Tag: Cat Rapp

Catching up with the Cup: Spring 2025

Catching up with the Cup: Spring 2025

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Disclosure

Okay, so I started with 11 teams that I would write about because it seemed a good way to keep me writing consistently.

For 3 years, I kept up with that pretty well. But in the last two it’s been an absolute non-starter. Knowing that there are LOTS of other places to find scores and analysis, I’m willing to let go of the weekly or even monthly writing…but I really don’t want to forget about the joy of following teams and finding things to learn about and love.

So! Here’s my new model for the MacKenzie Cup: I’ll summarize team records and name a few great players while trying to keep myself to 1-2 sentences and I’ll post about it at key moments in the season to wit

1 post in May/June to cover the end of the European seasons (and start of the others); 1 post in August/September to cover the summer season and changes; 1 post in December to recap the year and crown the champion! So, with that! Here’s the spring summary for our Favorite XIs. (All results from 2/11/2025-6/27/2025)

Minnesota

Results:

Loons: W 9 – D 6- L 4 GF: 31/GA: 21;
Aurora: W 9 – D 2- L 0; GF 27/GA: 4

Total: W 16 – D 7 – L 4; GF: 50/ GA: 22

Great Players:

Tani Oluwaseyi (F); Dayne St. Clair (GK), Robin Lod (MF), Bongokuhle Hlongwane (FB);
Cat Rapp (F–5 goals); Charley Boone (D mastermind); Natalie Tavana (M)

Quick Notes:

The Loons have quietly turned into a premier team in the Western Conference by virtue of hard nosed defense led by Canada’s national goalkeeper: Dayne St. Clair, and the dynamic trio of Jaoquin Pereyra, Tani Oluwaseyi (another Canuck), and Kelvin Yeboah. While the Loons are doing America’s Canada proud, Aurora have been no slouches topping their table again with a ridonkulous goal differential led by Cat Rapp but anchored by one of our favorite Grizz now favorite Aurora Charley Boone! (There have been lots of great moments, but you can’t top our favorite player scoring an amazing goal and celebrating with his baby brother visiting from South Africa.)

Montana

Quick Notes:

The Griz focused on their school work this spring (as per usual) but had fun in training and was recognized as one of 10 programs in the nation (out of 1830 total) to win the United Soccer Coaches Team Pinnacle Award. It honors teams with a 75% winning percentage, superb academics (3.62 GPA) and excellent ethics (ie not drawing cards and penalties). Only 3 teams (men and womens) in the top Collegiate division (560 teams) won the award…the other women’s team? Fancy Pants Braniacs and National Championship contender: Stanford.

Oaxaca

Results

W 1 – D 2 – L 7 GF: 11/GA: 23

Great Players:

Hector Mascorra (MF); Edson Santos (LB)

Quick Notes:

I genuinely don’t know what has happened to Oaxaca of late. The consistent shellacking they received this spring is slightly impressive just in terms of its consistency. At this point there has to be some major changes made to funding or team building or literally everything to see the team change before the next campaign kicks off.

Emelec

Results

Masculino: W 4 – D 6 – L 7; GF 12 /GA: 21
Feminino: W 4 – D 1 – L 13; GF 12/GA: 40

Total: W 8 – D 7- L 20; GF 24/GA: 61

Great Players

Romario Caicedo (FB), Pedro Ortiz (GK), Facundo Castelli (ST)
Melanie Orbia (AM), Kiara Contreras (ST), Domenica Castillo (MF)

Quick Notes:

Halfway through their season, Emelec’s men are once again struggling to meet the expectations of the club and its fans. They seem anchored among the bottom four of the table, though a fortunate return to form for Keeper Pedro Ortiz has them hopeful of righting the ship if they can ever get the attack working beyond Facundo Castelli. Meanwhile, the women’s step up to the Superiga Feminina has brought challenges on both sides of the ball, but the teamwork and dedication has remained steady. Melanie Orbia seems to be the least intimidated of the newly minted top division players with several of the vital goals, she’ll need to be on her game to keep them out of relegation danger.

Legon

Results

W 2 – D 2 – L 11; GF 9 /GA: 27

Great Players

Frank Akoto (CB), Mohammed Alidu (CM)

Quick Notes:

After dodging the drop for the whole time we’ve covered them, the bell tolled for Legon at the end of this season. A dismal run of form sealed an already shaky season, and now that the team is poised to lose their midfield core (Alidu) and other vital players to local rivals Hearts of Oak (including returning legend Jonah Attaquaye) while also being hit with a transfer ban and possible point penalty for unpaid wages means the squad is in a dire situation and some have suggested moving the team back to Wa.

