Tag: Dayne St. Clair

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.

MacKenzie Cup: February ’25

MacKenzie Cup: February ’25

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Let’s get at it again, with a short month (made shorter by my late post last time) there’s less to cover, but more to enjoy

Between Season Squads:

Rosenborg, Montana (and Legon Cities)

Legon Cities was schecduled to face Karela United, but the match was cancelled so there’s nothing new to report for the Royals.

Meanwhile, there was another round of expected rest for the snowier portions of our soccer world. The Loons fled for sunny California to train and then kick off their season. Rosenborg made their way to Portugal and had a fun time training with others in a mini-tournament. Meanwhile the Griz focused on classwork and enjoying their new bubble training dome.

Rosenborg will hit the ground running in the next month, but most matches will happen while we’re on spring break, thus after our next update goes to “print”

LEGON March: HOME v. Nsoatreman, AWAY v. Asante Kotoko, HOME v. Berekum Chelsea, AWAY v. Accra Lions

ROSENBORG March: (W): AWAY v. Brann

Alebrijes de Oaxaca– 1 W – 0 D – 1 L; GF: 3/GA: 2

Oaxaca came into the month struggling heavily, winless in the year. Heck they were winless since September. So it was a bit of a surprise to see that they got their first win in 12 tries against a top of the table side in Atalante (2-0). Perhaps Atalante overlooked Alebrijes, but whatever the reason, Midfielder Fernando Morelos notched a brace. And the squad celebrated (deservedly).

Things looked to be breaking their way again in the next match as the Oaxacans were a man up after just 11 minutes following a Venados red card. But…the squad somehow managed to give up two goals to their opponents and only scored a consolation goal AFTER they also got a red card. (1-2 L)

March: HOME v. Correcaminos, AWAY v. Jaibos, and UDG, HOME v. Tlaxcala

Punjab– 0 W – 0 D – 2 L; GF: 2/GA: 5

After getting used to Punjab De Sher reliably topping our table and challenging everyone, it’s become a little dispiriting to see them face consistent struggles. Another late defeat (2-1), this time in Chennai stung again as it undid another solid outing from Nikhil Prabhu and Ravi Kumar. Moreover, it looked like with a range of injuries the often reliable Luka Macjen and Filip Marzjlak were forced to share time rather than dominate as a duo.

With those limitations firmly in place the ensuing defeat to East Bengal (3-1) was largely predictable. As coach Panagiotis Dilmperis tries to McGyver together an attack from the remnants of what was a potent attack at the start of the year, another second choice defense really didn’t help things.

The only solace is that there is no relegation from the ISL, but it’s hard knowing that the recent dip collapse in form turned a season that started with Punjab competing for the top of the table has left them outside of the playoff spot with 8 points to make up in three matches. That would require three wins and quite a lot of help from 5 teams head of them in the standings. Having just bottled winnable games (given season-long form) in Chennai and Bengal, they can only hope things go better on the road against bottom of the table Hydrabad and Mohammedan.

March: HOME v. FC Goa, AWAY v. Hydrabad and Mohammedan SC

Freiburg–3 W – 0 D – 0 L; GF: 8/GA: 0

F: 1 W – 0 D – 0 L; GF: 2/GA: 0

The match against Carl Zeiss Jena was postponed, so the only match for die Frauen was their against Koln. In addition to Cora Zica continuing to be a strong attacker, 17-year-old center back Maj Schneider celebrated her first ever start with a goal and a clean sheet!

March: AWAY v Turbine Potsdam, HOME v. Eintracht Frankfurt

M: 2 W – 0 D- 0 L; GF: 6/GA: 0

Freiburg needed help from an Own Goal to win against St. Pauli (1-0) after Vincenzo Grifo surprisingly missed a penalty. Kilian Sidilla had the best outing of a great defensive group that stopped their opponents from ever getting their offense clicking, with the law firm back line of Ginter, Gunter and Leinhart holding strong as well.

Eren Dikcii and Ristu Doan on their
way to the polls!

With things moving along nicely, Freiburg absolutely trounced Werder Bremen 5-0 in their biggest offensive outpouring since November of 2023! Vincenzo Grifo (please contain your shock) and Ritsu Doan each knocked in two goals and Noah Atabolu stopped his fourth consecutive penalty to seal the clean sheet in a resounding win.

As an added cherry on top, Freiburg’s efforts to get out the vote in German elections remain a gold standard helping increase the voting to 86% turn out! YAY VOTING! YAY FREIBURG!

March: AWAY v. Augsburg, HOME v. Leipzig, AWAY v. Mainz,

Ross County– 2 W – 0 D – 0 L; GF: 6 /GA: 1

Ronan Hale has quietly become a superb striker ranking 2nd in the Scottish Goal Scorers race this season (in the non-Old Firm division). He was back at it again against Motherwell, notching two goals in the first half to grab all three points on the road (3-0).

