Tag: Anna Josendal

Year 5, January

Year 5, January

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Recap

Live from Legon!

Record: 1 – 0 – 0 GF: 4 GA: 0

The Royals did play a round of 32 match against against Koforidua Suhyen (who play near the home of my adoptive dad Braimah Dediako). Kwabena Boateng led the charge with a couple of goals and Nicholas Mensah led a defense that never looked troubled.

Up Next The Royals will have one more cup game in Februrary and we’ll see them restart the season in Karela on February 23rd

What’s the Word in ol’ Freiburg?

Record: 2 – 1- 1 GF: 6 GA: 5

Men looked good in a friendly against Frankfurt. But friendlies aren’t the same thing as competitive matches. And I’m willing to bet they would have taken 0-0 in a friendly and a win against Union Berlin…but it was not to be. Still the clean sheet should boost Noah Atubolu, and comes with another good showing by the young French wing backs Jordy Makengo and Kilian Sildillia.

Those wing backs were back at it again against Hoffenheim but when Manuel Gulde got a terribly timed red card right after Hoffenheim equalized, fear and panic could be felt widely in the crowd. This of course, is where Vincenzo Grifo saves the day by being himself, and so it was with a beautiful winner (3-2).

Grifo was good again in the next match against Freiburg but Makengo and Sidilla weren’t as effective on the same side and Atobolu had another rough outing to keep Freiburg maddeningly inconsistent losing (1-3)

Meanwhile, the big news for the women was the realization that squad leader Janina Minge is asking to leave the club at the end of the season. (This seems to be a bit of a routine for die Frauen where great players aim to go a little higher than the middle of the table…such is the way of things, I suppose.) But the team looked unphased this last weekend with a strong 2-0 win over RB Leipzig led by strong midfield control from Samantha Steuerwald.

Next: The ladies have a Pokal match against Frankfurt, plus league matches agaisnt Duisburg, Bremen. and (ugh) Bayern Munich. Meanwhile the men will balance four league games (including matches against Dortmund and Frankfurt) with the critical knockout matches for the Europa league against Lens.

Grenoble’s Games

Record: 0 – 3 – 1 GF: 5 GA: 7

Amine Sbai had a tremendous outing against Dunkerque with a pair of goals giving the men from the mountains a big lead with only 25 minutes to play. Uncharacteristically, the defense capitulated at the end of the game and could only hold on for a draw. Then the familiar winter malaise set in, and the squad managed only draws the rest of the month (1-1 against Auxerre, and 1-1 against Quevilly, due in large part to heroic penalty saves from Brice Mableu, and more Amine Sbai goals)

Meanwhile the women’s team got eaten up by AS Cannes concending three goals for a less than stellar return to the field, but Abdoulie Bamba Sanyang got the chance to play at the Africa Cup of Nations with Gambia, and team training seem to include playing on the alps…which looks like a whole heap of fun!

Up Next: January was not the boost we were hoping for in the quest for promotion, but we’ll try again in February! The women will face Lyon’s 2nd Squad, and Le Puy, while the men try to break out of their funk of draws with games against Caen, Bordeaux, Troyes and Pau.

Punjab Zindabad

Record: 0 – 2 – 1 GF: 3 GA: 4

Wilmar Jordan got off the mark a lot faster in 2024 than he did in 2023, scoring just 4 minutes into the road game at Chennaiyin in the Super Cup. But, as has been so often the case, after a red card, they were at a disadvantage even though they had a lead. And just when it looked like they might pull out a short handed victory, another goal got past Kiran Chemjong and it was another draw for the Punjabi Warriors.

The chance of a draw against local league titans Mumbai City, was much more enthralling, and indeed Luka Macjen nearly made it so with a pair of goals including one right before the end of the full 90 minutes that would have been quite an accomplishment. But in a continuing pattern, the Warriors ceded a late goal and left as unlucky losers. Their final Super Cup match was a 0-0 draw that doesn’t bear much more scrutiny.