FK Vozdovac

Results:

6/23 (between seasons): W 5 – D 9 – L 3; GF: 16 /GA: 14

Great Players:

Bogdan Petrovic (F), Milan Kolarevic (LW), Mihajlo Milosavic (AM), Danilo Knezivic (DM), Nikola Jankovic (RB)

Quick Notes:

Having dropped into the second division last season, the Red Dragons needed to rediscover their confidence, and it certainly helped to have Bogdan Petrovic lead the charge with 13 goals (good for 2nd place in the league’s golden boot race). But as effective as Petrovic was, the team seemed most effective when Mihajlo Milosavic and Danilo Knezivic were at their best (their decisive loss to Macva that sealed a spot outside of promotion did not have Knezivic in the side…just saying).

Freiburg

Results

Herren: W 6 – D 4 – L 4; GF 21 /GA: 18
Frauen: W 5 – D 3 – L 1; GF 14 /GA: 9

Total: W 11 – D 7 – L 5; GF: 45/GA: 27

Great Players

Vincenzo Grifo (MF); Ritsu Doan (W), Noah Atubolu (GK);
Cora Zicai (W), Selina Vobian (W), Lisa Karl (LB)

Quick Notes:

Freiburg was in the hunt for a Champions’ League spot until the final day of the season when a loss to Frankfurt allowed (Alex’s favorite) Dortmund to slip in tot he final spot. Still it was a great first season for Julian Schuster taking over the reigns from Christian Streich…unfortunately some of the most superb showings of the season may be headed out the door as bigger clubs come knocking (notably Frankfurt for Ritsu Doan and AC Milan for Noah Atubolu). Meanwhile the Frauen had an excellent run of form in the spring, going unbeaten for over two months as the left flank of Lisa Karl and Cora Zicai handled everything they were asked to do and more. The ladies of the black forest are still trying to crack the top three of the league, but they continue to show formidable reserve.

Rosenborg

Results

(6/26) Menner: W 10 – D 5 – L 2; GF 38 /GA: 15
(6/26) Kvinner: W 13 – D 1 – L 3; GF 45 /GA: 15

Total: W 20 – D 6 – L 5; GF: 83/ GA: 30

Great Players

Marius Broholm (W), Adrien Periera (LB), Thomas Nemcick (CB), Sverre Halseth Nypan (CM); Rebecka Holum (W), Celine Emile Nergard (ST), Oline Brekke Fulgem (CM)

Quick Notes:

Reports of the men’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. After a few years of wandering in the wilderness, they are back in the European qualification spots, and owe it largely to a youth movement that may be about to bear even bigger dividends in selling top talents to major clubs around the world (the big buzz isi Sverre Halseth Nypan going to learn from Norwegian giant Erling Haaland in Manchester), but the team’s real strength this season has been the defense which has locked down opponents for the second fewest goals (the leader has played three fewer games).

While the youth took over the men’s team, the women’s side has relied on some more practiced hands…or feet. Striking tandem: Rebecka Holum and Celine Emile Nergard have been a great one-two punch for the Trolljenta with Oline Brekke Fulgem serving as the primary driver of the midfield engine. Sadly, the top two teams (Brann and Valerenga) appear to have run away from the rest of the division, so despite a great showing the long quest for a league championship looks likely to continue into next season. (*Note: I wrote this hoping to reverse jinx the team and put them in line for a trophy…but now that I’ve said that…oh never mind)

Ross County

Results

W 3 – D 3 – L 9; GF 16 /GA: 23

Great Players:

Jordan Amissah (GK), Kacper Lopata (CB), Akil Wright (WB)

Quick Notes:

It must be said that County had been playing with fire for several years now and they finally got burnt to the ground, dropping out of the Premiership in their third trip to the playoffs. They didn’t win a game after March, and while the defense was able to keep them competitive, the absolute disappearance of the attack doomed their hopes of staying in the top tier. Of course, the last time they dropped down they popped right back up again as the top team in the Championship…so here’s hoping to another quick return.

Grenoble

Results

Women: W 9 – D 2 – L 1 GF: 23/GA: 7
Men: W 4 – D 3 – L 5 GF: 17/GA: 17

Total: W 13- D 5 – L 6 GF: 40/GA 24

Great Players

Women: Julie Tissino (GK), Romane Pilot (DF), Elsa Domenjoud (DF), Laurine Baga (MF), Melanie Chabrier (F)
Men: Jessy Bennet (MF), Theo Valls (MF), Shaq Delop (WB), Allain Tchaptchet (CB)

Quick Notes:

The big headline belongs to the ladies of the Alps who captured their long deserved Division 3 Trophy and celebrated with an even more well earned party! The promotion was pegged to the defense as Julie Tissino allowed only 14 goals, 11 fewer than their next closest competitor (with credit also due to captain Elsa Domenjoud and veteran defender Romane Pilot), while Laurine Baga ran the offense in midfield.