Back on home turf in Dingwall, the Staggies picked up another big win (3-1) versus Dundee FC, with Akil Wright continuing to be an absolute terror down the right side and Kacper Lopata anchoring the defense (and even chipping in an assist this match as well)

March: AWAY v. St. Johnstone, HOME v. Kilmarnock, AWAY v. Hearts

Grenoble– 1 W – 2 D – 0 L; GF: 6 /GA: 3

Women 0 W – 1 D – 0 L; GF: 1 /GA: 1

Les femmes only managed to take a point from their home match against Colomiers (1-1), and while that small slip shouldn’t be a huge affair, it feels a little like one. After all, there’s already very little margin for error in the quest to top the table, so this was less than ideal.

March: AWAY v. Chasseau Decines, and Le Puy; HOME v. Montpelier II, AWAY v. Monaco

Men–1 W – 1 D – 0 L; GF: 5 /GA: 2

After Frederic Geugen’s brief tenure as an interim manager, Grenoble brought in Franck Rizzetto. But while Rizetto came in, Pape Meissa Ba (aka Grenoble’s largest attacking piece) completed his move to the Bundesliga. It could have been a fraught moment, but instead Grenoble managed one of their best offensive outings this season notching 4 goals for the first time since September in a win against Amiens (4-1). Help came from all over the pitch including the invigorated defensive midfielder Theo Valls, and outright defenders Loris Mouyokolo and Shaquil Delos. The ensuing home tie against Guingamp was a less inspiring 1-1 draw, but it did include a Jessy Benet goal, so really who needs to complain?

March: AWAY v Pau, HOME v. AC Ajaccio, AWAY v. Clermont Foot

Vozdovac–1 W – 1 D – 2 L; GF: 1/GA: 0

Filipovic intimidating the ball!

The best start for a team kicking off their 2025 undoubtedly went to Vozdovac as the Red Dragons got points in both their matches. Winning 1-0 at home v. Dubocia with a goal from Mihajlo Milosavic was a great start. They may well have wanted more points from their tie against Smederevo (0-0) but you should never look askance at points on the road. And the outing also allowed goalie Nenad Filipovic to post his 5th straight clean sheet giving him 458 minutes without allowing a goal! Well done Nenad!

March: HOME v Macva, AWAY v. Worker, HOME v. Borac, AWAY v Grafica, HOME v. Radniki, AWAY v. Vrsac

Emelec–0 W – 0 D – 2 L; GF: 0 /GA: 6

After what can only be described as a lousy end of their previous season, hopes were high that Los Bombillos would start fresh and return to the traditional powerhouse role that saw them become one of Ecuador’s greatest clubs.

…Or they could lose 4-0 to Universidad and 2-0 to Delfin.

They did the second one.

Worse, the defeats have left Emelec’s men side winless since September, and with Alebrijes winning (finally) they now have the longest losing streak of all our teams. Good luck to new coach Jorge Celico…you clearly need it.

March: HOME v. Macara; AWAY v. Vinotinto; HOME v. LDU

Minnesota– 0 W – 0 D – 1 L; GF: 0 /GA: 1

The Loons kicked off their season in Los Angeles as a dark horse contender for the Western Conference title against the most obvious of bright horses: LAFC. But the squad held their own for most of the match. Good pressure and strong passing showed Bongi and Kelvin Yeboah to be ready to continue on right as they had last season, and Dayne St. Clair was tough as always. But against the well-funded and expertly drilled Angels there’s little room for error and the Loons paid the price with a 1-0 defeat.

March: HOME v. Montreal, AWAY v. San Jose and Kansas City, HOME v. LA Galaxy

STANDINGS

(See the standings page for full updates)

Tune in for our next recap: March 26th right before we hit the sunny streets of Orlando!

Catching Up with the Kids: Minnesota

Catching Up with the Kids: Minnesota

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

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.

September: A Lifetime in a Month

September: A Lifetime in a Month

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Author’s Note: This month I went back to teaching and running a classroom independently. And Alex went to Kindergarten for the first time. So, daily writing tasks like match recaps turned into a low priority. I have made the command decision to make the recap posts a more limited affair. Rather than 4-5 a month we’ll do three (on the 10th, 20th, and 30th of each month). In part because designing a class and grading 75 assignments a day takes significantly more out of me, and in part because it’s my writing project, and I am answerable to no one…so you’ll get my updates when I write them and you’ll like it non-existent contemporary readers. (kidding)

Also…because I just need to post things so I can move on. I’m not worrying about pictures this time…hope you can imagine things.

