In addition to Super Wednesday, NDSU added another in-state prospect for Track & Field as Bismarck Century's Mason Kindel signed his letter-of-intent on Friday. He will come to campus as one of the most accomplished runners in North Dakota for the past four years.
Almost as a show of what's possible for the next wave of athletes, the women's 🏀 team hosted Grand Forks' U in the last non-con, conference game. Starting as cold as they could have - 0 for all their shots save for the ones that they were able to coax from the line - they battled back in the fourth quarter to tie it at 61 and then seal the unlikely victory in bonus time.
It was the only game of the week but it was all the statement that was needed!
The next step toward the men's 🏀 season for Moorhead State starting happened on Thursday. In the preseason poll they were chosen to finish second to Northern State. In the same release junior Gavin Baumgartner was among this year's "Players to Watch" after being an all-conference first-team member last year.
Then, on Friday, it was announced that all 10 of the conference's schools were among the best in the nation for 🤼. St. Cloud State topped the list all the way at #1 while Moorhead came in fifth in the conference and 25th in the nation.
Minnesota had it's final preseason game this week. It went to overtime against Dallas and showed some of the grit that this team has been sorely lacking since the ego-maniac was dealt to Philly. One of the guys who helped engineer that effort was Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. He was only on a camp deal with the team so it was always going to be an uphill climb for him, but considering the youthfulness of the roster and long-time need for improved defense there was sneaky upside with the addition.
WAS because yesterday he was among the cuts the team made for their first roster of the season. It will take more from Towns than he's ever given for the team to succeed this season in the West but since they felt comfortable cutting a hustle player maybe he's finally ready to live up to his potential. The first evidence that counts will come in on Wednesday evening against Detroit.
Fargo spend Friday and Saturday in Des Moines.
In game 1 they once again showed their hot-start potential with two goals in the first 11:12 of the game. Austin Wong scored first and then Kyle Smolen added his third of the year.
Their lead was cut in half during the second period but Jeremy Davidson had a hot shot 52 seconds into the third to make it a two-score game again. A little over five minutes later Des Moines cut it to one again but Tristan Broz answered 66 seconds after to make it a 4-2 game. 53 seconds after that Des Moines cut into the lead once again and it stayed at 4-3 until the final minute.
As just the latest example of their clutchness Ryan Richardson iced the game with a little help from Mason Salquist, who tallied three assists on the evening.
In the rematch it the was goalies who did the most damage. All but three of the 54 total shots were caught, including 29 by Andrew Miller. Fargo's one goal came from Matthew Crasa in the middle of the second period to make it a 1-1 game. The goalies held that into overtime but then Miller cracked a second time to end a six-game winning streak with the third loss in 12 games.
They'll be pin-balling around to play Sioux based teams into the new year. Their next home date will be against Sioux City on the 29th.
The first week of 🏀 season went off like a mad dash with no telling how long it may last. I don't know if anyone thought that the rug would get pulled out within days of the start but as this year has shown, anything is possible.
Between Monday & Saturday there were games every day except Wednesday. And five of the games were covered so you should really go back & check out the content!
Along with all the game action was the realization of dreams as seniors made their college decisions official, but if you aren't following the Twit account you likely missed at least some of them.
And then there were the off-field accolades that came in for a couple of the Minnesota state champs. Among the 11-member All-State first team were Brady Walthall & his quarterback, Trey Feeney. Minutes later it was announced that Feeney had also been chosen as the Player of the Year. They're frosting on the cake, but such recognitions are hard-earned & well-deserved and shouldn't be overlooked!
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