Up Next: I hoped that Punjab could come away with two more wins in the second half of the season, and their best chances may all come in February as they face Hydrabad (the only team below them) as well as Jamshedpur and Bengaluru (two teams with similar defensive problems).

Gotta see this, Alebrijes!

Record: 0 – 1 – 1 GF: 2 GA: 5

Whatever else happens Alebrijes deserves credit for having Mortal Kombat themed season announcement.

While that post is cool and fresh and there are high hopes for new attacker Orlando Ballesteros and major needs in Pablo martinez and Alfonso Luna, much of Alebrijes’ start to their season looked…familiar. The 3-0 beating from Cancun was painfully familiar, and the 2-2 draw with goals by Julio Cesar Cruz rendered underwhelming by late conceded goals was…sigh…yeah…very familiar.

Next We cross our fingers and hope for some kind of change in the routine as Alebrijes run out five times in February…hey, that’s alliteration…it must be a good sign (he said without much real hope)

County’s Bounty

Record: 0 – 1 – 3 GF: 2 GA: 9

Ross County’s usual course of action at this time of year is to bring in a host of young talents who need some match time and use them to boost the squad’s energy. Midfielders Eli King of Cardiff, Branon Khela of Birmingham, Teddy Jenks of Forest Green, Loick Ayina of Huddersfield Town, and Keeper George Wickens of Fulham are this year’s crop of young talents. But the club’s big acquisition was left back Cameron Borthwick Jackson who, until 3 years ago, seemed to be a up-and-coming player at global powerhouse Manchester United…now he is in Dingwall, so, maybe not so up any more but still a player with oodles of potential.

That potential was sorely lacking in the Stags’ 3-0 loss to Aberdeen with Jack Baldwin getting sent off in the 90th minute. It was arguably in even shorter supply when they got dumped out of the league cup 3-0 by lower level rivals Partick Thistle. By comparison a 1-0 loss at Celtic Park was an accomplishment. (thank you for that big save George Wickens!) and the team’s most recent result of a 2-2 draw against Livingston (with some strong defense and a pair of goals from Simon Murray before another late capitulation) was positively delightful.

Next: It seems as though manager Derek Adams strategy of saying that players are really bad hasn’t inspired good play…interesting. Maybe insulting people will make them feel better as they play six times in four weeks…or…not…

Griz Biz

Record: Not in action

We watched the Griz gridiron squad play well in the first half of their national championship game, and missed the second half (which was for the best). And you got to have some extra potato chips so…really there’s a silver lining. We also got to see Skyleigh Thompson celebrate her All-American status.

Up next: Recruiting, training and warming up the next generations.

What’s in Store at Rosenborg?

Record: Not in Action

There was a lot of player movement in and out of Trondheim, but the big news is probably Steinar Lein stepping away from his role as head coach of the women’s team. He’s run the squad for five years and seen them become an absolute force, but when people need a break, they should get it. So thanks Steinar and stay well!

Rosenborg named Anna Josensdal it’s female player of the year, and also said goodbye to her in the same breath, as she makes a move to Hammarby in Sweden (where she’ll meet up with old friend Sara Kanutte Fornes). Rasmus Wiedesheim Paul also joined a Swedish H-team (Halmstad) in Sweden. Ina Birkelund joins up for the midfield from Tromso.

Next: The men have a host of friendlies against fellow Norwegian clubs, but won’t start the season until April

Minnesota a la Mode…ah

Record: Not in Action

Aurora had try outs which means, even five months from the start of the next season, there’s plenty to be excited about. Just as esciting, former Auroroa player Kelsey Kaufusi was drafted to the NWSL (the top Women’s league in America).

Meanwhile, the Loons lost another manager. After not committing to Sean McAuley, Sean McAuley wouldn’t commit to the team, leaving for a confirmed contract in Indianapolis. Meanwhile, Cameron Knowles will take over…for now…When it came to players the Loons focused on adding to the squad with defenders Derek Dodson, and Victor Eriksson, forward Jordan Adebayo-Smith, and midfielders Alejandro Bran and Moses Nyeman.