Recap

Griz Biz

The University of Montana spent most of it’s last two weeks looking like a force to be reckoned with. Sure there is the win over Utah Tech, and an annual smackdown of MSU Billings (continuing their unbeaten run in the Grandma Di Derby). But they also notched huge milestones for the program. Midfielder Kathleen Atchinson got two goals, but the biggest one came against Oklahoma, one of the biggest sports programs in the country…giving the Griz their first win over a top 5 Conference school. As if that weren’t enough they also welcomed THE Ohio State University (another one of those prestige programs) to Missoula, got a record attendance at South Campus Stadium, and walked away with a draw.

And then things came unglued a bit. They lost to Colorado State at home, and after opening strong against Georgia Southern seemed to go all wibbly wobbly after the first goal dropping two in a row. But regardless of results, the Griz have played well with Ashlyn Dvorak has been great in goal and Delaney Lou Schorr remains a fulcrum in attack (playing the most minutes and notching three assists) and Eliza Bentley is doing your grandma Di (a fellow Billings Senior alum) proud as a super sub. The team righted the ship with a 4-0 win over Miami of Ohio, and draws in Corvallis Oregon and Easter Washington. They might not have been favorites coming into the season, but look out Big Sky, the Griz are for real.

Up next: @ Idaho, v. Weber State, v. Idaho State

Punjab Zindabad

Punjab kicked off their first ISL campaign. They filled out the roster bringing in Wilmar Jordan Gil to join Luka Macjen up top, and Sweden Fernandes (who is not Swedish) as an outlet on the wings. The defense built up with Suresh Meitei and Mashoor Shareef in front of Shibin Raj (who may push Kiran Limbu for playing time).

The result still has them looking for a way to win at this level. Kicking off against perennial contenders Mohun Bagan led to a 3-1 defeat, but Lucka Macjen did find the net, so let’s keep our hopes up.

Their next mission? Figuring out what exactly the nickname they’ve settled on is. The translations I read said “Punjab da Sher meant Punjab Tigers (you know with the orange), but every social media thing is advocating for Lions, and the hashtag is PunjabDaJosh…or Boys of Punjab…I’m totally lost.

Up Next: @FC Goa, v. Northeast United FC

Minnesota a la Mode…ah

The Loons had a much more eventful fortnight than the score lines suggest. Tying personal bogeymen Seattle is a good accomplishment, and hanging a 3-0 drubbing on Colorado at least spurred the Rapids to change their coaching. But the real icing on the cake came just last night, after being stymied at every turn by an intense and talented New England team (also going through their own coaching crisis). The Loons took their fifteenth corner, and in desperation sent up the goalkeeper, Dayne St. Clair, to help out, a move I’ve never, ever seen work before.

So naturally, it worked this time. St. Clair got the assist and the Loons fought back to claim a valuable point.

To celebrate flying high, the Loons then instantly crashed to the ground by taking leads and then losing it against Kansas City, St Louis, San Jose and a bizarre three goal capitulation against LA Galaxy.

Up Next: @LAFC, v. LA Galaxy (Owen’s big game)

What’s in Store at Rosenborg?

Returning from the World Cup, the Trolljenta had a heck of a run. It started with a first round cup match against Stabaek which ended up requiring 30 more regular play minutes, and would have gone to Overtime if not for the very late winner by Camilla Linberg mere moments after Stabek had fought back to equalize. Oddly it was their second end of game decider, with Sara Horte (she of the National Team call up, got an equalizer in the third minute of regular stoppage time. Horte and her crew were much stronger back in league matches with 2 goals allowed over three games, while the offense pumped in 16 from 10 different scorers (three a piece for Selma Magnusdottir and Cesilie Andreassen). The last win came in the cup semi-final against LSK Kvinner, which will give the women of Trondheim a chance to win their first hardware in the black and white

The men on the other hand? Well, my early wondering if the loss to Hearts would send them reeling was answered: a big fat honking yes. Though they had a 4-0 win over Aalesund they were promptly whomped by Tromso and quickly sold off some long-standing leaders including Samuel Rogers and Carlo Holse. (Holse did get his final team goal against Aalesund, and so did the new young gun Sverre Nypan). A draw against Bodo/Glimt and another walloping against Lillestrom.

Next: The Menn face Sarpsborg 08; the Kvinner face Asane

Live from Legon!

Ghana’s Premier League will kicked off with coach Paa Kwesi Fabin in the standard role of miracle working manager, but most eyes will be on Ebenezer Armegah in his first season as the front target, and captain Nicholas Mensah anchoring the back line.

