NDSU's week began with a Monday night 🏀 game in Vegas. They came up just short in that one and then had to travel overnight to Arizona. It was a recipe that went worse than most of the food that's about to be consumed as the Cats all but clawed NDSU's eyes out.
The women took it from there against Northern Iowa but lost by 13. They got another chance Saturday night against Montana but lost that one by a layup.
🏐 had the first of their two regular season contests Thursday and closed it out Saturday against South Dakota. SDSU got them in the fourth set while USD was pushed to five before prevailing.
Which just left the 🏈 finale and the announcement of the bracket.
Here are the thoughts about the field:
The JMU/Montana region is the most intriguing of the four. As for NDSU's road back to Frisco, it's wholly undesirable to get a conference opponent in the first week. That the winner Saturday has to go through two in order to make the quarters is dirty pool decision making by the committee. NDSU will be a heavy favorite til at least the semi-finals at which point they'll most likely have a Badlands Bowl or the chance to kick JMU out of the sub-division. The #1 seed will most likely advance through a couple of rounds but the expectation is that they won't make it far enough for a rematch of last season's game. They could have a title game rematch with the Bunnies in the semis, which would be an entertaining contest.
It was a holiday-like week of action for Moorhead State with only three events. Men's 🏀 was involved in the first & third while 🤼 had the middle. The week started with a record-setting night at Nemzek against Crown College as the offense performed beyond any reasonable expectation! They followed that up with a comfortable win over Mayville State, showing even more of the depth & potential that they can have this season.
The mat brought it's own stunning outcome as Concordia soundly-defeated the Dragons.
Outside the lines they had a handful of players recognized for their efforts inside them during the 🏈 season.
Concordia's week began with junior guard Emily Beseman being named Conference Player of the Week, an honor which has become old hat for her. She lead the team in scoring Wednesday against Carleton but her 17 points came in a losing effort.
Mid-week also included another inter-Moorhead showdown, this time on the mat. The Cobbers rolled to eight wins in 10 matches. They used that as a spring-board into a Saturday at Augsburg which had much more mixed results.
A day earlier the men hit the ice for a non-con against Hamline and made it three games in a row with at least six scores as Moorhead's own Cole O'Connell tied a school record while former Shanley standout Tyler Bossert had four assists. They hit a wall into the weekend though as St. Olaf got them 2 - 1 Friday and tied them at 3s Saturday.
The women had their own goal fest Friday, beating St. Olaf 8 - 2. The tandem of Brenna Mjoness & Jerica Friese each had a pair of goals while the goalies combined for 25 saves. The scoring spike didn't last as St. Olaf earned a split with a three-goal third period.
The water sports were also in the Twin Cities this weekend. When the water settled the Cobbers had several top finishers.
The first of the men's games came Wednesday against Carleton. It showed that they have more work to do to become a contender in the conference. There were signs of improvement Saturday when Wisconsin-Superior entered the gym but the first half hole proved to be too big.
Which left the most significant achievement of the Fall. Already having done enough for future Cobber hall of fame considerations Munir Isahak had the best run of his life at the D3 national, finishing 21st & earning All-American. It's not the end of his story but is an excellent chapter! Don't be surprised to hear about the Fargo South grad continuing to achieve highly in the future.
It took some time but Minnesota showed signs of being the team that many in the base had suspected. The week started with a narrow defeat against the runner up from the last Finals after which they reeled off three wins, with each one being better than the last, culminating in a 43 point smashing of Memphis Saturday evening. Less than two weeks ago they faced Ja Morant and lost in overtime so you could call it progress.
They got it handed to them when they put too much stock in the win against LA's Purple so now the question will be how they show up against New Orleans Monday evening. Another roll-the-ball-out effort would be disheartening but for at least a week they showed what's capable. Hopefully the taste of it will help them hunger for more so that they're ready when the opponents are championship-caliber!
It took more than a month but the Bolts finally got another win. A pair of first period scores by Lincoln could have kept the losing going but they answered with the final four of the day. The first came from Bryan Huggins, followed by two from Cole Knuble and finished by Bret Link.
On the way back to Fargo they stopped in Sioux Falls but got back on the road after a 1 - 0 loss.
If you're looking for something to do during the Holiday weekend, they'll be back in the arena Friday/Saturday against Western Conference leading Tri-City. Maybe Fargo will surprise and add a third loss to their record. Either way, it could be a cost effective entertainment option.
Reminder that scores are added daily, so check back often.
Now for the highlights
In the wake of the 🏈 championships the All-Conference teams were announced
There's some returning talent but it was another senior-dominated Fall. Then came another bit of hardware for Kindred as Trey Heinrich was named ND Player of the Year.
Then came more final finals.
In MN State tournament action Barnesville couldn't get by Chatfield in the semis while Fertile/Beltrami extended their undefeated season over Hills/Beaver Creek.
That preceded the state swim & dive championships. Moorhead had a handful of qualifiers, with many of them making it all the way to the final events. Alyana Janke finished 8th in the 100 fly, the 400 relay was one off that while the 200 medley was good enough for a bakers dozen, Arianna Hoff took 10th in the 200 freestyle and Abbie Ishaug was 16th in the 100 free.
Moorhead didn't stop there as they had their first action of the Winter against North Wright County.
Across the River & down the road came the conclusion of the 2021 Fall season. Northern Cass made it all the way to the Class B championship but were swept by Linton/H/M/B. The best finish by the close schools was West Fargo edging Shanley for third place in Class A. In the aftermath of Century completing another championship run West Fargo's Nadia Chwialkowski was named Senior Athlete of the Year.
And as always, recruiting news continued to flow!
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