Tag: Allie Larsen

Week 20: Staggies Strike

Week 20: Staggies Strike

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Recaps

Union Berlin 4 – 2 Freiburg (M)

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.

Emelec 1 – 1 LDU Quito (M)

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!

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.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Rosenborg8551.611.280.78
Minnesota6351.501.211.29
Legon Cities7761.401.251.20
Grenoble144151.391.181.12
Emelec4451.231.081.15
Freiburg117151.211.211.67
Alebrijes–b5581.111.331.39
Ross County5391.061.181.35
Vozdovac42100.880.631.69
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 5/18/22
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, May 18th

Vfl Wolfsburg v. SC Freiburg (F–Cup FINAL)

Friday, May 19th

Grenoble v. Rodez (M)

Freiburg v. Wolfsburg (M)

Saturday, May 20th

Motherwell v. Ross County

Universidad Catolica v. Emelec

Portland Timbers v. Minnesota (M)

Sunday, May 21st

SC Freiburg v. FC Koln (F)

Rosenborg v. Avaldsnes (F)

Bechem United v. Legon Cities

Vozdovac v. Cukaricki

Grenoble Foot v. Yzeure Allier (F)

Monday, May 22nd

Tuesday, May 23rd

Houston Dynamo v. Minnesota United (M-Cup)

Wednesday, May 24th

Trygg Lade v. Rosenborg (M–Cup)

Ross County v. St. Johnstone

Minnesota Aurora v. Rochester FC (F)

Year 3

Year 3

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Last year I thrilled at how I was able to have a normal-ish routine through this writing….then I absolutely lost all sense of routine. Still and all, I’m glad to look back on the year that was and the fates of our favorite 11 sides on the planet.

Final Standings

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Rosenborg BK–b3611171.862.231.2
Minnesota–b288151.801.841.27
Freiburg–b2614141.702.411.54
Punjab12671.681.521.36
Alebrijes–b141481.561.280.83
Vozdovac–b149121.461.031.14
Montana–b7761.401.250.85
Legon Cities1214101.391.060.61
Grenoble Foot2110221.351.251.19
Emelec–b1713181.331.501.27
Ross County139211.121.121.46
Table Updated 12/31/22
b–Team is between seasons

None of our favorite teams won any hardware this year, but while no one hit the heights of last year, there was some impressive consistency up and down the table.

Rosenborg takes home this year’s sippy cup, built on a consistent run from both the men and the women. Minnesota came close to matching them, but the Loons couldn’t maintain their mid-summer surge leaving Aurora carrying the load for our local sides.

Freiburg and Punjab put together great runs as well, and the Griffins came away with the most heart breaking outcome of the year losing the German Cup on penalties to more of a money bag team. Punjab’s rotating managers and star players makes it a little hard to build consistency, but clearly they have a strategy that has worked well for them.

Alebrijes de Oaxaca had the greatest improvement from the last year, jumping half a point per game, while Montana had a disappointing turn dropping from dominant to merely good. Still with the Griz seeing tremendous showings from a lot of underclassmen, the future is bright again.

At the bottom of the table, Emelec had a great showing in the Copa Liertadores, but couldn’t keep the same form in Ecuador, meanwhile the ladies became the first team we follow to be relegated out of their division after a dismal campaign, Even so, they still out showed Ross County whose strong finish to the 2023 season has been washed away in an underwhelming fall.

Players of the Year

Coming back with another year of favorite players was again difficult, but we’re noticing that there are some players who are pretty much always on the team sheet. Hats off to Romario Caicedo, Hasret Kayici, and Jonah Attaquye for being in the starting line-up two years running, and welcome back Vincenzo Grifo.

Grifo’s former defensive teammate, Nico Schlotterback, also made the starters. Even though he moved to Dortmund during the summer, his showing with Freiburg left no doubt that he was deserving. The only other team to get multiple players in the starting XI, was Minnesota Aurora off their undefeated regular season with Mackenzie Langdock, and Sarah Fuller.

Antonio Portales’ captaincy and leadership of the vastly improved Alebrijes made him their first starter, and Sarah Kanutte Forness took the Julie Blakstad endowed chair in the midfield (I’m going to bring up Julie Blakstad once a year, so help me goodness).

And at the front of the attack, we put Casper Tengstedt, who led Rosenborg, despite only playing for them for half the year, and the golden boot winner in Scotland: Regan Charles Cook.

We also expanded our bench (if 9 subs is good enough for the World Cup, it’s good enough for us!). This helped us to find spots for every team in our list including Laliz Tenorio for las Electricas, and our favorite Haitian international: Sherly Jeudy. Allie Larsen reps the Grizzlies, while Milos Pantovic, and Kurtiss Guthrie get the nods for Vozdovac and Punjab. Minnesota United also contributed two members to the bench as Robin Lod and Dayne St. Clair had great years, but not quite great enough to take starting jobs from the others.