Once again, the men’s team had a change in management (though I remain uncontacted…hint), but ever present in the teams consistently competent production was Jessy Bennet, this time bolstered by a defensive duo of Allain Tchaptchet (handling everything in the air) and Shaquil Delos (handling most of the attacks form the wings).

Punjab

Results

W 2 – D 1 – L 4; GF 12 /GA: 10

Great Players:

Ezequiel Vidal (W), Nikhil Prabhu (CM/CB), Tekcham Singh (LB)

Quick Notes:

The Lions of Punjab (via Delhi) had a rough go of their last few matches this season. A three match losing streak, struggling without Luka Macjen or Filip Mrzljak, saw them fall out of the playoff spots and settle in a tenth position. They showed good work in the Super Cup with Ezequiel Vidal helping them to the quarter finals where they fell to eventual Cup Winner FC Goa.

Year 5

Year 5

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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 it started when you were little kids, and I still like the joke)

Final Standings

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Montana12522.161.530.53
Minnesota2610151.732.331.25
Rosenborg377251.711.681.16
Grenoble2610221.521.601.12
Emelec1713131.491.210.93
Punjab135121.471.671.77
Freiburg2515271.341.491.70
Ross County1310201.1401.302.00
Legon Cities125191.1390.891.11
Vozdovac1311211.111.041.18
Alebrijes68140.931.041.93
Table Updated 12/30/24

You can read all about the end of the campaign and some general thoughts in the December recap post.

While the Griz walked away with a regular season title, and las Electricas of Emelec won their tournament and a promotion to the top tier of women’s soccer in Ecuador, several usually strong sides came back down to earth a bit. The Rosenborg Kvinner underwent a lousy end of their campaign to finish lower than they have since we started. Minnesota Aurora were knocked out earlier in the playoffs than ever before. Grenoble, Punjab, and Freiburg all went from table topping to solidly mid-table.

Hardest to watch were the teams that struggled the most. Emelec’s men side finishing last in the league, Alebrijes and Legon Cities suffering long losing streaks. And Vozdovac got demoted out of the top flight in Serbia.

Players of the Year

The best XI of the year features four returning starters. Vincenzo Grifo is fully on the road to being enshrined in the hall of fame of our minds, and for the second year in a row, Cat Rapp joins him in the midfield. Luka Macjen’s love of playing in Punjab could put him in the same spot in a few years, and Mathys Touraine was again the best corner back of the year (though his moving on to Paris may reopen a spot for Jessy Benet to return to the squad full time).

Newer players may not be here for long, The Griz are limited by graduation limits, so Charley Boone is done after this. Froya Dorsin is already off for Paris and Sverre Nypan Halseth may be in any number of bigger profile stadia within the next month or two. Likewise it’s hard to see struggling teams like Legon and Ross County hold on to strong defenders like Frank Akoto and Ryan Leak. But Kerly Corozo becomes the first Electricas player to crack the starting XI and may find a spot on the wing for many years to come.

The bench includes Alison Ochoa as another representative of las Electricas and Claudia Fabre from Grenoble hopefully creating a Charley’s Angels trio with Luka playing Bosworth. (Yes I’m making 50 year old pop culture references despite the fact that I’m only 40…) Minnesota adds in two more midfielders with Mariah Nguyen and Bongi alongside the Freiburg Frauen and defensive midfielder Samantha Steuerwald. Our Defensive bench is made up of the best of the bad lot with cellar dwelling Emelec, Oaxaca and Vozdovac each offering one body…but Dayne St. Clair should be able to handle them.

Nobel FC Most Enjoyable Outstanding Writer

The MEOW, as befits our cat-crazed house, goes to this year’s highest rated Nobel FC subject: Jean Paul Sartre. I do feel that I should note that Jaroslav Seifert and Han Kang were surprising treats. But Sartre’s vision and imagination (plus raging ego) gave him the highest rating so far (a number matched in video games by this year’s FIFA Player of the Year: Vinicius Jr.)

What’s Next

I will continue to ask people to comment, and they will continue to ignore me.

But hopefully in the coming year, I’ll be able to give more voice to my sons so that this truly becomes a space for all the MacKenzie Boys and not just me.