Up Next: After some regular tune up matches, the Loons hit the field against Austin FC at the end of February

Take a Sec with Emelec

Record: Not in Action

The mens team did do quite a lot of shopping for their roster. They started by resigning Pedro Ortiz to mind the net and Fernando Leon. Then there were they incomers:

Forward: Facundo Castelli,

Wingers: Maicon Solis, Juan Pablo Ruiz Gomez, Washington Corozco and Rodrigo Rivero

Midfielder: Marcelo Meli, Andres Ricahrte, Christian Erbes, and club legend Christhian Noboa…(get ready, I’m probably going to mention him as often as Miller Bolanos!)

Defenders Alexander Gonzalez, Joao Quinonez, and Gustavo Cortez,

Up Next: The Men’s team’s first season starts soon with matches against Deportivo Cuenca and Mushuc Runa.

What’s the haps at Vozdovac?

Record: Not in action

Vozdovac opened the year knowing that Borisav Burmaz was leaving the club…now headed off for the top flight of soccer in Romania with Rapid Bucharest. Meanwhile, they brought in seven new players, none of whom is older than 22.

Next: The Dragons take flight again with Red Star Belgrade and two more league matches (Napredak, and Mladost Lucani)

Players of the Month

Instead of honoring one player each week, we’ll take some time to shout out a player from each team that was in action each month. January’s honorees are

Nicholas Mensah (D) Legon Cities, Vincenzo Grifo (M) Freiburg, Samantha Steuerwald (DM) Freiburg, Amine Sbai (F) Grenoble, Claudia Fabre (F) Grenoble, Luka Macjen (F) Punjab, Julio Cesar Cruz (F) Alebrijes, George Wickens (K) Ross County

Standings

It’s early days and one match shouldn’t be taken as predictive of anything other than one match, but we’d deeply love for someone, literally anyone to play as well as Legon Cities did…or at least get fewer draws.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Legon Cities1003.004.001.00
Freiburg2111.501.501.25
Grenoble0310.751.251.75
Punjab0210.661.001.33
Alebrijes0110.501.002.00
Ross County0130.250.502.25
Montana–b000———
Rosenborg–b000———
Minnesota–b000———
Emelec–b000———
Vozdovac–b000———
Table Updated 1/30/24
b–Team is between seasons
Year 4

Year 4

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The time has come again, to crown this year’s winner of the MacKenzie Cup (it’s a sippy cup…because you’re little kids, and I like the joke)

Final Standings

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Montana13332.211.580.47
Rosenborg3612211.741.841.17
Minnesota2813161.702.161.30
Grenoble3512221.631.470.99
Punjab138111.471.501.06
Emelec1817151.422.020.96
Legon Cities1610151.411.151.27
Freiburg2613311.301.411.64
Ross County1410211.161.331.53
Vozdovac1010151.141.031.25
Alebrijes89151.031.251.84
Table Updated 12/30/23
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. Again the Grizzlies take the cup, meaning this hallowed chalice firmly belongs to northern teams with incredible women’s sides (that’s your cue Aurora).

Beyond what has become a fairly familiar top three, Grenoble emerged with strong showings from both men and women to claim fourth place while Punjab rounded out the top half of the table thanks to their dominance of the I-League (giving up the lead in the table after the jumped up to the bigger pond of the Superleague)

Emelec is our pivot team this year, smack dab in the center as befits a year with both some great moments, and some lousy ones. They’re followed by the frustratingly incosistent Legon Cities and Freiburg (whose great fall of 2022 faded hard and fast in 2023).

At the foot of the table, Ross County could not find any confidence in their campaigns, barely squeaking their way through matches to keep themselves afloat in Scotland. Vozdovac continues to show good runs to start the year and difficulties keeping up at the end of it. But Alebrijes’ scuffles and eventual collapse out of the playoffs earned them their second wooden spoon in our history.