What’s Next

I can and will be more consistent in writing, and after the fun of having you boys contribute ideas and messages to the videos after matches, I want to plan on taking you to more games (Minnesota Aurora for sure, maybe we can find a plac eon our family vacation in Mexico.

Last year I also tried to set a standard of talking to reps from each team, but only got two done before the move consumed my life. We’ll try again this year.

Week 37: Bare Knuckle

Week 37: Bare Knuckle

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Results & Recaps

Dorados 2 – 1 Alebrijes

A rough year only got tougher for Oaxaca. Memories of a dominant 2019 campaign are long gone. And they must be grateful relegation is cancelled for four more years.

Montana Grizzlies 5 – 0 Texas Southern Wildcats

The Griz got back to winning ways against an admittedly weaker opponent. Taylor Hansen (2 assists, 1 goal) seems determined to dominate the game like the bicep flexing badass she is.

Freiburg 1 – 1 Koln [M]

Freiburg was fortunate to snatch another point despite their most lackluster showing of the season. Sometimes you’re good, sometimes you’re lucky. Both are valuable.

Celtic 3 – 0 Ross County

For 65 minutes it looked like County might continue to shock the Hoops. then the dam burst, and it was your typical Scottish smack down.

Grenoble 2 – 1 Nimes [M]

Les Grenobloises are down to a smattering of last year’s core. Fortunately sometimes a smattering still does the trick (like with brown sugar on oatmeal or applause and my ego). Credit to Maumadou Diallo for being the offense this week and Loic Nestor for continuing to be a boss at the back.

Bayern Munich 4 – 0 Freiburg [F]

We’re only three weeks into the season, but the Frauen auf Freiburg have gotten no points and no offense since Hasret Kayicki’s first week goal.

Ozzie not making peace

Seattle Sounders 1 – 0 Minnesota United

I had hoped we could watch a Lions win while cleaning the house. Instead you (rightly) demanded to play outside and the Loons looked to annoyed to capitalize on their chances. Adrien Honou continues to miss golden chances, and when professional troublemaker Ozzie Alonso is the voice of calm…you’re struggling to get it together.

Radnicki Nis 1 – 0 Vozdovac

The Red Dragons lost their three game winning streak on Sunday. But as 3 of their 4 wins this year have come from the bottom four teams of the table, there’s still reason to be cautious in praising coach Pedrag Rogan’s team or dismissing this as a one off.

Rosenborg 3 – 2 Tromso [M]

The Black and white looked to be on cruise control early on with Noah Holm and Emil Ceide running riot. But Tromso equalized through a pair of hopeful long balls and defensive confuzzlement. However the second line offense provided by substitutes Stefano Vecchia and Carlo Holse continued to threaten until they connected on the headed match winner late in injury time. It wasn’t quite as triumphant as it felt early on

LDU Quito v. Emelec

Postponed…see note below

Yzeure Allier 0 – 1 Grenoble [F]

Make it two from two for les grenobloises. Again it was one goal that made the difference, but this week the honors go to Andrea Commper Banguillot. The win on the road has put the alpiners on top of their division two group, ahead of a big visit from historic side Olympique Marseille in a few weeks.

Montana Grizzlies 1 – 0 Boise State Mustangs

And that’s why you don’t schedule cupcakes. Coach Chris Citkowski was validated in his choice to put the Griz up against some of the best programs west of the Mississippi this season by notching a signature victory, better still it was young talents leading the way. Camilla Xu has stepped up in goal to be a tough nut to crack in front of goal (all this as a redshirt freshman). While true freshmen (ie kids I could have taught in quarantine last year), Bella O’Brien and Delaney Lou Schorr connected to notch the goal against one of the top teams in the Mountain West. [Hat tip to the controlling defense of upperclassmen Caitlin Rogers and Allie Larsen and to Tommy Marino for the photo we used to head this post.]

Alebrijes 2 – 1 Mineros

The Oaxacans got their first win of the season! [Insert trumpet noises here]. It took a bit of doing, including a fortunate flick of the head by Josue Gomez, and a last minute winner for Jaidivert Hurtardo. But a win is a win and leaping up several spots in the standings is always welcome.

News & Notes

Alex 0 – 3 Playground Kid

I’m sorry to put you on blast big A but your little playmate, Lily, absolutely worked you. She ran on to every ball in space (and yes she did scoop it up and run with it like a football while you tried to explain how to play…but toddler rules are toddler rules man). It’s rough after you owned a six year old this summer, but hey like we say: girls are good.