That was a help in the team’s opening match as 19 year old winger Frank Antwi got a brace to give the Royals an opening day win. (The following 1-0 loss to Accra Lions was much more familiar) The team will be full of different faces this season, but will hopefully bring all the style we’ve come to expect from the Royals ( a lot of boasting and occasional follow through).

Next v. Aduana Stars, @ Nations FC

Grenoble’s Games

The men of the alps have remained unbeaten, but they also seem to have caught Emelec’s goalless draw bug, using three of 0-0s to stay unbeaten. Brice Mableu shows no signs of stopping and the defense remains stout as ever…but boy I miss Matthais Phaeton, and his attacking prowess. The offense came alive at the end of the month with three straight 2 goal efforts to win three straight matches. Jessy Benet and Pape Meissa Ba have been superb, and might have Grenoble fighting for promotion if they keep this up.

The women started their campaign for promotion from the third division of the French women’s league with with new coach Alassane Diakhite, and they seem pretty excited (and with good reason). They opened with two wins including one against old foes Nimes Metropole and Le Puy. Melanie Charbier led the way and maybe there will be double the reason to celebrate in Grenoble

Next: Guingamp for les hommes; AS Lattes and Clermont Foot for les femmes

County’s Bounty

Following the all to predictable 2-0 loss to Rangers, County bounced back with a little win against Kilmarnock that left their fans….a little cranky…. Simon Murray continues his great form, both driving towards goal and flopping like a spawning Salmon (which made him the focus of much Killy ire), but Ross Laidlaw stood up to a late penalty awarded in spite of Killie getting a goal on the offending play…it was wierd, but that’s life on the dark side.

The Stags seemed to pay the karmic consequences in the second half of the month. After a 1-1 draw against Livvy, they were manhandled by Aberdeen both in the league and in the League Cup Quarterfinals. Add to that a loss at home (to Hearts) and we regret cheering for the floppery.

Next: @ Dundee

Take a Sec with Emelec

As the Electricas cram their season into a rapid fire round robin of games it’s worth noting some strong showings. They notched a 3-0 win versus Guayquil City and a 9-0 against LA Familia. But the real drama came against 9 Octubre, where Madeline Ladines launched a gorgeous rocket to grab a tie against the toughest team in the group. (Unfortunately in the return leg, they came up short…but still managed to earn a spot in the final…against 9 Octubre…)

As for the men…there’s predictable news and good news. The goalless streak hit 5 matches before Miller Bolanos (who else) scored. 529 minutes of demanding perfection from Pedro Ortiz, or 529minutes longer than you should ask it of anyone took its toll on Emelec’s standings. A 3-1 win over Mushuc Runa helped as did Jaime Ayovi’s ability to score while not being named Miller Bolanos…but the Bombillos dropped another to Independiente del Valle (though they did score again).

Next; Cumbaya awaits the men, while the ladies kicked off before you likely read this post.

What’s the Word in ol’ Freiburg?

Freiburg was looking their old convincing self in the 1-0 win over Werder Bremen with the inemitable Vincenzo Grifo orchestrating the show. But the wheels came fully off the wagon in 5-0 drubbing against Stuttgart. New top goalie Noah Atubola followed that with another lousy game against Dortmund and the usually steady back line seemed to break down. A reinforced back line got a win over Olympiakos in the first Europa League game and a 0-0 draw against Frankfurt (where a more confident Atubola did great). An unsurprising common denominator: Vincenzo Grifo and Rolland Sallai.

The women kicked off their season against eternal powerhouse Bayern Munich, and after opening with a great goal from Janina Minge, they got a very late equalizer from Svenja Folmli to snatch a great tie.

Next: Men v. Augsburg, West Ham and Bayern Munich; Women v. Bayern

Gotta see this, Alebrijes!

While the 5-0 was bad, Freiburg can take solace that hey didn’t give up the 7 that Alebrijes conceded to Correcaminos. Octavio Paz’s return wasn’t enough to overcome Luis Mouret’s red card. But the team was back in shape with a come back win over Venados as young Kaleth Hernandez and Julio Cesar Cruz continue their mutually beneficial partnership. Cruz remains the primary goal scorer who found the net every time Alebrijes took the field during September (including against Tlaxcala, La Paz and in the big 4-0 win over Dorados). But the best moment for Alebrijes seemed to be when a dog ran on to the field…seems about right.

Next @ Atletico Morelia

What’s the haps at Vozdovac?

For the first time in your LIFETIMES, the Dragons notched a win against the prodigious Red Star Belgrade…home to facist gangs a plenty. 3-2 over red star, take that fascist pigs! Borisav Burmaz, Mihajlo Neskovic, and Danilo Teodorovic got goals and though Red Star tried to equalize late, the Dragons took all the points!