Beyond the great showings of the clubs in general this year, we have to point out that our favorite teams won four trophies this year! The I-League trophy made Roundglass Punjab the first team to be promoted a division on our watch, but the Electricas win in the Campeonato Regional gave them a good chance too. And the most consistently strong sides: the Griz and the Trolljenta each took home hardware, though not as much as they might have hoped (Montana won the league, but not the tournament…ending their season early, Rosenborg lost the league, but won the cup…ending their season in confetti).

Players of the Year

We saw a lot of turnover among our best XI line up. But that’s to be expected when five starters play well enough to be transferred to other teams and bigger salaries, and three players graduate from their club/school teams. But while plenty of things change, one thing that stays inviolable is Vincenzo Grifo. There’s the sun in the morning, the moon at night, and Vincenzo Grifo putting in a shift in between.

Around Grifo we’re bringing in an all American-based midfield, with Cat Rapp pairing for the attack and Delaney Lou Schorr is taking on the wing position which I will still refer to as the Julie-Blakstad-Endowed-Chair for Wingers. Finally we’re adding in the player who has brought out a new found love and interest for both Alex and Owen, Bongokhule Hlongwane who paired a great year on the field with infectious positivity off of it.

That attack will be targeting goal machines Maya Hansen and Luka Macjen, two new comers who helped their teams to epic unbeaten runs. And they’ll be backed up behind them with some aggressive wingbacks in Mathys Tourraine of Grenoble and Ava Samuelson of Montana.

The defensive anchors are Nicholas Mensah for Legon Cities who helped to keep the Royals in plenty of games they might have otherwise capitulated for, Sarah Horte who paired a great league season with a strong showing at the women’s World Cup, and old stand by Pedro Ortiz of Emelec, who kept the most clean sheets in an otherwise unheralded campaign.

We had so much attacking depth that we have several players out of position on our bench, Janina Minge of Freiburg and Borisav Burmaz of Vozdovac are strictly up top players, but Cinthia Bone of Emelec, and Jayden Nelson of Rosenborg are being played as flexible wingers who can sub in for any of the outside players.

Grenoble puts two players on our midfield bench with Jade Decilap and Jessy Bennet earning the nods, and while Ernesto Reyes gets the obligatory spot for Alebrijes, we were left with just one defensive spot on the bench, so with apologies to Tianna Harris and Michael Boxall, we went with Anna Josensdal of Rosenborg (again a defensive midfielder being asked to play out of position). Finally, our reserve keeper is the only Ross County player to make the squad this year in Ross Laidlaw (the penalty saves Ross, we are eternally in your debt)

Nobel FC Most Enjoyable Outstanding Writer

A new award (the MEOW, as our house of cat lovers should appreciate) this year will go to the Nobel FC subject that I rated most highly. This year, I’m giving the nod to William Golding, whose work was familiar, but whose breadth of creativity was truly impressive. In addition to this award, I bought another of his books to read in the new year.

What’s Next

Less will be more this next year. I will write one essay a month (as ever), I will write one club news recap a month (though that’s already been tested), and one Nobel FC every two months.

I will say what I have said seemingly every post this year: if you have any thoughts I would love to hear them. (The highlight of this year is definitely the excellent journalist Manny Djazmi tweeting a link to this blog.) This is a project for my sons, the oldest of whom is now sounding out simple sentences and easy readers, but it will still be a while before they can read all this. So if you ARE reading this, then please: comment below and let’s share ideas.

