In the adjusted schedule after the League went down to three games the roster manipulations after Tuesday's 53-man deadline were more frenetic than ever before. It makes sense that given the extra days all the teams would make extra efforts to get as good of a group as possible. But it also made the announcement of moves more like white noise than have ever been before. By the weekend the dust seemed to settle on the 69 total players but with time remaining until the pre-Cincy announcements begin more moves may happen. So follow along for any more that come across the wire!
The march back to the Dome began at the old field Thursday evening when Wyoming visited Dacotah. It took nearly 72 minutes before a shot got by a keeper but Moorhead's Olivia Watson snapped that with her first career score. Wyoming managed an answer less than four minutes later, which turned out to be the last goal allowed. Sofia Howe faced twice as many shots on goal as her counterpart but managed to hold the line through both overtimes to finish it as a draw.
🏐 had the next chance to win, at the Windy City Classic Friday/Saturday. They opened with a 3 - 2 victory over Charlotte in which Syra Tanchin, Ali Hinze & Alexandria Hicks all had double-digit kills. That evening they took the court against Chicago State but were swept. They bounced back Saturday morning against Niagara & re-gifted the experience with a sweep of their own though without the same simple statistic to point to as an explanation.
At the same time the cross country teams were in Grand Forks. As has become the norm both the men & the women had strong showings in their events, with Minot's Allie Wahlund's second place finish leading the way.
Which just left the 🏈 team in their season opener against Albany. You'll have to read the review for more about that one though!
In recruiting news, both football & basketball got big time commitments in the past week!
The Dragons started on the field Thursday evening & finished on the court Saturday afternoon. The six-game stretch finished 1-5 as the 🏈 team jumped out to a 14 - 0 started on Southwest MN. Freshman QB Tommy Falk was able to settle into the position when Austin LaMotte & Zane Miller ran in a pair of short, first-half scores. In-between Falk tossed a 64-yard score to Ryan Bieberdorf. That put them up 21 - 7 early in the third quarter. The lead was cut in half a few minutes later but then Grady Bresnahan housed a pair of catches to put the game away. The receiving duo combined for 14 catches & 238 yards. The statement-effort by the offense came in conjunction with a three-interception day by the defense, the most unlikely of which was hauled in by defensive tackle Darius Woods-Steichen. As first games go, it couldn't have been much better!
But then there was the rest of the week for the Fire-Breathers. ⚽️ lost a close one against Neb-Kearney, 1 - 0, while the 🏐 was a mostly-unconvincing 0-4 in Billings Friday/Saturday.
Off the field the men's 🏀 announced their schedule, beginning late next month at the D2 tipoff in Canyon, Texas. They'll stay in the ag-belt with a couple more games in Oklahoma in mid-November while the conference season ratcheting up in December. Fall will provide plenty of entertainment but it's the semi-unwelcome reminder that Winter is not far off.
Spring also broke through this week when another coach was announced, this time for Softball as Mike Armitage was named their head man.
The week began with the announcement that all indoor activities will require fans to cover their faces. For now it's only in effect for Fall but could easily be extended to the Winter when the women's 🏀 begin November 5 against Morris. It's a road-heavy first few weeks of the season which will balance out with a home-heavy February.
When the games began Wednesday the men's ⚽️ team put up a five spot, all from a different attacker to beat Morris 5 - 1. They were back at it Saturday against Superior & thanks to two more scores by Telvin Vah won 3 - 1.
🏈 nearly pulled off a great win over Valley City but a late field goal spoiled their return. Down 19 - 0 at the half they tied it at 32 before the kick proved true. Starter Tanner Dubois threw for 385 yards while Ben Hoggarth added a pair of scores on the ground. Just a couple of local standouts showing they can handle the next level!
The cross country teams also represented well in Grand Forks as both the men & women finished third.
Men's ⛳️ finished one spot worse out of 18 at the St. John's invite while the women were at the bottom of the St. Benedict standings.
🏐 made sure the week could end on a high note with 3 - 0 wins over Crown & Bethany.
With one game to go the Birds are a win & a loss away from a tie for first place in the North. It took a four-game winning streak for them to get that close but forcing tie-breaker rules to be implemented would not be the worst development!
Monday's results may also be the determining factor for several individual accolades, notably the batting title as three guys were in the running for it when the weekend began. The one thing that didn't need to be waited for was the RBI record, the Birds claimed that yesterday. With the playoffs safely in hand the fun won't end no matter how tomorrow goes but it stands to reason that it will be a good time!
Sheyenne 🎾 swept Wahpeton as the only action on the calendar Monday. They built on that Tuesday, blanking their neighbors to the North as well while Davies took eight of nine from Wahpeton.
Across the river Moorhead's boys ⚽️ took care of Brainerd 3 - 1 but the girls lost 5 - 2.
On the 🏐 court Davies got their 14th straight victory over South, 3 - 1, which headlined the night for the area as Sheyenne, Shanley & West Fargo all swept their contests & North got by Valley City 3 - 2. Oak Grove also shutout Hillsboro/CV. D/G/F followed suit against Detroit Lakes while Barnesville needed a fourth set to finish Ada/Borup/NCW.
Thursday's highlights included a pair of 2 - 1 ⚽️ wins by South & West Fargo over North & GF Central as well as a win by Moorhead's swim team over Davies & Sheyenne, West Fargo & Davies each handling business on the 🏐 court. A day later Moorhead outperformed Elk River 3 - 1.
As the football fields were getting their primary usage Moorhead's boys ⚽️ was in Bemidji and got their own 2 - 1 win.
To see many of the scores during the week continue to check back!
But now for the
The first nugget for the high school week went squarely under Best Of as Sheyenne junior Tierney Howell was awarded high school All-American for her 100m butterfly during the last state meet. With two more meets to go we may be on the verge of another highly-sought-after recruit coming out of West Fargo!
But there's one who has yet to commit to his future institution that made a bit of news as well. Carson Hegerle was invited to an All-American game in Dallas January 10th.
In Shanley's 3 - 2 loss against West Fargo Hannah Hoedl & Olivia Vetter each hit new thresholds for digs (1,000) & assists (2,000)!
On Friday Moorhead 🏈 came back with their revamped offense & loaded defense to crush St. Cloud Tech 49 - 13. It's a long way from a repeat but Kevin Feeney must have been pleased with the display! They weren't the only ones to finish with 30+ point margins as Kindred & Enderlin/MV also walloped Linton/HMB & Griggs/Midkota.
The great things will keep coming!
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