Week 13: We can see Claire-ly Now

March 31, 2021 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Scores

University of Montana Grizzlies 2 – 1 Portland State Vikings

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

Celaya 0 – 0 Alebrijes

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

Churchill Brothers 3 – 2 Punjab FC

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

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

Guyaquil City v. Emelec [F]

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

SC Freiburg 1 – 0 Turbine Potsdam [F]

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

University of Montana Grizzlies 3 – 0 Portland State Vikings

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

Dorados 1 – 1 Alebrijes

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

News & Notes

International Affairs

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

Africa

Ethiopia celebrates…not pictured Mombris and Metanire go: “huh”? (CAF Online)

Our favorite Madagascar madmen (Jerome Mombris and Romain Metanire) got gobsmacked when their team was bested 4-0 by Ethiopia. By the time that they had to win and see Ethiopia lose to move on. Ethiopia did falter…but Madagascar couldn’t get a goal, and the darlings of the last tournament ran out of luck.
Ghana’s Black Stars will be at the cup of nations (as well). Though Center Back Joseph Adjei didn’t play in their final two qualifiers, he continues to take strides towards hitting the field in Cameroon this summer.
Harouna Demba of Grenoble was on the bench as Mauritania drew with Morocco but was on the field for their 1-0 win over CAR that booked them a spot in the finals.

Asia

Freiburg’s Woo-yeong Jeong got his first run out for South Korea in a friendly against Japan. Sadly, it was a 3-0 drubbing against arch rivals, but it didn’t impact their quest for cups.

Europe

Finland saw two Minnesota United stars–Jakku Raitala and Robin Lod–(and one former player, Rasmus Schuller) take the field in a pair of draws
One of those draws came against Bosnia/Herzegovina and included Ermedin Demirovic of Freiburg as part of the attack that Raitala had to repel in the game’s dying minutes. Demirovic got the start in Bosnia’s friendly against Costa Rica, but didn’t get any goals. The final match against World Champs France happened after I posted this
Justas Lasickas of Vozdovac saw lots of action for Lithuania and did his best to put up with the offensive onslaught from Kosovo, Switzerland, and Italy.
Andre Hansen had to come on at half-time when Norway was getting spanked by Turkey. He didn’t see action when the team faced Montenegro, which spared him the awkwardness of facing a teammate.
The best represented nation from our teams: Montenegro which features three players (Vozdovac’s Milos Milovic and Nikola Vujnovic and Rosenborg’s Dino Islamovic). Sadly none of them made the pitch, until Dino Islamovic came on against Norway in the second half (he didn’t make much impact)
Iceland left Rosenborg’s Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson on the bench as they scuffled back down the table

North America

Dayne St. Clair was part of Team Canada, but didn’t get on the pitch.
Hasani Dotson and Callum Montgomery were part of the US and Canada youth teams vying for an olympic berth. While both played well, neither will have a chance to march in the opening ceremonies in Tokyo.

South America

Emelec sent three players to the Ecuadorian national side (Keeper Pedro Ortiz, Defender Romario Caicedo, and Midfielder Dixon Arroyo). However, a qualifier with Venezuela was called off, and the friendly tune up with Bolivia only saw Arroyo on the field (he was solid in distribution, if unremarkable in their win)

Limbu lays it on the line

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

Las Electricas are Back

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

Player of the Week

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

Standings Update

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

Team	W	D	L	PPG	GFA	GAA
University of Montana	5	0	0	3	2.0	0.2
Emelec	3	1	1	2.0	1.8	1.0
Freiburg	8	2	6	1.6	1.5	1.4
Punjab FC–b	7	4	6	1.47	1.2	0.9
Grenoble Foot	6	4	5	1.47	1.1	1.1
Legon Cities FC	4	4	3	1.45	1.2	0.8
Ross County	5	1	7	1.23	1.2	1.5
Alebrijes	3	6	4	1.15	1.5	1.7
FK Vozdovac	2	3	5	0.9	0.7	1.6
Rosenborg BK	0	0	0	–	–	–
Minnesota United	0	0	0	–	–	–

Table Updated 3/31/2021
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Wednesday, March 31st

Thursday, April 1st

Friday, April 2nd

10:00 FK Vozdovac v. Macva Sabac

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

Saturday, April 3rd

9:00 Madema SC v. Legon Cities FC

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

1:00 Grenoble v. Chateroux

1:30 Borussia Munchengladbach v. Freiburg [M]

CS Emelec v. CD Macara [F]

Sunday, April 4th

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

3:00 Olmedo v. Emelec [M]

Monday, April 5th

Tuesday, April 6th

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

9:00 Alebrijes v Jaibos

Week 48: Staggies Topple Celtic!!!!!

December 2, 2020December 11, 2020 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Scores

Legon Cities FC 0 – 0 Medeama

Not much more to say about that. Even with Goran Barjaktarevic out of a job the results did not seem to shift much for the Royals.