(Yes, they lost 2-1 to totally un-prodigious Napredak…and dropped another against Spartak Subotica on a last second penalty, but we still beat the fascist pigs…so I’m calling it a win!)

Next: v. Novi Pazar, and @ Cukaricki

News & Notes

Cue More Celebrations in Spain

It’s not great when instead of a ticker tape parade, you get a fussilade of negative press coverage and force the executives to become the story instead of the players. But it’s entirely in keeping with the mess that is Spanish Soccer right now. After many uneasy conversations about whether or not you can just kiss women on the lips when you feel like it (YOU CAN’T), both the coach and the Federation President have stepped down…finally.

Mothers of Dragons?

Abby Ostrem and Makenzie Langdok have both signed for Spartak Subotica. Which makes me ask the question, is Vozdovac interested in starting a women’s side? If so, can they start scouting with Aurora and the Griz?

Players

While the routine of these posts is changing, the number of people we have gratitude for is not. So, let’s hear it for four weeks of stellar play. We’ll take this time to shout out those who scored in major results: give it up for the Griz’s Delaney Lou Schorr, Vozdovac’s Borisav Burmaz, Grenoble’s Jessey Bennet and Emelec’s Madeline Ladines.

Standings

Every team is playing! Take a deep breath, because we’ll be full bore from now until late November. Also, every team is now above 1 point per game! (Of course, no teams are above 2, but we’ll take what we get.)

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Montana6321.911.550.55
Punjab12361.861.901.05
Rosenborg308171.781.851.11
Minnesota2713141.742.151.19
Grenoble2210171.551.160.94
Legon Cities10791.421.231.27
Emelec1115121.261.790.92
Freiburg159201.231.301.66
Ross County126171.201.461.63
Alebrijes88121.141.271.45
Vozdovac46110.860.711.57
Table Updated 9/30/23
b–Team is between seasons
Week 33:

Week 33:

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recap

Tecnico Universitaro 0 – 0 Emelec (M)

Honestly, at this point I want to know how long Emelec can go with 0 – 0 draws?

Hearts 3 – 1 Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

Isak Thorvaldsson scored early to build the hopes of a Rosenborg romp, but Hearts two goals in the second half gave Hearts a decisive edge in the game, in the two-way tie, and in the race to stay alive in the European competition.

North Dakota 0 – 1 Montana Grizzlies

Delaney Lou Schorr picked up exactly where she left off as the Griz’s leading scorer netted the winner against the Eagles!

Hoffenheim 1 – 2 Freiburg (M)

The Bundesliga kicked off with a familiar feeling as Freiburg brought their best game to the table. We actually watched a bit as a family with Alex insisting that the boys from Breigsau were wearing stripes, while Owen thought they were wearing a giraffe print. Whatever he wears, Roland Sallai makes a great threat and his goal was the difference as Freiburg came away with three road points.

Airdrieonens 3 – 4 Ross County (Cup)

The Staggies are still going in the ViaPlay league Cup, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Holding a 3-1 lead after Kyle Turner scored and assisted within 90 seconds, The Stags defense proceeded to give away the store in the last ten minutes with a penalty and a late equalizer for the lower level opponents. Fortunately, Eamonn Brophy came through with a winner in additional time to move the Stags to the last 8.

Zeleznicar Pancevo 0 – 1 Vozdovac

The Dragons got their first win of the season with a quick long ball finding Niska Vujanovic who dribbled and slashed enough to find the net for the game’s only goal.

Grenoble 0 – 0 Troyes (M)

Grenoble didn’t win but they did remain unbeaten for this campaign.

HamKam 3 – 0 Rosenborg (M)

Before the game I was fantasizing that a continued run of good form could help Rosenborg back into European places, but they were too burnt out from the game in scotland to keep up with HamKam

Photo of Eliza Bentler by Ryan Brennecke

North Dakota State 1 – 3 Montana Grizzlies

The Griz got their second win in the Peace Garden State (all the more impressive because it tripled their win total from 7 previous games there). Within 15 minutes the Griz got three goals off of four shots, as Skyleigh Thompson, Riley Carolan and Eliza Bentler all found the net.

NYCFC 0 – 2 Minnesota (M)

We were able to watch a little of this as a family too…you know, when you weren’t dive bombing your mom or playing drink coaster tricks, but we didn’t get to see a goal. While you were falling asleep Jan Gregus struck back, and then I could see Miguel Tapias and Dayne St. Clair contort their frames to avoid giving up a penalty and save an own goal before Mender Garcia got a final goal to pull away.

Cimarrones 4 – 2 Alebrijes

Julio Cesar Cruz got the first goal, but Cimarrones stormed right back and the Alebrijes dropped another.

