams FC (1-0). Also, I’m always cheering for Kwabenas as my fellow Tuesday borns.

Next @ Samartex

Take a Sec with Emelec

After the match with LDU Quito was initially abandoned (for reasons I have not found anywhere), a replay led to a victory for the capital city side (0-1). Fortunately the men bounced back with a 2-1 win against Universidad Catolica with lesser lights like Anibal Chala and Alexis Zapata hitting the net to provide more goals from the “Everybody not Named Miller Bolanos” category of goalscorers..

Next: a Guayquil derby against Guayquil City (and then another against Ecuador’s Barcelona). (I still have no news about the ladies playoff future but I will let you know when I know).

What’s the Word in ol’ Freiburg?

It remains a frustrating campaign for the Frauen auf Breigesauen…Falling to lowly Nurenburg (2-0) and landing themselves on the doorstep of relegation.

Meanwhile Chirstian Streich saw a boost to his team’s form, opening with a solid 2-1 win against VfL Bochum featuring a sterling performance by wingers Vincenzo Grifo and Ristu Doan. Though they fell behind against Backa Topola, Vincenzo Grifo made the second half count with a hat trick to take the win. (3-1). After all that, Freiburg were a little wiped out and unable to keep up against Bayern Leverkusen. (1-2)

Next: Men have a cup match against Paderborn, a league game against Borussia Munchengladbach and then a return match against TSC Backa Topola. The women’s next match is against Hoffenheim.

County’s Bounty

The Stags continued to be waylaid by the weather, with the roads rendered unsafe for driving thus keeping St. Mirren stuck in Inverness and prolonging the fixture congestion for the highlanders in coming weeks.

In they did get on the field they ended up in a 0-0 draw against Dundee. They were in much better shape when they jumped out to a 3-1 advantage against Motherwell. Unfortunately, they quickly conceded equalizers to let the game slip out of reach and had to settle for a draw (3-3)

Next: against Hibernian, and Celtic

Gotta see this, Alebrijes!

I’m running out of things to say at this point. Oaxaca has struggled to ignite their offense and to manage their defense. When that happens, it’s very hard to win. So they didn’t, falling to Tapitalan (1-3)

Next a Halloween special v. Atlante (I had to save the 31st for the next post so I could focus up on important things, like getting candy with you kids)

What’s the haps at Vozdovac?

Backa Topolo has been something of a boogie team for Backa Topolo, in that like Oogie Boogie in the Nightmare before Christmas, they are actually a team of pillowcases filled with bugs. KIDDING! (I hope…) but Borisav Burmaz stunned them with an injury time penalty to snatch a draw and leave them reeling before facing Freiburg (1-1). I did have high hopes that the Dragons would be able to follow up their win against one fascist gang that pretends its a group of soccer fans (Red Star) by beating their gang rival (Partizan), and for one half it looked good. Then…it didn’t. The 3-0 defeat was an unusual slippage by the strong Vozdovac defense.

Next: v. Radniki Nis

News & Notes

…Absolutely Nothing

It only seems right that in reviewing the last two weeks, we should note the tremendous loss of life around the world, from Ukraine to Maine to the increasingly distressed cities of Ecuador, and particularly in the Gaza province. Smarter people than I can explain what happened to you, all I can do is hope that your generation inherits less chaos.

Family Gamesmanship

It feels poignant to recall the joy of family while others are losing their lives, but I genuinely hope that other families in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Ecuador and elsewhere can have the joy that we’ve had the last few weeks, with Alex and Owen showing off their soccer skills in backyard matches with the grown ups. Generally speaking, Alex will drive for goal constantly, Owen likes to shoot but also likes to wander when he doesn’t have the ball. Mostly, you both have fun, and that makes me happy.

Above you can see a prime example of you having fun.

Players Of the Month (so far)

Two penalty saves in two matches is pretty stellar work from Sander Tangvik, and much as I wish I could ignore the awesomeness that is Vincenzo Grifo, it must be said: the man is a maestro.

Standings

Rosenborg slipped but Punjab slipped harder so the Griz remain atop the standings as we enter the last two months. Meanwhile, at the bottom, Vozdovac had the chance to climb past Oxaca, but the 3-0 defeat kept them looking at the wooden spoon.