Mushuc Runa 2 – 3 CS Emelec [M]

Los Bombillos started out strong with a couple of early goals (including another one for Facundo Barcelo). But it was a second half goal on a Romario Caicedo. That gave them the cushion they needed when Mushuc Runa made a late comeback.

Grenoble 0 – 0 Paris FC [M]

A top of the table battle ended up in a stalemate. Neither side could seem to find an advantage in an ongoing midfield tussle.

Augsburg 1 – 1 Freiburg [M]

While they’ve struggled over the last few weeks to find a consistent form. But the moments where they work a beautiful opening goal through Vincenzo Grifo showed just what they can do. Of course, the flub by Florian Muller a few minutes later is a sign of what they have been doing.

Celtic 0 – 2 Ross County

HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY!!!
SHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!

Seriously, there’s just not enough reaction for this. County won. They won against Celtic. They won against Celtic in Glasgow. Little old County, little old Staggies, THEY ended Celtic’s 3 year run of winning every trophy in Scotland.

Ross Stewart hit a vital penalty. Ross Laidlaw and the defense stood up to the Hoops for the rest of the match. Alex Iacovitti hit a huge header to put it beyond reach and the look on his face when he did it was beyond joy. This…this is why we’re fans.

FK Vozdovac 3 – 2 Mladost Lucani

At home, the Red Dragons are nigh on indomitable. Even though Mladost Lucani came back to equalize, Nikola Vujnovic was able to blast home an excellent goal and walk out a winner.

Bodo/Glimt 5 – 1 Rosenborg BK [M]

It hasn’t been a great run for Rosenborg, and losing their third on the spin was hard. Losing it this big was even harder. But with four matches left in the season, it’s starting to get tetchy whether they can hold on to their top four spot or not.

Chateauroux 0 – 1 Grenoble [M]

While Grenoble seemed stuck in another goalless draw. Chateroux’s Ibrahim Cisse’s red card gave them just the edge they needed to break the deadlock.

CS Emelec v SC Barcelona [M]

Postponed to the coming weekend

News & Notes

Seriously, Celtic LOST!

Okay, let’s be extra clear about this. Celtic is one of the greatest teams in Scottish history. They have won a tonnage of titles, a pile of individual accolades and…just to put an underline on this…they had won 9 straight trophies. They won 35 straight tournament games. They have a wage bill ten times greater than Ross County. Ross County should absolutely not have won that game, especially not AT Celtic’s home turf.

Player of the Week

Ross Laidlaw lost his starting spot a couple months ago and ended up as a back up keeper for a struggling defensive team. That he was between the posts against Celtic wasn’t a vote of confidence. That he helped blank them was….well….[chef’s kiss]

What’s Next

Wednesday, December 2nd

Thursday, December 3rd

Sporting KC v. Minnesota United

Friday, December 4th

Napredak v FK Vozdovac

Saturday, December 5th

Freiburg v. Borussia Munchen Gladbach [M]

Dreams FC v. Legon Cities FC

Caen v. Grenoble Foot [M]

Sunday, December 6th

Klepp v. Rosenborg BK [W]

Ross County V. Rangers

CS Emelec v. Barcelona SC [M]

Monday, December 7th

Valerenga – Rosenborg BK [M]

–Western Conference final @ Seattle if Minnesota wins–

Tuesday, December 8th

Week 39: Rough going against the giants

September 28, 2020October 4, 2020 by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Scores

SC Barcelona 4 -1 CS Emelec [W]

The local derby went no better for las electricas than they did for los bombillos. A consolation goal really wasn’t at the end, but this is only part one of several stages in the campaign.

Columbus Crew 2 – 1 Minnesota United

An uneven schedule means that the Loons got landed with the best team in the East while some rivals face far less intimidating opponents. The team brought their best effort but couldn’t keep up with Columbus, losing vital ground despite the resurgence of Robin Lod.

Rosenborg 1 – 0 Alanyaspor (M-E)

Having changed my classroom background for the occasion, I was quite glad to see RBK justify my love and maybe even earn a new fan from among my students. (Sure, none of them could pin Rosenborg, Alanyaspor or half the Europa league on a map but hey! They know the name now). Anders Konradsen made the difference and set up a next round battle with…uh-oh…PSV Eindhoven…who rocked Rosenborg (4-1) last year in the same contest.

Alebrijes 0 – 1 Atlético Morelia

It was tantalizingly close to a vital point (or more) for the Oaxacans, but Gustavo Ramirez Rojas 88th minute winner kept the silver linings far from view.

Emelec 2 – 0 Deportivo Cuenca (M)

It was a much needed win for Emelec, even if it came against the bottom team on the table. Joao Joshimar Rojas certainly had the most eventful week, with an early goal to save an almost botched opportunity. Then a late red card to give everybody something to talk about [Cuenca’s two red cards made it a little less dire].