No pay, no play

Referee for Rights

Emelec isn’t unbeatable, but they do have odds in their favor coming in to the end of the Ecuadorian league. But even they can’t win when referees aren’t able to call the game. Since the Ecuadorian federation hasn’t paid the referees in the local league for two weeks, the “arbitros” went on a mini-strike, affecting the premier game of the weekend.

Obviously, we would like to see Emelec continue to dominate the game. But we’d rather people get paid what they are owed. Go ahead Ecuadorian refs, get what you deserve.

Loic’s Surprised face

Player of the Week

Keeping the tiny trophy of our imaginations in the Alps, let’s pay some respect to Loic Nestor who has had to step up in a major way to keep Grenoble something close to afloat, and helped deliver a vital victory this last weekend (not to mention the ones he helped with during the last campaign).

Standings Update

One great week was all Grenoble needed to leap up four spots (it helped that a few other teams slipped up on the same week, but the middle table remains a tough battle.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Rosenborg BK264102.052.51.2
University of Montana12062.001.80.8
Emelec229101.81.61.2
Punjab FC–b7461.4711.20.9
Grenoble Foot14821.4711.11.2
Minnesota United8771.411.11.1
Legon Cities–b116111.391.21.0
Freiburg156161.381.51.6
FK Vozdovac96121.221.01.5
Ross County104141.211.21.5
Alebrijes41081.001.31.9
Table Updated 9/15/21
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Wednesday, September 15th

Spotting KC v Minnesota United

Thursday, September 16th

California State Long Beach v. Montana Grizzlies

Friday, September 17th

Saturday, September 18th

Toulouse v Grenoble [M]

Mainz v Freiburg [M]

Ross County v Hearts

Vozdovac v FK Radnicki 1923

Minnesota v LA Galaxy

Sunday, September 19th

Sarpsborg 08 v. Rosenborg [M]

Emelec v. Universidad Catolica

Monday, September 20th

Tuesday, September 21st

Grenoble v. Nancy [M]

Week 13: We can see Claire-ly Now

Week 13: We can see Claire-ly Now

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Scores

University of Montana Grizzlies 2 – 1 Portland State Vikings

Friday night lights in Big Sky Country showed the Griz continuing their winning streak. While Claire Howard gave up her first goal of the year, Avery Adams scored the first two of her college career to win it.

Celaya 0 – 0 Alebrijes

Not all scoreless draws are the same. In this one Oaxaca withstood a late onslaught after Esteban Torres was sent off in the 84th minute. Still, running the scoreless streak to 210 minutes isn’t making for thrilling football in Mexico’s second tier.

Churchill Brothers 3 – 2 Punjab FC

Punjab’s truncated season came to an end Saturday in Mumbai. While Golukam Kerala ran up their score, Churchill’s late concessions to Joseba Beitia and Baba Diawara solidified the goal difference edge. Not exactly the role Punjab would prefer to play in deciding a title, but a solid first showing for coach Curtis Fleming.

[Bonus reading: our friends at the Away End had a great summation of the end of the campaign]

Guyaquil City v. Emelec [F]

Silly me. If the past year has taught us nothing else, it’s taught us to expect delays especially to start seasons, especially for women. [sigh]

SC Freiburg 1 – 0 Turbine Potsdam [F]

Hasret Kayikci hasn’t been talked up enough this year. She’s always there in Freiburg’s hour of need. Another late goal blunted Potsdam’s momentum and kept the griffins in the hunt for 4th place.

University of Montana Grizzlies 3 – 0 Portland State Vikings

After two more tense affairs, this one was Grizzlies from snout to tail. Another Alexa Coyle banger, a heckuva shot from Allie Larsen and a record setting 30th shutout for Claire Howard!

Dorados 1 – 1 Alebrijes

Alebrijes is getting used to this point a game thing…maybe a little too used to it. With four draws in a row, they’re starting to run out of points to make up. (Hate to think of where they’d be without Julio Cesar Cruz’s clinical penalty taking.)

News & Notes

International Affairs

While most of our teams were not in action, lots of our favorite players were. Here’s a quick peek at how they fared.

