🎾 ⚾️ 🏒 🏀 🏈 ️⚽️ 🏐 ⛳️ 🤼
The third mock draft was the only thing to break out of the Purple kingdom this week.
Everyone may want to talk about what happened yesterday, and I'll get to that, but first things first. The week started with the men's ⛳️ team in the "Golden State" but the course was not kind to that bunch of Bison. Monday also included a trip to Kentucky for the boys of the diamond and it went much more positively for them, ie a pair of wins. The day concluded with a shutout loss to South Dakota on the 🏐 court.
On Thursday the softball team got back to work against Arkansas but finished without a run while giving 14 total over the two contests. They didn't have much time to think about those outcomes as they were back at it on Friday morning against Texas Tech and SE Missouri. They got on the board in both games but surrendered six/ which did not help them get off the shnide.
In St. Louis the men opened up a series against the university with the same name and got a wire-to-wire win. They had a double-rematch on Saturday and kept the success going, 5-4 & 6-5 but were not able to get the four-game sweep due to a rain-out today.
Back to Friday, ⚽️ opened against Omaha in Fargo and prevailed 3-2 in OT. Forward Marian Taiwo hit the trifecta for the winners. They had the rematch today and didn't need the extra time because keeper Aly Cole shut the Mavs out to help secure their fifth win in a row.
The Softball team had one more in Arkansas and were able to pull out a 5-4 win in extra innings.
In Vermillion on Saturday, the 🏀 teams played their final regular season games. 30 points by Heaven Hamling nearly propelled them to an upset victory but the Yotes finished ahead 81-80. The men followed with a game that wasn't quite as close but was still up for grabs in the final moments. They were back on the court this afternoon but the women weren't able to fire the bullet, losing 81-61. The men did bounce-back thanks in large part to a 26 point day by Sam Griesel. Both teams finished third in the league with SDSU & USD finishing above them in both brackets. The men will face Kansas next Sunday night while the women get Denver at the 2:45 tip. It's going to be a tough road for each of them but nothing is impossible in March!
Last but certainly not least, the powerhouses that are the track & field teams. Think where you were 15 years ago, that was the last time the women didn't win the indoor championship! The men are doing it pretty well as well, with their fifth 'ship in six years.
Okay, now for the big, old Bison in the room. The loss to SIU has been discussed so you'll have to go back to that if you want the thoughts.
Conference championship weekend was a mixed bag for the Dragons. The women's 🏀 played well in their opening-round game against Augustana, up until the fourth-quarter. The momentum swung 180 degrees in the bounce of the ball and thus, the building toward next Winter began.
On Friday the men had to scrap through two overtimes to separate themselves from Mankato but ultimately came away with the win, 73-61. A semi-final forfeiture by Wayne State propelled them into the championship game where they had a rubber-match with Northern State. The national title contenders showed exactly why they have been so highly regarded with a 78-57 defeat of Moorhead. The men are amongst the teams considered for an at-large bid to the D2 tournament so this may not be the last of them but even if they're left out it was a successful run overall.
Track & Field also had their final indoor meet of the season. The men finished with the third most points while the women were just beyond the 10 spot, with a few better performers than that.
Saturday also included a trip by the 🎾 team to Duluth for a pair. They took care of their hosts 6-3 then faced St. Cloud on Sunday, handing them a 6-1 defeat. With six more events on their schedule they're halfway to an unblemished record.
A handful of un-started events were littered amongst a litany of losses this week by Concordia. The one win that they were able to muster came in the water against Augsburg, 108-51.
With Spring-ish weather came the first on-field activity by the club. Devin Smeltzer was first on the mound, with two innings of one-run ball. They went by committee over the final five innings against Boston, using six arms. Tyler Duffey gave up three earned-runs and a walk in 2/3 while Cody Stashak was tagged for the other two scores. Five of Minnesota's seven runs came in the second inning, with seven different guys crossing home plate. Only Miguel Sano managed more than one RBI. It's the first of 29 spring training games over the next months.
Fargo started the week at Tri-City but were unable to dig out of a 3-0 deficit that they found themselves in early in the second period. The teams traded scores the rest of the way but that did nothing to decrease the odds of a loss.
Then, this afternoon in Lincoln, things went better for the bolts. Kyle Smolen got an unassisted score 3 minutes and 20 seconds into the contest. A Lincoln score 7 minutes later was followed by Jeremy Davidson getting the horn with less than two minutes til the first break.
A scoreless second period gave-way to a five goal third. Lincoln struck first, five minutes in only two allow consecutive goals by Fargo. Cody Monds made the score 3-2 then Austin Wong nailed his 12th just past the 10-minute mark. Lincoln trimmed it back down to a one-swing game but the Bear (Hughes) finished with an unassisted goal to secure the w, 5-3.
With 18 games to go Des Moines and Omaha are still nipping at Fargo's heels but the Black & Blue are successfully stiff-arming them from the top of West.
With two and a half months left before the first game the birds took a few more steps toward their opening day roster. They started by signing pitcher Kevin McGovern then added two more to their staff. The other signing was of free agent Bret Helton while Ryan Flores was acquired from Sioux City in exchange for outfielder Michael Lang. Along with Helton they re-signed Leobaldo Pina to help man the infield.
Fargo added another champion this week. On the ice in Grand Forks, North/South faced Davies for the chance to hoist the trophy. The Eagles got to the title game by defeating Bismarck 6-1 while N/S made it by besting Grand Forks' unity team. It the was first time in the 18-year history of girls 🏒 that teams from the same town made the final. The two teams had both been defeated by Bismarck over the previous three years so they had familiarity with what it took to get to that game but neither had broken through.
During the final minute of the second period Olivia Opheim broke-through with the first goal of the contest to give Davies the lead. St. Thomas bound Abby Promersberger matched with a shot seven minutes into the third period. It took all of 23 seconds for Davies to manage their counter, this time off the stick of Kaia Johnson. The intensity continued to rise when North/South's Rylee Bartz got a shot to land with four minutes left in regulation. A hooking penalty assessed against Promersberger setup a late power-play opportunity. Davies capitalized 19 seconds into it with the fifth and final goal of the game, this time from Kaylie Zimmerman.
As for the boys finals, both South/Shanley & West Fargo made it to the third place game. The senior athlete of the year for 🏒 , goalie Zach Sandy, gave up one goal while the offense scored two for the co-op. Considering that each were defeated by a Grand Forks team in the semi-finals, it's a solid way to end the year by both squads.
On the 🏀 court the postseason in North Dakota is just beginning. The Class B girls bracket was set on Thursday evening with Central Cass representing region 1 for the second year in a row as they got by Kindred in the championship again. They'll play Hettinger/Scranton at 6:30 on Thursday in Minot.
Back at home the playoffs are much earlier. The EDC quarterfinal matchups were set on Saturday with several girls & boys teams in Fargo & West Fargo having home games on Tuesday. You can see photos of South's girls' win over Grand Forks Central while my pick to make state on the boys side wasn't able to get past the play-in round. I stand by the opinion based on their talent, but South just couldn't quite put it together.
The next few weeks of high school action are going to be frenetic but considering how things happened a year ago, I wouldn't have it any other way!!!
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