Regular season champs have been crowned in the USL W League and WPSL and we are moving into playoff time. The MN Thunder came away winners in a tight race for the WPSL Northern Conference, sneaking across the line ahead of Salvo SC and Sioux Falls City FC (pictured above) in a very balanced year for that league in the North. In the UPSL Midwest West's inaugural year, it looks to be Tonka Fusion Elite as frontrunners for the title but it wasn't easy, with Northern Tide and Superior City taking it to the last few games with them. Teams like Vlora FC and Superior City FC did great work promoting their squads, streaming games and setting a standard for that Division next year when it comes to public facing work. Check out our Instagram or YouTube feeds for easy access to the archive of on the ground work we have done this summer! Thank you to the Patreons who make it possible It is safe to say that MN Aurora ran away with the Heartland Division title. 60 goals scored, 4 against in 12 straight wins, and also still undefeated across their two regular seasons. Chicago City edged their Dutch Lion rivals for the Wild Card birth and will hope third time is the charm against Aurora. Chicago City lost 7-0 to end the season but that was at Aurora’s TCO Stadium, they’ll hope the Flint, Michigan setting proves a better place to upset last year’s finalists. One wrinkle for the Conference Playoffs in Flint is the absence of Hannah Adler, because she's been called up to the National Beach Soccer team. Aurora will hope they can make it through to the Semifinals where Adler could return, she's been huge as a new attacker for them.
USL W League Playoffs Central Conference Semi Finals MN Aurora vs Chicago City July 6 Kickoff: 2pm Central Stream: Fox9+ YouTube Central Conference Finals Winner of Aurora v Chicago City will play the winner of Indy Eleven and Flint City (July 6, 4pm Central) July 8 Kickoff: 2pm Central Stream: TBD (Fox9 + YouTube if it's MN Aurora) The MN Thunder scored 49 goals in 8 games to win the WPSL Northern Conference this year, but it was a brutal 3 way nail biter to win it. Salvo, who scored 34 goals and gave up THREE in 8 games, lost out because of 2 tough draws. When Sioux Falls City tied at Salvo to start the year, it may have doomed them both as the Thunder grabbed the top spot and never lost a game. Credit to second year team Sioux Falls City for giving the typical frontrunners a real challenge. There was plenty of competitive balance with only the Fusion failing to get a couple wins.
WPSL Playoffs
WPSL Northern Conference Champs MN Thunder have elected to not play in the ‘23 playoffs, so their spot will likely be picked up by runner up Salvo SC. They will play a to be determined team in the July 15-16 window, which we will post about as it is made public! The inaugural season of UPSL Women in MN must be rated a success. Tonka Fusion Elite will likely be Midwest West Division Champs with just a draw to stop an invincible season so far, but there was actually good competitive balance overall, a difficult feat in the inaugural year. Northern Tide and Superior City were still in the hunt for the top stop until the last round of games, and both St Croix and Vlora had there share of positive results. Granite City, the only winless team so far, no doubt take some lessons into next year and will know what it takes to compete with their new rivals.
Games to Watch Superior City FC vs Tonka Fusion Elite July 8 Kickoff: 7pm NBC Spartan Sports Complex (Superior, WI) Stream: UPSL PLAYOFFS Playoff info tbd! We will post as it is made public
INTERVIEW WITH JENNY VETTER
We sat down with Mankato legend Jenny Vetter to talk about signing her first pro contract in Portugal, the mindset shift from star college player to tryout player in NWSL camp, the process of finding an agent, exploring her opportunities overseas, her historic NSIC career, and more!
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Mark sits down with All-Everything Mankato star Jenny Vetter to talk about signing her first pro contract in Portugal, the mindset shift from star college player to tryout player in NWSL camp, the process of finding an agent, exploring her opportunities overseas, her historic NSIC career, and more!
You can watch the show below or you can listen to it as a podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Show presented by Pentz Homes (pentzhomes.com) The weather cannot stop summer soccer from happening. Whether thats 90 degrees with humidity on turf, or an air quality crisis from Wild Fires in the north, the game apparently finds a way to play on. MN Aurora relocated a game mid day to the Stillwater Rec Bubble and kept it rolling with a 5-0 win over Green Bay. In the new UPSL Midwest West, Superior City is earning shine with early results and a place at the top of the table. In the WPSL, the Minnesota Thunder would like to remind you that they score goals and if the vibe is right, that could mean 5, 7 or 9 that they put past you. We're basically halfway through our Summer Leagues and most of the teams have plenty of playoff hopes to play for. Equal Time has been on the ground for a ton of games already and this Sunday we will make the drive west to cover Sioux Falls City vs Rochester United FC. Stay tuned for content on Sunday and watch the high quality stream that they produce. Dig into the past 2 weeks results and we'll give you the games to watch for the coming weeks in the North! Paige Peltier has 7 goals and 2 assists for MN Thunder as they’ve torched the early half of their schedule aside from a draw with Salvo. 7-2 to St Croix, 5-1 against Mankato and 9-1 at Joy AC stand out, but not to be totally outdone, both Maplebrook and Salvo wanted to remind you they are also in the top echelon of squads each year with 6-0 hits of their own. Even though the Thunder have a +19 goal difference in 5 games, they’re still just ahead of Salvo, Manitou and Sioux Falls City with Maplebrook sure to make a jump in the standings as well. Stay tuned for the brutal race for 1 playoff spot among 10 teams in the Northern Conference, starting with Sioux Falls visiting MN Thunder on Saturday, June 16.
WPSL Games to Watch
MN Aurora sit comfortable atop the USLW Heartland Division with a 7-0 record and eye popping +32 goal difference, but at least 4 teams other than Aurora could still find a playoff bid. Chicago City and Bavarian United are in especially good footing to contend for a Wild Card bid (which goes to the 2nd place team with the best points per game between Heartland and Great Lakes Divisions), with Green Bay and Chicago Dutch Lions still showing potential. As of Now Chicago City would earn that Wild Card. For City, Bavarian and Green Bay, their games on the 16th, 17th and 21st seen below will make the playoff picture that much clearer.
USL W League Games to Watch |
Chicago City SC vs Green Bay Glory Saturday, June 17th, 6pm STREAM: Eleven Sports &YouTube | Chicago City vs Bavarian United SC Wednesday, June 21, 6pm STREAM: Eleven Sports & YouTube |
June 3 Northern Tide FC 1-1 Tonka Fusion Elite Granite City FC 1-2 Vlora FC June 4 Superior City FC 1-1 St Croix SC | June 10 Northern Tide FC 1-0 Vlora FC Granite City FC 0-4 Superior City FC June 11 Tonka Fusion Elite 4-0 St Croix SC |
UPSL Games to Watch
Tonka Fusion Elite vs Vlora FC Sunday, June 18, 5pm Minnetonka High School | Vlora FC vs Tonka Fusion Elite Saturday, June 24, 7pm STREAM: YouTube |
Lis Schendel of Protagonist Soccer and California Storm also dropped by a Pregame to chat West Coast W League expansion, playoff potential and MORE! Click image to watch on YouTube!
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