Week 27: End of the Line

Week 27: End of the Line

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Recap

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.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Minnesota22691.952.461.05
Rosenborg176131.581.670.94
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble–b156171.341.161.13
Emelec7871.321.231.14
Freiburg–b127191.131.241.66
Alebrijes–b5581.111.331.39
Ross County–b64121.001.231.50
Vozdovac–b43110.830.671.65
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 7/13/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, July 13th

Friday, July 14th

Saturday, July 15th

Stranrear v. Ross County (Cup)

Minnesota United v. LAFC (M)

Sunday, July 16th

Rosenborg v. Tromso (M)

Monday, July 17th

Tuesday, July 18th

Wednesday, July 19th

Emelec v. Sporting Cristal (M-Copa)

Week 26: Staycation the Second

Week 26: Staycation the Second

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Recap

Green Bay Glory 0 – 4 Minnesota Aurora (F)

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)

https://youtu.be/fYzefcUDoD8

Minnesota Aurora 7 – 0 Chicago City SC (F)

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.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Minnesota20672.002.611.06
Rosenborg176121.631.690.91
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble–b156171.341.161.13
Emelec6871.241.241.19
Freiburg–b127191.131.241.66
Alebrijes–b5581.111.331.39
Ross County–b64121.001.231.50
Vozdovac–b43110.830.671.65
Montana–b000———
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.

Week 24: The Quiet Season

Week 24: The Quiet Season

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Recap

Rosenborg BK 4 – 0 Arna-Bjornar (F)

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.

Standing

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.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Minnesota14571.812.081.15
Rosenborg14691.661.690.90
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble–b156171.341.161.13
Emelec5861.211.161.11
Freiburg–b127191.131.241.66
Alebrijes–b5581.111.331.39
Ross County–b64121.001.231.50
Vozdovac–b43110.830.671.65
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 6/14/22
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, June 15th

Friday, June 16th

Saturday, June 17th

Minnesota Aurora v. Bavarian United (F)

Sunday, June 18th

Lyn Football v. Rosenborg (F)

Deportiva Cuenca v. Emelec

Monday, June 19th

Tuesday, June 20th

Wednesday, June 21st

Arna Bjornar v. Rosenborg (F)

RKC Soccer Club v. Minnesota (F)

Week 21: The End is Nigh

Week 21: The End is Nigh

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recaps

Vfl Wolfsburg 4 – 1 SC Freiburg (F–Cup FINAL)

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.

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.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Rosenborg10551.751.500.70
Minnesota8361.591.351.29
Grenoble155151.431.231.11
Legon Cities7771.331.191.24
Freiburg127171.191.221.67
Emelec4461.141.141.21
Alebrijes–b5581.111.331.39
Ross County54101.001.211.42
Vozdovac43100.880.651.65
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 5/25/22
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, May 25th

Huruacan v. Emelec (M–Confederation Cup)

Friday, May 26th

Valenciennes v. Grenoble (M)

Saturday, May 27th

Frankfurt v. Freiburg

Valerenga v. Rosenborg BK (F)

Partizan Belgrade v. Vozdovac

Minnesota v. Real Salt Lake (M)

Sunday, May 28th

Vfl Wolfsburg v. SC Freiburg (F)

Kilmarnock v. Ross County

Legon Cities v. Hearts of Oak

Vozdovac v. Cukaricki

Le Puy Foot v. Grenoble Foot (F)

Monday, May 29th

Brann v. Rosenborg (M)

Emelec v. Guayaquil City (M)

Tuesday, May 30th

Wednesday, May 24th

Austin FC v. Minnesota (M)

Ross County v. St. Johnstone

Minnesota Aurora v. Rochester FC (F)

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)

Week 13: Highlights-Shmighlights

Week 13: Highlights-Shmighlights

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recaps

Alebrijes de Oaxaca 1 – 2 Atletico La Paz

Fresh off their biggest win in quite a while, Alebrijes looked a little tired. Even though Jair Cortes got them off to a strong start, the defense buckled and Atletico was soon able to take a lead that they kept for the rest of the match, breaking Oaxaca’s unbeaten streak.

Rosenborg 3 – 0 Staebek (F)

RBK has been near the top of the Toppserien ever since they joined the Rosenborg family. But they’ve yet to win one. Clearly, they started out this season looking to break through and grab the big trophy. Cesilie Andreassen, who may be the longest serving RBK alum we know, started the affair to get Rosenborg flying high. Synne Skinnes Hansen and Anna Langas Josendal added their own to kick off the new campaign in style.

