Week seven and the season's over. For all the talent on the payroll, Minnesota will not make the playoffs and frankly doesn't deserve to win another game or get a top 15 pick in the next draft. That's technically impossible but nonetheless true.
For the final time this Fall the week began on the ⛳️ course. In North Carolina the men beat out more than half the field for sixth place on the board. Two days later 🏐 hosted St. Thomas for the first time and as so many teams will do over the next few years, dispatched them with ease 3 - 0. They built on that Saturday morning when Western Illinois came to town for a 3 - 1 defeat.
The day before ⚽️ also went against the Leather but finished on the wrong end of a 4 - 1 score. In their regular season finale Sunday against ST they got their third win of the season, in overtime, when Fargo's own Brookelyn Dew scored her final collegiate goal, a poetic ending if there ever was one!
Before that went down though, both the men & women took their shot at more cross country success. The ladies came as close to a first place finish as is possible but in the end had to "settle" for second.
Which just leaves the lopsided win in the Dome. In the hours that have past since, a few more tidbits have been revealed about the game, the team & the season which deserve mention. The defense is more than a point clear of the other best per game scores allowed in division one history. The next team will have something to say about that accomplishment being achieved but with three games to go, the absurd may happen! Along the same line, it was the 400th win by the team in the last 40 years. That is more than four times the number of non-victories over the span. Tradition gets thrown around a lot but that is a crystalized version of what it means! As for the dearly advanced, they had a light week.
It was a busy week on & off the playing surface. First came the completion of the women's 🏀 schedule. Not long after Carter Blackwell was recognized for his performance against UMary. The announcements continued when women's 🏀 was predicted to finish eighth while the men got the top nod collectively & for Lorenzo McGhee individually. It will be a surprise if the women are that far down the standings when the games go final but Chad Walthall's bunch could be very fun to follow!
The focus then shifted back between the lines.
🏐 started with a shutout defeat against Northern St. They bounced back with a 3 - 1 win Saturday over UMary. Similarly, ⚽️ dropped it's first contest of the week 1 - 0 against Duluth only to finish with a 1 - 1 draw against St. Cloud Sunday.***
🏈 had a chance at their own win against Northern but too many mistakes doomed them to a 33 - 27 defeat.
Then came the 🏀.
Against nationally recognized opponents at the D2 Tipoff in Texas Moorhead State's men lost their first two games but managed to finish with a flourish against fifth-ranked Colorado Mesa, winning 81 - 71.
The Cobs week began with a 3 - 1 loss by men's ⚽️ to Bethel during which Telvin Vah continued his ascension in the record book. His conference-leading 14th goal of the season moved him into fourth for a single season in the school's history. A day later it the women's turn to dethrone BU and an overtime strike by Lindsey Hildebrand did just that, 1 - 0.
Friday began a busy & mostly-successful weekend. 🏐 was shutout by Hamline but it improved from there with a 4 - 1 win against Marian in the season opener by men's 🏒 which included two empty-net goals. The two teams played again Saturday but it was the visitors who got the better end, 3 - 2 in overtime.
The men's & women's ⚽️ each put a cherry on top of their season sundaes with 5 - 1 & 4 - 1 wins over Hamline. 🏈 also got back to winning ways against Augsburg, 44 - 21 as the defense showed what they're capable of accomplishing. The theme of winning their finale extended to 🏐 as they beat St. Benedict 3 - 1.
Women's cross country was not as able to shine in their race at the conference championship but Fargo South alum Munir Isahak and the rest of the men more than made up for the struggles!
A Monday night debacle in the second game against New Orleans had the fanbase thinking that this season could be like so many before it. Well, the one-game swoon was evaporated by a wire-to-wire win over Milwaukee Wednesday & a nail-biting loss to championship-hopeful Denver. There are plenty of facets of the game that need to keep being improved but even playing poorly Saturday night they almost got to 4-1. If they can steal five to eight more games over the course of the season against title contenders, while handling the teams that they should beat, then they'll be in a great position for postseason play. Instead of hyperventilating about a bad possession or one loss, that's the perspective this season - consider adopting it!
Back at the arena, Fargo was swept by Waterloo 3 - 1 Friday & 4 - 3 in OT Saturday. It was their fourth straight loss and brought their record to 3 - 6. With nearly six months remaining in the season it would be premature to panic but to say it hasn't been a good start would be accurate.
Reminder that scores are added daily, so check back often.
But now for the highlights
As the 🏐 season nears it's climax a couple more standout performers hit milestones. Tuesday evening Davies Ava Wild got her 1000th kill against Sheyenne and South's Madison Jackson hit 1K assists against Wahpeton.
Then, Wednesday, Moorhead's boys ⚽️ had their season come to an end 3 - 1 against Duluth East. The next opportunity for state-level success will come from their trio of cross country qualifiers, Isaac Martel, Carlie Sheldon & Lauren Heneman. The latter pair helped them finish the section meet with third place honors.
In ND state tournament news, North advanced to the semi-finals for the first time since 2000 and will face Jamestown for the right to play for the championship. Sheyenne, Shanley & West Fargo also made it out of the first round in convincing fashion. The first two will face each other while WF has to travel to Century for the other semi. In single A action, Kindred edged Langdon to set up a date with Bowman County while Hillsboro blew out Central Cass to get their chance against Bishop Ryan. The door remains wide open for three of the four championships to have local representation!
Moorhead will not have the chance to do the same as they lost a thrill to Alexandria in the section semis Saturday evening. With returning talent already on college radars Kevin Feeney's crew will challenge for titles again. This Fall did prove that Taters can more than float though as the aquathletes completed an undefeated regular season.
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