News & Notes

We Have a Champion!

Spain became the second country to win both a Men’s and Women’s World cup. Unfortunately it seemed to validate the widely disliked and player loathed coach Jorge Vilda.

It’s an unfortunate story-line to hear developed. But, honestly, coaches don’t play the games, and their effect is often over estimated. I’m going to choose to celebrate Olga’s winning goal, Aitana Bonmati’s golden boot, and Salma Paralluelo instead of Vilda (or the louche of a leader the team is also dealing with).

Other Cup-Dates

Rosenborg’s hopes of moving on to the next round of European competition were dashed with Hearts having a great showing in Edinburgh…but again, it’s Edinburgh, hard not to have a good time there.

That didn’t take long (via USA TODAY)

Meanwhile, Ross County will stand with their fellow premier leaguers in their cup quarter finals. Next up will be Aberdeen on September 27th, four days after they play Aberdeen in the league…so familiarity will breed…something.

The Loons might not like their quarterfinal flame out against Nashville, but since the Music City Men made it to the final there’s some solace (also a little solace in the fact that Lionel Messi dominated literally EVERYONE)

The Gang’s All Here!

With the Griz back in action we can fully appreciate the game from Mount Sentinel to the Punjab plain, from the Black Forest, to the Gold Coast’s brightest star.

Player of the Week

Kyle Turner! (Via SkySports)

One of the many things I love about team sports is how substitutes can make as much of a difference for a team as the stars. When that sub helps win a game, it’s great. When he goes out and helps win another…that’s flipping awesome. So Kyle Turner’s gumption stepping up as Ross County’s midfielder merits this week’s award.

Standings

For the first time in Months a team not named Punjab is at the top of our standings (though with the wonkiness of my internet connection the bottom of the standings may not be as accurate)

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Montana2003.002.000.50
Punjab12351.951.950.95
Minnesota249111.842.391.20
Rosenborg237151.691.691.09
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble177171.411.151.05
Emelec81291.241.720.97
Ross County105131.251.571.54
Freiburg137191.181.261.62
Alebrijes6791.141.271.45
Vozdovac46110.860.711.57
Table Updated 8/24/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, August 24th

Montana Grizzlies v. MSU Billings (the Grandma Di Derby)

Friday, August 25th

Saturday, August 26th

Freiburg v. Werder Bremen(M)

Ross County v. Rangers

Vozdovac v. Red Star Belgrade

Auxerre v. Grenoble (M)

Sunday, August 27th

Rosenborg v. Aalesund (M)

Montana Grizzlies v. THE Ohio State University

Minnesota v. Seattle (M)

Emelec v. Delfin (M)

Monday, August 28th

Tuesday, August 29th

Correcaminos v. Alebrijes

Wednesday, August 30th

Minnesota v. Colorado (M)

Week 31: Oh, here goes gravity

Week 31: Oh, here goes gravity

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recap

Rosenborg 3 – 2 Crusaders (M–Europa Conference)

It took a while, including all of extra time, but Rosenborg survived the Northern Irish with a late Leo Cornic goal coming after a string of intense goal mouth chances that the Trolls couldn’t seem to finish. Cornic’s final rooftop blast was great, but still needed Andre Hansen to make a critical save to seal the victory.

UDG 5 – 0 Alebrijes

Ooof. Oaxaca trailed by 4 within 30 minutes and though a raft of defensive changes stymied UDG in most of the second half, this was just ugly.

Libertad 0 – 0 Emelec (M)

The second half of Ecuadors knock out round kicked off but Los bombillos couldn’t capitalize on a Pedro Ortiz clean sheet.

Columbus Crew 3 – 3 Minnesota United (M–League Cup)

Bongokhule Hlongwane struck twice again to continue forcing the question about whether he or Lionel Messi is having a better tournament. But the Loons still needed Hasani Dotson’s long range effort to bounce off of something bizarre to get the Loons for a shout-out. That’s where Dayne St Clair saved two penalties and helped the Loons squeak through.

Celtic 4 – 2 Ross County

It only took 3 minutes for the dominant team in Scotland to take the lead, but County came back in the second half to score their most goals at Celtic since the 2020 upset shocker. Goals from Jordan White and James Brown gave the stags a valuable moral victory (though those don’t help the standings any).

Saint-Etienne 0 – 1 Grenoble

Grenoble’s golden signee, Moldovan striker Virgiliu Postolachi, had several first half chances go wanting. While Saint-Etienne had the better looks in the second half, Brice Mableu stood strong with a penalty stop as well. Finally, late on in the game Amine Sbai managed to dash down the line, feed the redoubtable Jessy Bennet who passed through an absolutely gorgeous dummy run (I couldn’t id the player) to Abdoulie Sanyang for a late winner.