Africa
Ethiopia celebrates…not pictured Mombris and Metanire go: “huh”? (CAF Online)
  • Our favorite Madagascar madmen (Jerome Mombris and Romain Metanire) got gobsmacked when their team was bested 4-0 by Ethiopia. By the time that they had to win and see Ethiopia lose to move on. Ethiopia did falter…but Madagascar couldn’t get a goal, and the darlings of the last tournament ran out of luck.
  • Ghana’s Black Stars will be at the cup of nations (as well). Though Center Back Joseph Adjei didn’t play in their final two qualifiers, he continues to take strides towards hitting the field in Cameroon this summer.
  • Harouna Demba of Grenoble was on the bench as Mauritania drew with Morocco but was on the field for their 1-0 win over CAR that booked them a spot in the finals.
Asia
  • Freiburg’s Woo-yeong Jeong got his first run out for South Korea in a friendly against Japan. Sadly, it was a 3-0 drubbing against arch rivals, but it didn’t impact their quest for cups.
Europe
Robin Lod celebrates
  • Finland saw two Minnesota United stars–Jakku Raitala and Robin Lod–(and one former player, Rasmus Schuller) take the field in a pair of draws
  • One of those draws came against Bosnia/Herzegovina and included Ermedin Demirovic of Freiburg as part of the attack that Raitala had to repel in the game’s dying minutes. Demirovic got the start in Bosnia’s friendly against Costa Rica, but didn’t get any goals. The final match against World Champs France happened after I posted this
  • Justas Lasickas of Vozdovac saw lots of action for Lithuania and did his best to put up with the offensive onslaught from Kosovo, Switzerland, and Italy.
  • Andre Hansen had to come on at half-time when Norway was getting spanked by Turkey. He didn’t see action when the team faced Montenegro, which spared him the awkwardness of facing a teammate.
  • The best represented nation from our teams: Montenegro which features three players (Vozdovac’s Milos Milovic and Nikola Vujnovic and Rosenborg’s Dino Islamovic). Sadly none of them made the pitch, until Dino Islamovic came on against Norway in the second half (he didn’t make much impact)
  • Iceland left Rosenborg’s Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson on the bench as they scuffled back down the table
North America
  • Dayne St. Clair was part of Team Canada, but didn’t get on the pitch.
  • Hasani Dotson and Callum Montgomery were part of the US and Canada youth teams vying for an olympic berth. While both played well, neither will have a chance to march in the opening ceremonies in Tokyo.
Limbu Loves it (wefutbolfans.com)
South America
  • Emelec sent three players to the Ecuadorian national side (Keeper Pedro Ortiz, Defender Romario Caicedo, and Midfielder Dixon Arroyo). However, a qualifier with Venezuela was called off, and the friendly tune up with Bolivia only saw Arroyo on the field (he was solid in distribution, if unremarkable in their win)

Limbu lays it on the line

As the I-League ends, it’s worth rewarding the best in the competition. In particular, Kiran Limbu who led the stingiest defense in the competition. Winning best keeper is nice, and should be a first step on the road to winning it all next time round.

Las Electricas are Back

With limited news reporting on South American women’s teams (insert shocked not shocked emoji here). I missed the news that Emelec’s ladies will be back in action. The team will see weekly action through the first weeks of July. If they finish in the top four of the southern league, they’ll advance to the playoffs against one of the top four from the north (likely someone from Quito). The biggest change this means is that we get to appreciate more awesome branding images like this one…

Queen Claire

Player of the Week

You might argue that since she already won a Player of the Week recently, we ought to look elsewhere, but come on…Claire Howard broke a Big Sky conference record and has kept her team perfect through the first five games of the season. (We’ll share a nod with Kiran Limbu for his keeping award as well)

.

Standings Update

Not much changed here…most notably, Punjab FC has entered their offseason and will be locked in at their Points Per Game until the 2021-2022 season kicks off in…many many months. Oh, and Claire Howard continues to carry the Grizzlies to the top of our table.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
University of Montana50032.00.2
Emelec3112.01.81.0
Freiburg8261.61.51.4
Punjab FC–b7461.471.20.9
Grenoble Foot6451.471.11.1
Legon Cities FC4431.451.20.8
Ross County5171.231.21.5
Alebrijes3641.151.51.7
FK Vozdovac2350.90.71.6
Rosenborg BK000–––
Minnesota United000–––
Table Updated 3/31/2021
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Wednesday, March 31st

Thursday, April 1st

Friday, April 2nd

10:00 FK Vozdovac v. Macva Sabac

5:00 Sacramento State Hornets v. University of Montana Grizzlies

Saturday, April 3rd

9:00 Madema SC v. Legon Cities FC

9:00 Ross County v. Inverness CT [Cup]

1:00 Grenoble v. Chateroux

1:30 Borussia Munchengladbach v. Freiburg [M]

CS Emelec v. CD Macara [F]

Sunday, April 4th

2:00 Sacramento State Hornets v. University of Montana Grizzlies

3:00 Olmedo v. Emelec [M]

Monday, April 5th

Tuesday, April 6th

5:15 Emelec v. CSD Macara [M-Cup]

9:00 Alebrijes v Jaibos