Minnesota loses, it's just what they do. It doesn't matter that they were competitive when the outcome is always the same. The right approach in the grand scheme of things would be to lose out this season but with the way that they handled 2020 that's unlikely. Even as Zimmer's tenure seems to be headed to it's conclusion the never say die attitude will likely remain despite it being too little, too late. Today confirmed what last week meant, it's not going to be a good season and with the myopic approach it also won't be a useful one. Minnesota loses, it's just what they do.
Men's 🏀 had their one & only exhibition game against Minot St.. Not surprisingly NDSU won by 31. Some of the usage did raise eye brows though. Northern St. transfer Andrew Kallman got starter-level minutes while true freshman Andrew Morgan was 5-6 for 10 points in 15 minutes of play. Not to give too much away from the upcoming preview, but if he's able to be a consistent option this season then there isn't a team on the schedule that will blow the guys out!
🏐 had their first of two contests Thursday against Omaha, it went down 3 - 0 in favor of the Mavs. Saturday they were in Denver but were no more successful a mile high.
🤼 started their Winter with a rousing success against Cal Baptist, 43 - 3.
🏈 couldn't follow suit in their rivalry game against SDSU.
Moorhead St. started with a 3 - 2 🏐 win over Minot St.. The week went down hill from there as they lost 3 - 0 to Mankato & Concordia-SP Friday/Saturday.
⚽️ finished their season against Northern St. with a scoreless double OT tie.
Cross country competed in the Central regionals Saturday, each finishing 21st.
🤼 started their season a few blocks away at a well attended event.
🏈 was also in St. Paul and skinned the Bears.
Before the games began Concordia had a couple of their players recognized by the conference. Senior Kendra Wiggs was included on the All-Conference while freshman Glyndon native Mariah Iwen was among those on the Sportsmanship Team. Then, on Friday, Munir Isahak was named the Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year following his conference championship.
But then the games began. The 🏀 teams began their seasons in Morris. The home team was victorious in both contests but the Cobbers kept it close & got some major contributions by local members of their teams. For the men it was Braeton Motschenbacher & Talon Hoffer who did a lot of damage while the women got a nice day of offense from senior Mary Sem.
The second weekend of men's set them up against UW-River Falls. They played to a tie in the first and for the second time in as many weeks lost the second. The women also got on the ice at the Sports Center, against Finlandia, winning both of their games. The first one was a 60 minute grind which was only separated by a goal in the final two minutes by Maiah McCowan. After a night of rest they were back on the ice in much different fashion. The story of the contest was freshman Abbey Hardwick as she scored in each period to make school history.
The season starts continued onto the mat & into the water as 🤼 hosted their first event since 2019 on Saturday and the aquathletes began their season in Morris.
As the same time as that beginning came the ending of the set portion of the season for 🏈. You could use just about any positive adjective you want to describe what they did to Hamline & it would be accurate. With the win they set up a rematch with Gustavus at home to put a bow on the whole thing & possibly get back to even. However it plays out, it's been a great five-week stretch for Terry Horan's squad with three wins against two losses which came by six total points! With all the players they anticipate returning next Fall it's exactly the sort of springboard to desire.
Early in the season though it still is, this week served to make the big win over Milwaukee feel like a distant memory. It started with a gut-punch loss to Orlando in which they were doubled-up in the fourth quarter. They followed that with consecutive losses against the LA Cutters, the second of which followed the same script as the O game, losing the final quarter 29 - 12. There's no excuse or acceptable explanation for being that thoroughly dominated in winning time. If they're going to be taken seriously this season then it's the first thing that they will need to turn around. Considering that they made league history with the final loss, it may not be a quick recovery.
The struggle is real.
The Bolts struggle to win right now that is. This week it was Omaha that took the ice at the Arena but Fargo's cold snap continued with a 3 - 1 loss Friday & a 5 - 4 loss in overtime Saturday. They'll be on the road for the next couple of weeks, so maybe that will help them get off the shnide.
Reminder that scores are added daily, so check back often.
But now for this week's high school highlights
On the last night of the regular season another 🏐 milestone was reached when West Fargo's Nadia Chwialkowski got her 1000th kill.
Two days later postseason 🏈 continued at the Dome. Ulen/Hitterdal/NCE was a touchdown shy of advancing to state against Fertile/Beltrami. D/G/F took the field next against Fergus Falls for an overtime thriller which the Rebels won by a pair. Ada/Borup ended the night against Mahnomen/Waubun but finished a few touchdowns shy. Roughly 24 hours later Barnesville took their swing at another trip to the state tournament against Pelican Rapids got finished the night lifting the trophy.
Friday night also included some of the semi-finals in North Dakota. Sheyenne came from behind against Shanley to advance to their third straight Bowl. Grant Warkenthien had a four touchdown day for the Mustangs. Not since South made seven in a row from 2004 - 2010 has an East team advanced to the championship three times in a row. The other semi in Bismarck pitted West Fargo & Century. The Bulls ran over them to make it an all WF championship. It will be their first time playing in the Dome since 2017.
North had a chance to also end a long drought but Jamestown built a 33-0 first half lead from which the Spartans could not dig out.
Saturday's semi-finals were highlighted by dominant victories by Kindred & Hillsboro. They will meet for the second game of the day on Friday.
In East tournament 🏐 North advanced out of a play-in game Saturday and will now face Sheyenne Tuesday. South will be at Davies, Valley City will visit West Fargo & top-seeded Shanley will host Red River to round out the rest of the bracket.
In other region action, the Fargos were extremely well represented for their showings at the pool including Athletes of the Year Kate Iverson (South) & Gretta Bellas (Sheyenne) and Coach of the Year Talia Butery (North). Hillsboro, Oak Grove & Richland also advanced from play-in matches in their region tournaments. H/CV will go against Hatton/Northwood while Oak Grove gets Hankinson and Richland will head to Kindred next. The rest of Region 1's quarterfinals have Central Cass hosting Sargent County & #1 seed Northern Cass getting Wyndmere/Lidgerwood.
And last but certainly not least, Hawley won their section for the first time ever. They will face Cannon Falls at the Energy Center Thursday morning.
All of which came in the midst of much more recruiting news!
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