FK IMT Beograd 2 – 2 Vozdovac

The Dragons got another draw with a clever bit of desperation passing from Mihajlo Neskovic leading to Bogdan Jocic’s first goal of the campaign. Some suspect defending and spotty goalkeeping gave IMT a lead but substitutes Lazar Kojic hit Borisav Burmaz on a pin-point cross to hit the equalizer.

Fk Haugesund 1 – 2 Rosenborg (M)

An early goal for Haugesund and Ulrik Jenssen’s injury gave Rosenborg a lot of doubt. But Jennsen’s replacement–Hakon Rosten–at just 18 kept up with the big guys and was in the right place on a deflected free kick to slam home the equalizer. After Haugesund was reduced to ten men, Magnus Holte was again in the right place at the right time to find the winner.

Mohun Bagan SG 2 – 0 Punjab FC (Cup)

Mohun Bagan is one of the premier teams in Indian soccer, so Punjab was unlucky to draw them for their first game in the big time. The Unluckiness continued when defender Melroy Assissi scored the first goal of the game, into the net he was helping to defend for Punjab. One game does not make or break a year, but here’s hoping it wasn’t a sampling of what will be coming.

Defensa y Jusiticia 1 – 0 Emelec (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Trailing by three goals already, Emelec had their work cut out for them, and they didn’t get it done.

Toluca 2 – 2 Minnesota United (M–League Cup)

When I was doing Owen’s bedtime, the Loons were dominant. Joseph Rosales and Bongokhule Hlongwane managed gorgeous goals. When I started watching the match, they looked great, and then it all came undone with Michael Boxall failing to clear a ball near the goal that was hammered for Toluca’s first, and then Hasani Dotson making an ill advised challenge that earned him a second red and Toluca a penalty that promptly equalized. Once they were down a man, the Loons were clearly rattled, and had to hold on with every fingernail to make it to penalties. Despite my doomsaying the Loons came out like Lions during the shoot out, with an Argentine, a Kiwi, an Ohioan, and a Korean finding the net while our Canadian keeper (Dayne St. Clair) saved one and saw another bounce off the corner.

News & Notes

Women’s World Cup-Date

Norway’s great showing against the Phillipines didn’t come with a renewed vigor. The squad bowed out to Japan with Sarah Horte getting a brief run out…I blame the lack of playing time for Blakstad and Josensdal. Denmark’s storied run came to a conclusion as well, losing by 2 to Australia.

Sorry President Rapinoe

But while some of our favorites fell away, THE favorite: the US Women were also ousted, in a major upset for the top rated side in the world and the back-to-back defending champions. Some will blame technology, but c’mon…we know what’s what.

Other Cup-Dates

As the Men’s leagues continue to copy the ladies with cups on cups on cups, we saw Emelec wrap up their run, we will see Freiburg star theirs, while Rosenborg advance to the next stage of Conference League knockouts where they will face Ross Conty’s old foe: Hearts.

Luka Macjen Back in Actjen

The Stags they have another week before their next cup tie, but Minnesota United will march on to face Nashville (this despite the fact that America thought they had won twice and my internet news feed couldn’t decide either). Punjab FC has two matches to round out their group stage, including one against the Bangladeshi Army team…so a bunch of guys trained to kill you…no pressure…and East Bengal, another ISL team, but one less imposing than Mohun Bagan.

Player of the Week

Two teams grabbed a pair of wins this week, and while there are some strong performances from Rosenborg to consider, the Loons wouldn’t have either win if it wasn’t for Dayne St. Clair. So take a bow big Dayne, you are the player of the week.

Standings

The gap is closing between Punjab and their closest rivals, but I couldn’t find it in me to give the Loons 6 points for skin of their teeth penalty wins, otherwise we’d be within 0.1 at the top of the table. Meanwhile, County’s great run in the Scottish Cup has boosted them up past Freiburg and into a dead heat with the fast fading Emelec (Miller Bolanos to Dingwall?)

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab12232.242.290.94
Minnesota22691.952.461.05
Rosenborg176131.581.670.94
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble156171.341.161.13
Emelec7871.321.231.14
Freiburg–b127191.131.241.66
Alebrijes5581.111.331.39
Ross County64121.001.231.50
Vozdova43110.830.671.65
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 8/9/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, August 10th

Punjab FC v. Bangladesh Army (Cup)

Hearts v. Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

Friday, August 11th

Mineros v. Alebrijes

Nashville v. Minnesota United (M-Leagues Cup)

Saturday, August 12th

Ross County v. St. Johnstone

Vozdovac v. FK Radnik Surdulica

Grenoble v. Paris FC

Sunday, August 13th

SV Oberachen v. Freiburg (M-Cup)

Emelec v. Orense (M)

Monday, August 14th

Tuesday, August 15th

Alebrijes v. Celaya

Wednesday, August 16th

East Bengal FC v. Punjab FC (Cup)

Week 27: End of the Line

Week 27: End of the Line

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

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

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

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)

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 26: Staycation the First

Week 26: Staycation the First

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Recap

Rosenborg BK 2 – 0 Asane (F)

Rosenborg combined for two goals in the first half as the center of the attack was able to connect more effectively. The team held on for the rest of the match.

