The week started with the last women's ⛳️ of Fall, this time in Tacoma, WA. They finished in the top half of the team standings but eighth place finish gives them something to shoot for during the indoor months.
Closer to home, 🏐 was in Brookings but went down 3 - 1. They got back on the court at home against UND and had little trouble with the bounce-back win.
One day earlier ⚽️ was also in Brookings but found no more success than the Spike Squad. They put a stamp on the week in Vermillion, losing 5 - 0.
Cross country also competed Friday in Peoria, Ill. Kelby Anderson paced the way for the women with a top 25 race while Jake Arason had the best outing for the men.
As for 🏈, you can read about their win. In addition to that have come some nuggets to amplify their dominance. The 43 points scored against them is the fewest since 1986. Doing something that hasn't been done since the pre-internet era is pretty good, in case you needed some context. They'll have a tough time catching the 49 total points allowed in 9 games by that defense but they could set a new low for the D1 era. In addition to that Quincy Patterson was named Conference Newcomer of the Week for his performance Saturday.
Along with the game action came the announcement that the women's 🏀 team was picked to finish third in the conference while Heaven Hamling was among the preseason all-conference. The men were picked to finish one spot better, just behind the Bunnies & had three members on the all-conference - Rocky Kreuser & Sam Griesel (1st) & Tyree Eady (2nd). With the talent that's been assembled, exceeding those predictions is possible. But either way, seeing who steps up & how the seasons go will make for a great Winter!
It was a road-heavy week for Moorhead State but that didn't stop them from getting some wins.
🏐 started in Crookston with a shutout win Friday night. They followed it with a 3 - 1 victory in Bemidji Saturday to put more distance between themselves and the bottom of the conference. 🏈 was also in Beaver town and jumped out to a 19 - 0 lead in the first half. A blocked FG & interception in consecutive third quarter drives stunted their momentum while Bemidji got their offense going for 22 points down the stretch and thus they finished with their fourth loss of the year.
⚽️ began their two-game weekend in Marshall but once again finished on the wrong end of a 2 - 0 score. From there they traveled to Sioux Falls only to meet a 1 - 0 fate Sunday afternoon.
Concordia's week started with a second half, come-from-behind loss on the ⚽️ field against St. Kate's 3 - 2. It wasn't much better Wednesday as Valley City took them on in 🏐, winning 3 - 1.
Heading into the weekend Munir Isahak started to get it turned around with the 9th best race out of nearly 400 runners at Wisconsin - La Crosse. The women held their own as well, finishing 7th as a team with multiple top 50 runners out of nearly 300.
🏈 had a chance to take the cake when Bethel came to town but a late rally came up short despite a tremendous defensive effort!
Men's ⚽️ had a chance at another win but a pair of late goals by Augsburg upset that aspiration. The women fell behind early and were only able to match a single goal late in the contest, 3 - 1 against Augsburg.
🏐 managed to avoid a Saturday sweep with a 3 - 1 win over St Mary's after falling behind 1 - 0.
The men's ⚽️ team bounced-back Sunday with a road trip to Michigan to face Finlandia and left the field with a dominant 5 - 1 win as their conference leader, Telvin Vah, continued his offensive tear.
Minnesota had the second half of it's preseason games and is now a few days from the contests that count. Even with Brooklyn going with the core of it's championship-minded roster, minus the guy exercising his freedom to choose, the Howl hung with them for the duration. With Taurean Prince picking up a share of the offense as D'Angelo Russell was out it showed that scoring wouldn't necessarily be all on Towns & Edwards. Beasley also came through his best scoring day of the preseason, which bodes well for the sniper coming off the bench ahead of Wednesday's opener.
In a rare twist the team caught a break through the first three games of the season. Houston was known but it's also already been announced that Zion Williamson would not make the two games for New Orleans which follow. The first three games of the season still have a preseason feel and should go off as three wins for the Wolves. Anything less than that is a failure but instead of lingering on that enjoy the excitement for 🏀 season!
Here began the weekend grind. The first set of games at the Arena was against Lincoln. A pair of scores in the first period gave way to a 3-score second period by the visitors to take a 4 - 2 lead from which the Bolts could not dig out.
What a difference a night makes. Fargo jumped out to a 3 - 0 lead early in the second period as Cole Knuble, Gustav Portillo & Felikss Gavars hit the net. Lincoln got one back halfway through the period but then the advantage grew to four goals thanks to Jakob Stender and Andre Gasseau. With time winding down Lincoln didn't just settle for the split, scoring three goals in a 12 minute span to make it a 5 - 4 contest. But Anton Castro would only give up the four scores while being peppered with 40 shots. Even as a 🏒 novice that seems like a lot, so there's plenty of room for improvement but still a quality showing by the squad!
Reminder that scores are added daily, so check back often.
But now for the highlights
As it so often seems to, Monday brought great news as Shanley's Anna Bernhardt was named the EDC Cross Country Athlete of the Year.
A couple days later Fargo South junior Madison Jackson got her 1,000th assist in the original cross-town rivalry.
As roughly the same time Moorhead's boys ⚽️ opened section tournament play against Elk River and decisively dispatched them back to the Metro, 4 - 1. They'll host a semifinal against Sartell Tuesday evening.
While the ND high school playoffs began Saturday, Friday night was also full of excellence. The contest that everyone was following was Bismarck Century's visit to Sheyenne and it lived up to 1v.2 but was far from the only great game!
Shanley put another smack on Grand Forks (RR) while South got the frustrations for their season out against Devils Lake. Moorhead bounced back from their first loss of the season at home against Sauk Rapids/Rice and thanks in large part to a 99 yard fumble return for a touchdown by Giulio Angotti avoided a second loss. On the outskirts Kindred, Central Cass & Hillsboro secured their positions in the class A bracket with convincing victories. The Squirrels' included a new single-season school record for touchdown runs by Owen Wiersma with his 18th. #3 ranked D/G/F kept their undefeated season going with a one-score win over Fergus Falls while Hawley & Barnesville cruised in their games.
The next day brought the end of the season for the nearby 9-man teams as Enderlin/Maple Valley & Finley/Sharon/Hope/Page each lost.
The news kept coming Sunday with more recruiting news, so don't miss out!
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