Catching Up with the Kids: Minnesota

Catching Up with the Kids: Minnesota

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Ok, I’ve said it plenty of times by now: but I really struggled to keep up daily writing routines when I was teaching full time. That’s what happens to me when I spend most of the day supporting 70 other people’s writing, and the rest of it trying to be a parent.

So rather than write one post covering six months of eleven teams in action, I’m going to break it up with posts as best as I can, I’ll fill you in on how the games have gone, who has excelled and any other news and stories worth knowing.

Match Results: 20 W – 8 D – 12 L ; GF: 103 GA: 49

Minnesota United: 10 W – 6 D – 11 L; GF: 40 GA: 41

The Loons have veered between world beating confidence and inexplicable distress. At the season’s start, there were some excellent showings despite upheaval in the roster and confusion on the coaching search (more on that in a little bit). But the team came together after the introduction of new manager Eric Ramsay and came into May as one of the top three teams in the Western Conference.

And then the wings fell off the high flying Loons.

That’s not fully accurate: the wings fell off the Loons and caught on fire and crumbled into ash and then got vacuumed up by a strangely aggressive cleaning crew who took them out and spat on them and called them names.

Just in case you think I’m being hyperbolic, please consider that over the first 14 games of the Loons schedule they won 8, drew 4 and only lost twice. But in June and July the Loons only won and drew 2, which means they quadrupled their loss total by dropping 9!

Minnesota Aurora: 10 W – 2 D – 1 L; GF: 63 GA: 8

To the south of St. Paul, Minnesota Aurora continued to light up their competition. They poured in 21 goals over two matches with Kenosha, and another 26 in the four matches against Chicago Dutch Lions and Bavarian United (a side out of Milwaukee).

Once again Aurora seems to be a proving ground for talented young players en route to the professional ranks as they dominate the games and share the love in racking up goals. But, once again, heartbreak awaited them in the knockout stages. Fortunately, instead of getting to the final match before the suffering began, the Minnesota side was dropped out with a sudden shocking twist of fate against Indy Eleven.

Other Stories:

There were a few shifts in personal in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Nicole Lukic, who oversaw the first two supremely successful Aurora seasons left before things got started to take over youth squad recruitment for the US Women’s National Team. The USWNT is arguably the most prestigious soccer program in the country (many World Cups/Gold Medals will do that for you), and Lukic had a tremendous run bringing in great young players to the Twin Cities, so she should be superb there, while Aurora barely missed a beat in the league with Colette Montgomery taking over.

The men’s situation was a bit more…uh…chaotic. You may recall that Sean McAuley was going to be in charge temporarily…then left to get rid of that “temporarily”. Cameron Knowles stepped up, but was still labeled as an “interim” manager even after the squad looked strong for the first few matches. Finally, the Loons landed a high profile manager from the other MUFC (Manchester United Football Club). Ramsay is young, but has a bright future…provided these summer doldrums don’t undo him.

As if coaching upheaval wasn’t already chaotic, Minnesota United had to deal with some transfer sagas as well: Kervin Arriaga has been a great defensive midfielder the last several years, and now he’ll get to try to show the same thing in Europe (albeit for Partizan Belgrade…against our pals at Vozdovac). But Kervin’s upward trajectory is nothing in comparison with the death spiral of the supremely talented Emmanuel Reynoso. From the fulcrum of the club who could demand his heart’s desire, Reynoso has spent two years preferring to hang out back home in Argentina rather than training with teammates. I don’t blame him, I’m a home body too…but when you hang out with guys who attack random teenagers with guns …uh…that’s not so cool. Ultimately Minnesota moved Reynoso to Mexico just to be rid of the discomfort…even though dropping him probably didn’t help the squad get better…but it did make the club less violent so…I’ll take it as a win.

Star Players:

Sophie French and Cat Rapp once again dominated defensive lines all throughout the uppermidwest. This year they were helped by newcomer Sage Wimes, and midfield maestros Katie Duong, Addison Weichers and Mariah Nguyen.

Adorable DSC pictures, just because.

The Loons seemed happy to give up the “hope for Reynoso to do something magical” strategy and found a good balance in their team. Tani Oluwaseyi has emerged as another goal scoring threat (even while the boys’ favorite Bongi struggles with lingering injuries). Oluwaseyi even managed to make the Canadian national team alongside permanent highlight reel goalie: Dayne St. Claire. St. Clair had help from Joseph Rosales’ very good defense in the backline and the all around creation and goal scoring accumen of Robin Lod and Hasani Dotson.

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.

82. Bring Your Best Attitude

82. Bring Your Best Attitude

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In the preparation work for the Nobel XI writing experiment, I read a book by prize winner JM Coetzee where the South African writes about an unfair soccer match.