Real Salt Lake 2 – 2 Minnesota United (M)

The Loons combined for two goals in the first half with Emanuel Reynoso having an immediate impact in his return to the starting line up (and strong showings by both Hasani Dotson and Jeong Sang-Bin). But team was not able to hold on for the rest of the match, giving up two goals in the last 11 minutes (plus stoppage time) to turn an excellent road win into an acceptable road draw.

Bavarian United 0 – 2 Minnesota Aurora (F)

Aurora completed their biggest road trip of the year with another win, another pair of goals for Maya Hansen and another Heartland Division title (their second in as many years)

Rosenborg 0 – 3 Sarpsborg 08 (M)

The other team from Trondheim did not seem to have much of anything in this match as they defended as best they could, and saw Sarpsborg stride forward with purpose and intensity and Rosenborg was…there.

Emelec 2 – 1 Danubio (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Los Bombillos continue to save their best showings for the continental competition (though if they keep doing so, they may not qualify for next year’s competitions). They applied tremendous pressure throughout the match and it was a particularly great game for fullbacks as Bryan Carabali got a goal and Romario Caicedo notched an assist. They will move on to the knockout stages.

News & Notes

Weekly Kids Highlights

We were on a family staycation at your grandparents this week, so Alex was out of action for his regular Sunday practice. However both boys have taken to wrestling and punching…so…

Gold Cup-Date

Several Loons players are still on international duty (heh-heh, duty sounds like doody) at the Gold Cup, North America’s big international tournament. Dayne St. Clair didn’t start for Canada, but after Milan Borjan gave up two more goals to Guadaloupe, maybe it’s time for a change between the posts.

Joseph Rosales was on the struggling side of a 4-0 drubbing by Mexico. Kemar Lawrence came on for the second half for Jamaica against the United States, but the Reggae Boyz gave up a late equalizer to fall short of an epic upset.

Transfer Time

Every team is looking to upgrade in the summer season and ours have been impressively active.

Start with the Loons, whose offense I have bemoaned a fair few times. They responded by getting Robin Lod’s teammate and Norwich’s favorite Fin Teemu Puuki. So hopefully he and Bebelo are able to get together quickly to pull the Loons back into contention.

Freiburg has continued their routine of selling high and buying low, as long as the premier league continues to offer big sums, the Griffins will keep taking them and reinvesting in the next generation. As in addition to the Austrian Adamu they grabbed a replacement goalie in old pal Florian Muller.

Vozdovac and Ross County have trended to younger academy players, but the Dragons did bring in former Red Star defender Aleksandar Lukic, and the Stags grabbed recent thistle in their sides, Kyle Turner (because he played for Partick Thistle in the playoffs just a few weeks ago…get it?) and left back Josh Reid who just missed a trip to the Premier League with Coventry City. Unfortunately the Stags also said goodbye to stalwart defender Alex Iacovitti, so there will be some shoes to fill.

RBK’s Finances

I don’t much like writing about the business side of soccer, because (1) I don’t understand it and (2) I have no idea how to work it into life lessons for you boys. But it seems relevant at this point because, apparently Rosenborg’s women’s side has suffered financially in the last year, and the Norwegian Federation is worried about their ability to stay afloat. (I’m not quite sure why they’re struggling, they’ve been consistently one of the best teams in the country, the stands at Koateng arena are usually full, but like I said…I don’t understand a lot of the business stuff.) As a result they have been docked a point in the league dropping them further behind Valerenga…but I don’t have to do that, and I won’t.

Player of the Week

Her hat trick could have been rewarded last week, but there was a bigger point to make by standing with her fellow defender. But after another clean sheet boosting the best defense in our table, Sara Horte you are our player of the week.

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 29th

Green Bay Glory v. Minnesota Aurora (F)

Friday, June 30th

Saturday, July 1st

Roa v. Rosenborg BK (F)

Minnesota United v. Portland Timbers (M)

Minnesota Aurora v. Chicago City SC (F)

Sunday, July 2nd

Aalesund v. Rosenborg (M)

Monday, July 3rd

Tuesday, July 4th

Wednesday, July 5th

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)