The thoughts about the Arizona game
The week started early for the Herd, with both ⛳️ teams in Southern parts of the Heartland. The men took fifth, of 13 at K-State while the women had the second best days in Brookings.
Fast forward a couple days and the ⚽️ team was in Milwaukee. It took double OT but the home team finished ahead, 1 - 0. Not long after, on the West Coast, 🏐 played the first of three against Portland St., losing 3 - 0. Just after lunch Saturday they hooked Gonzaga, but met the same fate. Then came a rematch with the hosts but PSU edged them 3 - 2.
Which just leaves the 🏈 game out in Maryland.
As for the pros, it was a less-than-stellar Sunday but Bennett Hostetler has continued to mash for Miami's minor league teams.
Moorhead State also started on the course, in Bemidji as the women finished eighth. They followed that up with a head-to-head Friday against Crookston but lost 356 - 364. ⚽️ opened their two-match weekend with a 1 - 0 loss to Crookston and concluded the week with a 2 - 0 loss to Bemidji St.
In-between 🏐 finished on the wrong end of 3 - 0 against Upper Iowa & Winona St.. 🏈 was no more successful in Sioux Falls, losing 43 - 17.
Concordia's week began with some special recognitions. Quarterback Tanner Dubois was named Offensive Player of the Week in the conference while punter Damien Silus got it for special teams as well as being named to the D3 national team of the week! Pretty good for the freshman out of Glencoe, MN!
Between the lines, it wasn't as cheery. Women's ⚽️ lost to Macalester 1 - 0 while the men lost 4 - 1 to Mac. The men's ⛳️ team stemmed the tide in Bemidji but 🏐 couldn't keep it going, losing 3 - 0 to Augsburg & Mayville St.. They bounced back with a split in Morris, beating Buena Vista (IA) 3 - 2 but losing to the hosts 3 - 1. ⚽️ hooked St. Scholastica next but both the men & women lost again, 5 - 3 & 2 - 1. The week ended on the ⛳️ course with a forgettable finish by the women but a solid one by the men.
The highs of a North Division championship completed Thursday were quickly replaced by an 0-2 hole against Kansas City in the Association championship that began Friday. It will now take all three games in KC for the Birds to be the champs for the first time since 2010.
If they aren't able to pull it off, the season should still go down as a success!
Moorhead got things moving Monday in Elk River as their boys cross country team managed the fifth best effort collectively while Isaac Martel had the fourth best run. On the girls side, Lauren Heneman had the best outing, finishing just inside the top 10.
A full Tuesday of action got an exclamation point in Moorhead but the rest of the scores can be seen up top. The same is true of Thursday's, Friday's & Saturday's results as many of the area school's took care of business!
The aforementioned Taters XC got an even better showing by their girls who finished in second at the Elk River event.
A day later their boys ⚽️ team blew the doors off against EGF.
Then, Thursday, it was announced that Davies Patrick Lawrence was one of 29 players nationwide to be recognized as a Player of the Week, a few weeks ago.
There was also shutout play in the air Thursday as both South & Shanley went 9-0 on the 🎾 court.
Dominant performances continued into the weekend as D/G/F (48 - 0), Kindred (37 - 0), Sheyenne (37 - 0), West Fargo (42 - 6) & North (50 - 0) all cruised to Ws on the 🏈 field.
Bonus
Minnesota's winning team clinched a top-3 seed in the upcoming playoffs. Cheryl Reeve may get her fifth championship this Fall, which would be a welcome distraction as some other things have shown.