For context, a rag tag group of local boys, including protagonist David, is groomed to play against a local team with more resources (a group from a do-gooding orphanage). When the local boys are summarily drubbed by the orphans, David’s guardian storms on to the field and denounces the orphans and their teacher.

“This is not a football game, this is a slaughter of the innocents…They are bullies. They win by intimidating their opponents…If you really want to test your team, Senor, you should play against stronger opponents.”

JM Coetzee The Death of Jesus

That same despair of unfair treatment occurs in a few other spheres of our Soccer fandom, and with surprising frequency in the women’s game.

In the USL-W Heartland, Minnesota Aurora is patently the dominant force. The biggest market, the biggest ownership base, the most accomplished players leading to consecutive unbeaten seasons and local conference titles. To our rivals in Chicago, Green Bay and Kenosha, our lovable little Aurora is the biggest bully on the playground.

Dear Boys,

At the same time, half-way around the world, the Women’s World Cup has kicked off with its largest ever field. It will feature teams from 32 nations in action (the same as the men’s, though for less prize money). There’s been some celebration about the growth of the game, but there’s also been a lot of handwringing and cogitating about the lack of quality that comes with expanding the tournament. Many expect big sides like Sweden, Norway, England, France, and (of course) the United States to win, the only question is by how much.

To paraphrase the concern as voiced on a recent World Football by our one-time reader Mani Djazmi: these uncompetitive games can turn off viewers. People will know what will probably happen and therefore won’t watch until later rounds when a few true contenders are left standing. This will lead to lower ratings which leads to lower revenue which leads to a lower perceived value for the women’s game.

Better then to have the best teams play the best teams, and leave potential punching bags like New Zealand and Haiti, Zambia and Vietnam out of it.

But to me disliking the bully or wincing at blow outs is only one view of the situation.

Rather than viewing it as bullies and blowouts creating hurt feelings and lost value, what if we re-center around the perspective of those teams who are out on the field.

The teams who face Aurora might well be frustrated not to be winning trophies, but they are (like Aurora) largely college and High School kids who want to get better. Who are there most of all, to learn. They get a chance to spend a few summer weeks as semi-professional athletes with big crowd and televised matches and newly built friendships.

Batcheba Louis and Alex Greenwood in action

The teams who are on the field are stepping up to a challenge. We could continue to focus on the teams that are likely going to win, but we could also set that aside and talk about how great it is to see a team like Nicholas Delpine’s Haiti stepping up to a challenge. Connecting women from a global diaspora to support their home country, learn, and grow.

Sports, and soccer in particular, isn’t just about who won and who lost. It’s about after the final whistle too.

If you boil it down to the end result then, yes, you don’t need to report much on Haiti because they don’t have much of a chance. But by that same logic, since the vast majority of teams around the world aren’t getting hardware this year, we probably could write about only two-three clubs in every country and ignore the rest. It’s the theory of the Superleague all over again, but more well-intentioned than that ill-begotten cash grab.

But if you consider what comes after the final whistle, then it’s not about who won or lost. It’s not even about why they won or lost. It’s about how teams learn from what they experience.

You can learn by doing like having success against the greatest opponents. But success need not be defined by winning: Sherly Jeudy set up some solid chances for her teammates in Haiti’s game against England. Those are great, and, knowing Sherly, she’ll look for ways to make them better.

And you can learn by seeing: there’s no shortage of great examples in your opponents. Whether you faced off against Tianna Harris or Cat Rapp, you can learn from what they did. After all, they aren’t your enemies, they’re just your opposition.

If it seems like your team doesn’t learn anything after these lopsided games, then you have learned one thing: you need a new coach.

And in addition to all those fuzzier outcomes, occasionally surprises and upsets happen and we’re all better for it (to wit the long standing giants in Norway getting beaten by New Zealand in the league opener, or the team that matched Aurora last year failing to make the playoffs this year).

In reality, everyone, every day, can only control two things: their actions, and their attitude.

The risks of blow out games (whether to goliaths of women’s soccer or a fictional team of orphans) may appear great. The actions of your beloved side may not match your opponents. But ultimately your attitude affects how you respond, and how you learn from the experience.

Bring your best attitude.

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 25: Goals, Goals, Goals!

Week 25: Goals, Goals, Goals!

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recap

Minnesota Aurora 5 – 1 Bavarian United (F)

Aurora managed to balance their attack again with five different goal scorers (including the usual suspects of Cat Rapp, Mariah Nguyen, Hannah Adler, Maya Hansen, and Tiana Harris). These highlights do an excellent job of showcasing Abby Ostrem and Cat Rapp providing passes so dangerous they come with a surgeon general’s warning.