Minnesota 1 – 1 Vancouver (M)

There is no other word for it: this was brutal. The Loons got a lead through sheer grit and determination. The Loons held on to that lead with a great showing from back up goal keeper Clint Irwin. I got to watch the debut of a Emmanuel Iwe who seemed to breathe fresh life and excitement into everything he did. They held on to the lead for all of regulation time and stoppage time…and then…the refs gave Vancouver one more chance. The Whitecaps scored. I cursed. Your mom shushed me. And heads hung low. You know a Minnesotan sports event.

My new fave: Mr .Ewe

Bayer Leverkusen 2 – 0 Freiburg (F)

Leverkusen led the way through the midfield and left die Frauen flabbergasted. Janina Minge was able to give the best showing on a bleak day.

Great Olympics 1 – 1 Legon Cities

I’ve had a hard time tracking down any news from this match. The big equalizer came from my fellow Thursday born: Kwabena Adu Medier.

Toulouse FC 3 – 0 Grenoble Foot (F)

The bad news kept on coming for the ladies of Grenoble. Reports suggested that they did not look cohesive or united. They gave up a goal in the first minute and didn’t seem to threaten after that.

Cimmarones 0 – 0 Alebrijes

This happened. It also began a new unbeaten streak for Alebrijes!! (More importantly it kept them very close to the playoff spots as the season’s second half winds down to a close.)

News & Notes

March Madness Corner

It’s rare that the drama is out of the basketball tournament this early, the title is still up for grabs and this year’s final four features a host of unlikely candidates. But for our purposes it really is all over.

Your mom followed her heart and picked owls and huskies to do well, so she’s the only person with two final four teams left. Give her all the credit in the world and know that I’ll be looking at Owl related teams should any of our other favorites have to disband.

Spring Break! WOO!

On Saturday, we fly out to visit your Auntie Julianna at her new home in Los Angeles. I fully anticipate that we will have some memorable moments and some frustrating ones as well, and as such, I’ll be present watching you be you, rather than watching the scores of distant soccer scores

Player of the Week

As the grand dame of the Kvinner (and the only person to help lead a team to victory this weekend), we have to tip the cap to Cesilie Andreassan (even though part of me wants to pick Emmanuel Iwe just because he was so fun to watch)

Standings

We were in a rush to pick you guys up from preschool so these aren’t up to date.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b11212.502.640.79
Emelec3012.251.500.75
Minnesota2202.001.250.75
Rosenborg1011.501.500.50
Freiburg6491.161.261.79
Legon Cities3641.150.921.00
Grenoble74111.140.911.27
Alebrijes3561.001.501.50
Vozdovac2241.000.751.88
Ross County2360.821.091.18
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 3/30/22
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, March 30th

Legon Cities v. Asante Kotko

Friday, March 31st

Saturday, April 1st

Arna-Bjornar v. Rosenborg (F)

Freiburg v. Hertha BSC (M)

Vozdovac v. Javor

Grenoble v. Armiens (M)

Delfin v. Emelec (M)

St. Louis City v. Minnesota (M)

Sunday, April 2nd

Ross County v. Celtic

Freiburg v. Turbine Potsdam (F)

Grenoble Foot v. Thonon Evian (F)

Monday, April 3rd

Bibiana Gold Stars v. Legon Cities FC

Tuesday, April 4th

Bayern Munich v. Freiburg (M-Cup)

Wednesday, April 5th

Partizan Belgrade v. Vozdovac

Danubio v. Emelec (M-South American Cup)

Thursday, April 6th

Friday, April 7th

Alebrijes v. Cancun FC

Saturday, April 8th

Freiburg v. Bayern Munich (M)

St. Johnstone v. Ross County

Laval v. Grenoble (M)

Chicago Fire v. Minnesota United

Sunday, April 9th

Vozdovac v. TSC Backa Topola

Aucus v. Emelec (M)

Monday, April 10th

Rosenborg v. Viking (M)

Tuesday, April 11th

Wednesday, April 12th