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.

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

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!