Lyn Football 2 – 0 Rosenborg (F)

Rosenborg took a third defeat this season, a sign that the Toppserien is much more equal than it has been in the past. Though it was a bit surprising that the loss came to Lynn who is currently just above the relegation zone, a rare occurrence as the TrollKvinner tend to drop points to others competing for the title instead. Perhaps this is a sign that the Toppserien has becomemore competitive, and a more competitive league means more fun for everyone

Deportiva Cuenca 3 – 2 Emelec

Los Bombillos wrapped up their spring season with another defeat. They got two goals back from their early goal by Cuenca, but despite Alejandro Cabeza’s best work, Deportiva came back again and Emelec settled into 13th place.

Arna Bjornar 0 – 5 Rosenborg (F–Cup)

Lyn may just have woken up the sleeping giants in Trondheim. Pouring 5 past the weakened Arna-Bjornar side gave them a much needed boost heading into the quarterfinals. The surprising star of the show: Defender Sara Horte, who notched a defender’s hattrick just a few days after being named to Norway’s World Cup team.

RKC Soccer Club 1 – 8 Minnesota (F)

After thumping Racine by ten the last time out, the Aurora might have taken their foot off the gas by falling behind early and only scoring two in the first half. And then came six in a row in the second half. Hannah Adler and Kenzie Langdock each got a brace and the team saw Addison Weichers and Arianna Del Moral get goals off the bench.

News & Notes

Weekly Alex Highlights

It seems that big A has discovered a taste for scoring goals (3 of them). It helps when your team wins the game and you finally get a reason to gloat.

I made a lot of fatherly comments about “if you’re happy with how you played then you can always win,” and “I’m just proud that you played well with your teammates and supported them”. Which led to Alex groaning, “ugggh…fine dad, whatever.” (If only there was professional sassing, you’d be a prodigy.)

International Update

Teams are still warming up for the North American Gold Cup, and while he didn’t get on the field in Nations League finals for Canada, Dayne St. Clair will be at the ready for the second tournament.

Obviously, this comes from IMAGO (but it shows Adamu and Gregoritsch so I’m happy to provide a plug)

Fellow goalkeeper Mark Flekken also stayed on the bench for Holland and so did Mathias Ginter for Germany. Michael Gregoritsch and Phillip Lienhart did well in Austria’s Euro Championship qualifiers, getting a draw against Belgium and a win over with Sweden (they may also have made the final pitch to new Freiburg signee/Gregoritsch’s Austrian strike partner Junior Adamu). Roland Sallai wasn’t able to catch fire against Montenegro but did find the net to seal the win against Lithuana.

Beyond the west, Ritsu Doan got a goal in Japan’s drubbing of El Salvador, and Blongokhule Hlongwane put in a solid 15 minutes in South Africa’s win against Morocco, and Michael Boxall…well…

Standing with Boxy

The worst news that came out of this week of international soccer came from our favorite Minnesotan-Kiwi, Michael Boxall.

In the first half of a match against Qatar (yes, the same Qatar I snarked about all last December), Boxall reported being called a racial slur. When referees did nothing about it, the New Zealand team left the field and abandoned the match.

Qatar officials spent a couple days pretending that nothing happened, then claiming that it was just between two players, then claiming that the player in question (Yusuf Abdurisag) was actually the target of a slur from Boxall. Obviously, I’m not in a place to judge something that happened thousands of miles away, but given that New Zealand walked out when they were winning and that Boxall has never been accused of similar actions in six years within one of the most diverse leagues in the world…I have my doubts.

It doesn’t mean much, but we also stand with Boxy.

Player of the Week

As we look to honor often over looked talents, it’s worth saying that Boxy has helped lead the third best defense in MLS’ western conference (which would be even better if it didn’t have the 13th offense in the conference). But setting aside the field, Michael Boxall is imminently worthy of being saluted particularly because, in leading a protest, Michael Boxall did so much more than play a soccer game. He showed the kind of character I hope you boys do too.

Standing

Emelec will get a much needed break after their Copa Sudamericana tie this week and then it’ll be a summer of Minnesota and Rosenborg! (And a summer where Punjab keeps looking over their shoulders)

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Minnesota16571.892.391.14
Rosenborg156101.651.740.90
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble–b156171.341.161.13
Emelec5871.151.201.20
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, June 22nd

Friday, June 23rd

Saturday, June 24th

Rosenborg BK v. Asane (F)

Real Salt Lake v. Minnesota United (M)

Bavarian United v. Minnesota Aurora (F)

Sunday, June 25th

Rosenborg v. Sarpsborg 08 (M)

Monday, June 26th

Tuesday, June 27th

Wednesday, June 28th

Emelec v. Danubio (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Plus tracking results for Gold Cup matches and the impending Women’s World Cup.

