It was a quiet week for the Purple
But the mock-a-thon rolled on!
NDSU began another week with 🏐 , this time against Oral Roberts. It took til the tenth between the teams but NDSU managed the sweep.
Fast forward to Friday and the SHAC was the place to be. Already having a top-three record, the Bison women showed that they're far from satisfied as they pushed the 23rd ranked Jackrabbits to the wire. But SDSU's experience proved to be the difference, 86-78.
The night-cap proved to be even better as the two teams played to another layup-difference. It's almost becoming Duke/UNC like as they'd split four games with six total points separating them. Friday night finished 68-67 South Dakota State.
Meanwhile, in the bubble, the ⚽️ team played to a shutout W against WIU, the difference coming from Ellie Schneider.
On Saturday the men & women of track & field traveled to Grand Forks for some inter-divisional competition. As has been their way, the members did not shrink in the moment.
Similarly, the 🤼 headed to Brookings to get some extra work in, with scores not being the objective.
Then came the second round of hoops. The women once again kept it close but couldn't close the deal. The men, on the other hand, made it five nail-biters in a row despite building a 22-point lead. This time they finished with the narrow 84-82 advantage. It's well within the realm of possibility that a fourth meeting will happen this season, anyone willing to bet it'll be a five or more point win by either side if it happens??
Then came Sunday
🏈 may be the main attraction, but you'll have to check out the solo post for more on that one!
This particular Sunday was not just a one-act play though. The afternoon included the back-half of the pair of matches for ⚽️ . A pair of second-half goals by Olivia Lovick got NDSU the sweep. Once the sun went down things seemed to change though.
🏐 fell 3-1 to South Dakota while the ⚾️ team dropped their season opener 10-4 to Western Kentucky. The turn-around is short for both teams as they'll go again tomorrow, along with the men's ⛳️ for the first time since October.
Moorhead State vs Northern State in men's & women's 🏀 were the main attractions of a short list. With the way that the games went, even if the list of options had been several times longer they may have still topped it.
The men opened against the #2 ranked Wolves but weren't quite able to overcome 39 for NSU, 90-83. Back in Moorhead it took a big fourth quarter for the Dragons to pull away, 63-51. Peyton Boom lead the way with 15 while Sarah Jacobson added 11.
In the rematch, Moorhead's ladies built an early lead but had to fight til the final horn to try and win it. A layup attempt just before time ran out by Karley Motschenbacher didn't fall and they split the set, 63-62. For the guys Gatdoar Kueth lead a quintet of double-figure scorers to one of the biggest upsets in the programs history. It took an 11-point second-half win but the point was proven that they could hang with anyone and not just hang but beat, 93-86.
With the outcomes the men secured a spot against Mankato on Friday evening in the first round of the conference tournament. That'll come some 30 hours after the women finish there first-round test against Augustana on Thursday afternoon. Every game has been special this season but those ones will be extra special!
The Dragons track & field teams were also involved in the tune-up in Grand Forks and they proved to belong among the field.
Which leaves 🎾 . On Saturday they hosted Winona State & finished with the slightest of advantages. They followed that up with Sunday-morning, senior-day slams against Upper Iowa and it was much less competitive.
Concordia's track team was also in Grand Forks. Both the men and the women took advantage of the opportunity to test themselves against the higher level competitors. No spoilers though.
On Saturday the 🏊 team also had a go, against Augsburg. Their one senior helped get them by the Augs 83-71.
The women's 🏒 team faced fellow undefeated, Hamline. By the end of the second period they were ahead 3-0 and didn't blow the lead over the final minutes, 3-1.
Then, today, Rochester Tech came to town for some time on the mat. It was either schools to win going into the last match and even that came down to a mere two point difference.
Bethel also came to town for women's 🏀 . That one also came down to the final moments and this time five points - the final five of the game - by Concordia's Emily Beseman proved to be the difference, 65-62. She finished with 24 while Mary Sem scored 23.
The Cobbers will start to makeup for lost time with contests every day this week.
The season is nearly half over. There are signs of progress. The team keeps coming up short. They haven't officially been eliminated from playoff contention but it would be ludicrous to think they'll make enough progress to get into the second season. But even if they keep losing they may not get the option to add a point guard to go along with Towns & Edwards.
Then came the bomb that there wasn't even whispers about from within the organization. Ryan Saunders is being replaced by Toronto assistant Chris Finch. The way Rosas is running the organization could actually get it fixed, but this is about as harsh of a way for the move to be made as there could be. I know close to 0 about the guy but if they were convinced that Finch would be hired elsewhere if they didn't act soon then that does make the way the move happened more justifiable.
Even then, it's a kick in the teeth to a guy that been a class-act from day 1 in Minnesota!
While it's far from the fortune-altering move that fans have been pleading for this to make for years, they got pen to paper this week with a pitcher, Matt Shoemaker. The 34-year-old righty managed 26 Ks in 2020 with Toronto but was otherwise statistically pretty average.
Fargo hooked a pair against the middling Sioux City skaters this week. Austin Wong opened the action with a goal 44 seconds into game 1. It was a lead that held into the second period but SC got the next two. Team Lightning tied it up at two off the stick of Ryan Richardson. Bear Hughes (great name!) got an unassisted score 12 seconds later to close out the second period. Jacob Braccini doubled them up with his ninth of the season which left Tristan Broz to slam the door shut with this 13 & 14th goals of the year, 23 seconds apart.
In the rematch, Brennan Boynton gloved 27 of 28 shots but the one that got by him gave Sioux City the lead well into the third period. The Bear roared again to tie it with 7 minutes remaining and then Matthew Crasa completed the comeback with another quick-strike score.
Fargo continues to hold their lead over Omaha & Tri-City but those teams are not allowing them to expand the lead so things could get interesting down the stretch!
Similar to the TC squad, Fargo added another arm to their roster. Previously with the club, Tyler Pike will once again take the mound at NOF this Summer. The baby-steps toward Summer fun continue!
It's hard to believe but the second-third of the season began to conclude in the last few days. The ND 🤼 tournament went off without a hitch at the Dome Thursday - Saturday. Fargo area schools did not fare especially well in the events but Truman Werremeyer did defend his title at 220 lbs to cap an undefeated senior season.
At the same time Enderlin's giants came to the river's edge and escaped with a narrow victory against Oak Grove. The camera captured some great moments from that one.
As for on-ice action, the East tournament finished with North/South as the champions of the girls side while South/Shanley was the top finisher from the area for the boys.
That lead to the all-conference recognitions.
As well as the brackets for the upcoming state tournaments
The busiest - most enjoyable - time of the year is just getting started. By this time next week the first Winter state champions since 2019 will be crowned!
To close, I'll say it again, college commitments continue to come from area athletes on a weekly basis so if you don't want to miss out, you know what to do.
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