Kolbotn 2 – 2 Rosenborg [W]

A rare slip from the Troll girls. Up 2-0 [with a Marit Clausen goal, naturally], two late goals conceded left them to split the spoils and miss a golden chance to grab the title race by the horns.

Ross County 0 – 3 Aberdeen

Manager Stuart Kettlewell called it the team’s worst game of the season. Unfortunately, they’re about to follow it up with a trip to play league leading Rangers, so buckle up Staggies.

Bayern Munich 1 – 0 Freiburg [W]

The biggest organization in German soccer is a little behind the curve in the Women’s game, but with former Freiburg starlet Klara Buhl on their side, they’re taking steps to address it. Buhl helped work up Bayern’s winning goal, but we’ll always have her early years to remember.

Guingamp 1 – 0 Grenoble [M]

Grenoble Foot’s winning run came to an end, but the side still seems vastly improved from last year. An early injury to Florian Michel might have enabled Guingamp’s winning goal, but however it happened, Grenoble will look to get back to winning soon.

FK Vozdovac 5 – 0 Radnicki Nis

It is a rare thing for me to get distracted during teacher training. (Not sarcastic, seriously, I like learning about things…you boys have a nerd for a dad.) But 5 goals for the Red Dragons definitely caught me off guard. In three weeks they’ve had results of 4-0; 0-6; 5-0. Somewhere Novak Djokovic is thinking of his tennis results. This week’s shout outs go to Nikola Vujnovic, Marko Putincanin, Ivan Milosavljevic, Milos Pantovic and Milos Stojcev.

Emelec 3 – 0 Club 7 de Febrero [W]

A quick start with goals from Adriana Valenzuela and Ginger Garcia gave Emelec all they needed to knock out the 7/2s. Substitute Emily Tomala’s final notch was icing on the cake.

Grenoble 3 – 3 Montaubaun [W]

Les grenobloises stormed back from down 2-0 in the first half to the lead but gave it back with only five minutes to go. Sarah Magnier of Grenoble blasted a header against the bar before a final whistle ended things in a draw.

Aalesund 1 – 2 Rosenborg BK [M]

A brace from the best looking man in Trondheim, Kristoffer Zachariassen put Rosenborg firmly amid the chase for second place in the Elite Serien. With Bodo/Glimt dropping only 4 points all year, there’s four teams within 3 points of each other for the silver medal. Rosenborg doesn’t need to celebrate silver…but after the dire start (1 point out of 9), it would be appreciated.

Freiburg 1 – 1 Wolfsburg

For 30 glorious minutes, Nils Petersen’s header put Frieburg into second place in all of Germany. But the offense couldn’t find any other routes through the Wolfsburg defense and solid goal for the opponents left them only in 5th (still ahead of giants Munich and Dortmund though).

Minnesota United 0 – 0 Real Salt Lake

Again I got to watch some of the match when you boys went to bed. And again I saw a Minnesota team struggle and ultimately fail to get anything to go there way. On paper every thing is there: sterling attackers, creative play, strong chance creation. On the pitch, they can’t seem to seal the deal. It’s a trite phrase but this was “not 1 point earned, but 2 points lost”.

News & Notes

Oaxaca Wipe Out

One year ago Alebrijes was en route to their first hardware. Promotion to the top flight was a real possibility.

Now they’re at the bottom of a newly restructured pyramid. None of our other teams have sunk this low, not Ross County or Grenoble on their goalless runs, not Vozdovac in the midst of their months without a win.

More thoughts on this later this week.

Player of the Week

Kristoffer Zachariassen would be the Norwegian Ronaldo, if Ronaldo were half as good looking.

I like to spread the wealth as much as possible, but lets face facts: Kristoffer Zachariassen played a vital part in a Europa league win and netted a brace over the weekend.

Best looking man in Norwegian soccer (check). TWO time Mackenzie Boy’s Boot Room Player of the Week (Double check).

What’s Next

Wednesday, September 30th

Thursday, October 1st

12:00 Rosenborg BK v PSV Eindhoven [M-E]

9:00 Jaibos v Alebrijes

Friday, October 2nd

2:00 Universidad Catholica v Emelec [M]

Saturday, October 3rd

8:30 Dortmund v Freiburg [M]

9:00 Macva Sabac v FK Vozdovac

12:00 Grenoble v Valenciennes

7:00 Minnesota United v Cincinnati

Sunday, October 4th

7:00 Freiburg v MSV Duisburg [W]

8:00 OGC Nice Côte d’Azur v Grenoble Foot [W]

9:00 Rangers v Ross County

9:00 Rosenborg BK v Lyn [W]

1:30 Rosenborg BK v Odd

Monday, October 5th

Tuesday, October 6th

7:30 Nashville v Minnesota United