Week 24: The Quiet Season

Week 24: The Quiet Season

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

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 22: Cue the Crying

Week 22: Cue the Crying

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recaps

Huracan 2 – 2 Emelec (M–Confederation Cup)

Emelec is in an odd spot, floundering in the league but competitive in the confederation cup. Few things show that better than making a trip to Buenos Aires and walking out with points despite an absolutely staggering gaffe to give Huracan an early goal. But they fought back with a great volley from Alejandro Cabeza on Bryan Carabali’s cross and Miller Bolanos’ late goal saved the day. But the last fifteen minutes were extra painful, especially for Cabeza who went from winning the match to being sent off after a pair of VAR checks found him both offside and aggressive with the elbows.

Valenciennes 1 – 0 Grenoble (M)

The Alpiners did a fine job of building up out of the back and connecting their attack, but couldn’t get anything across the goal line.

Frankfurt 2 – 1 Freiburg

Freiburg dropped only their second game to teams outside the top 4. Frankfurt came in motivated for a short at the Europa Conference League if they got a strong result and Leverkusen didn’t but this wasn’t enough.

Valerenga 3 – 1Rosenborg BK (F)

The top of the Toppserien turned into a less competitive match than you might expect with the Oslo side beating our girls from Trondheim, and using a five player midfield to overwhelm Rosenborg. It’s already a nine point gap between the top two teams who won’t meet again until November.

Partizan Belgrade 2 – 1 Vozdovac

The Red Dragons wrapped up their season with a predictable loss to one of the bigger Belgrade clubs. Partizan will have to settle for playoffs into the Europa Conference league, but at least Vozdovac don’t serve as a front for facists….yeah, I said it.

Minnesota 1 – 1 Real Salt Lake (M)

The Loons got some help from Real Salt Lake with an own goal only moments after Salt Lake took the lead. Again, they should feel unlucky as they had enough quality to probably score twice on their own, rather than relying on good fortune just to snatch a draw. Bongokhule Hlongwane was dangerous again, Will Trapp and Hasani Dotson boosted the midfield, and Minnesota rejoiced at the news that Emanuel Reynoso was nearing match fitness again.

Minnesota 4 – 0 Chicago Dutch Lions (F)

The Aurora came out with a fury in Chicago, pestering the goal until Kennedy Faulknor notched a gorgeous goal from a long distance shot. From there Maya Hansen and Cat Rapp continued their impressive double act to add another couple goals and put Minnesota in position to run away with their USL-W division again.

Vfl Wolfsburg 2 – 1 SC Freiburg (F)

Wolfsburg continued to be Freiburg’s bete-noir with another win at the griffin’s expense. Judith Steinert got a consolation goal, and the defense again showed some strong skills to keep things pretty close, as the Frauen of the Black Forest settled in their comfortable 6th place position.

Kilmarnock 3 – 1 Ross County

County needed a victory to ensure they’d stay up, there was pressure and intensity galore. And Kilmarnock scored. Then Alex Iacovitti committed a penalty that Kilmarnock converted. With a thoroughly deflated feeling, County did grab a consolation goal through Yan Dhanda’s penalty, but gave another one up shortly after. So, the loss was settled.

Legon Cities 1 – 0 Hearts of Oak

While Hearts of Oak has long been a dominant force in Ghanaian soccer, the upstarts of Legon have often seemed like the little brothers in the greater Accra landscape. But Legon looked great throughout the game, pushing Hearts of Oak around until Kofi Kordzi’s goal slipped through (it was probably the least likely to go in in). The “Phobians” grew into the match in the second half, but Legon’s defense held firm for their first ever win against one of the local league’s giants. (To be fair, Hearts have dropped five of their last six, so it’s maybe not that shocking, but a win is always welcome).

Le Puy Foot 1 – 1 Grenoble Foot (F)

Les Iseroises had a lot of confidence coming into play Le Puy on an excellent winning streak and facing a team who trailed in the table and had lost by two in their prior meeting. But Le Puy did well, the Grenoble side was frustrated and in the end it was only a point…a very…very painful point (see note below)

Brann 3 – 1 Rosenborg (M)

The Trollguter lost again as Carlo Holse has not been able to find the attacking vim he had in the past and Rosenborg’s anemic offense has them down in the unfamiliar territory of 11th place (the same rank as their goals for). This time, only a penalty saved them from getting blanked.

Emelec 0 – 0 Guayaquil City (M)

An unremarkable Guayaquil face off for Emelec has left the side down just one point off the absolute bottom of the table…yeesh.

Austin FC 2 – 1 Minnesota United (M)

Down in the heart of Texas, the Loons have had some strong showings and some suspect ones. They held their own against Austin and (again) could feel unlucky not to have more balls bounce their way (their expected goals were 3, their total goals were 1…that’s unfortunate. Mender Garcia did do an excellent job setting up Joseph Rosales equalizer, but for the first time in a while the defense looked taxed and unable to keep up.

Minnesota Aurora 10 – 0 RKC FC (F)

Honestly, I was a little frustrated preparing for this because I could not figure out RKC FC’s alphabet soup of a name. Turns out the team is from Racine (R) in Kenosha County (KC) and it is a football club (FC). They also have yet to win this season, and facing last year’s finalists…they were not in a good position to change that. Maya Hansen got a hat trick with the help of Cat Rapp’s assists and took over as the club’s all-time leading scorer (though that is only a two year record)

News & Notes

So…how did it go?

Last time we talked through all the permutations and possibilities. Now things are settled, and here’s where we stand

Grenoble: The men have one last game left, but are firmly grounded in the mid table. I thought the ladies were firmly placed in the mid-table, but ended up getting relegated due to a change in the French leagues set-up (see next news).

Vozdovac: The dragons were in the unusual position of knowing as soon as they landed in the top half of the table that they weren’t going to be relegated and they had no chance of topping the league. Still, it was more fun than being constantly afraid.

Freiburg: the women were settled in the mid-table, but the men had an outside chance to join the top sides going to the prestigious Champions’ League. But Eintracht Frankfurt’s victory spoiled those plans and the Griffins are going back to the Europa League (where they looked great until running in to Juventus).

Ross County: The good news, the Staggies aren’t relegated! Bad news…yet…After their loss County will have to take a two leg tie against Partick Thistle to keep their spot in the Premiership.

Wait, wait…what happened to the Grenoble ladies?

I’ll be honest, I was stumped when the Grenoble social media accounts were upset at a 1-1 draw to end the season against Le Puy. Because (silly me) I had neglected to read a memo from the French Football Federation a year ago announcing a change to the league. Instead of two divisions in Ligue 2, there will be only one next year. Grenoble was right on the cusp of qualifying for the redesigned Ligue 2…but the draw left them level with Albi Marsac…but ahead on goals…which didn’t matter as much as the fact that back in September and December they lost to Albi by a total of 3-0.

So…having a better goal difference, a similar offense, a better defense, and a run of six unbeaten…Grenoble is going down to Ligue 3 because of two games in the last calendar year.

Sometimes the rules around this game are dumb. But we can make the best of the bad situation and hope that Grenoble comes out to win Ligue 3 and jump up a level next year.

Bet Pawa Update

The impossible to expect Bet Pawa league in Ghana is two matches away from it’s conclusion and things are becoming much clearer.

Only three teams can win the title (down from 12 two weeks ago), Medeama SC is in the lead with Aduana Stars and Bechem United needing things to break their way. The relegation battle is still wild. Everyone from sixth place Berekum Chelsea down to King Faisal could still be knocked out (including the Royals of Legon). Things should be clearer after the coming weekend when King Faisal must win against the Royals to have a chance of survival, but a win for Legon might make them safe (provided one team ranked 14-16 also loses)

Player of the Week

Maya Hansen has had one heck of a run this past week. With five goals in two matches this week, she’s been vital in making Aurora the familiar indomitable selves. The question may not be: can they win, the question may be “who is going to stop them?”

Standing

Oof , that was a rough…rough…ROUGH week. There were 15 matches, and our favorite teams got 3 wins, 3 draws and 9 defeats. That’s 10 points from a possible 45. If not for Maya Hansen’s dominance and a superb showing by Legon this would have been utterly miserable.

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, June 1st

Stojorsdals Blink v. Rosenborg (M)

Partick Thistle v. Ross County (Premiership Playoff)

Friday, June 2nd

Grenoble v. Guingamp (M)

Saturday, June 3rd

Rosenborg BK v. Brann (F)

Barcelona SC v. Emelec (M)

Minnesota v. Toronto FC (M)

Sunday, June 4th

King Faisal v. Legon Cities

Rosenborg v. HamKam (M)

Rochester FC v. Minnesota (F)

Ross County v. Partick Thistle (Premiership Playoff)

Monday, June 5th

Tuesday, June 6th

LSK Kvinner v. Rosenborg (F)

Wednesday, June 7th

Emelec v. Guarani (M-Confederation Cup)

Minnesota v. Chicago Dutch Lions (F)