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Mark Privratsky
Trip to the Corn Cup aka "Hwy 14 Derby" We are basically halfway through the WPSL season for 21 and we're starting to see teams separate themselves from the pack. Before we breakdown the scores from around the WPSL, including some American Football like scores from the Thunder, we have to talk about the Corn Cup (My name for it) . This past week Matt and I headed south to check out the Hwy 14 Derby in Mankato. The game was definitely worth the trip from St Paul and it's fun to see the teams create this rivalry and buy a solid trophy for it! Thank you to the Mankato United team for a warm welcome and a nice tour of the video production facilities at Bethany Lutheran as well. It was a great place to watch a game! The first half was intense from the start, with Rochester and Mankato pressing high and really trying to pass the ball around. You could sense a goal coming and eventually in the 13th minute the Mankato United pressure paid off with a goal by Kenna Buisman.
The second half started with both squads pressing high, feeling like one final pass away from a goal. The player of the game turned out to be Clair Hemstock, a Mankato keeper subbed on at half. As Rochester really started to create chances, Hemstock made the first two of many huge saves.
On the day it just felt like some bounces went Mankato's way. Even under tons of pressure from Rochester, who were creating many chances but not finishing them, Mankato found the moments that they needed. Midway through the second half a corner lead to a bit of chaos with a loose ball. A halftime sub who came from the Police Academy (yes it's true), Dakota Wendell, finished the scramble to make it 2-0 Mankato. Towards the end of the second half you could see the pressing from both teams had worn them out, even with significant subbing. A standout for Rochester, Gwen Mummert, moved from one of the outside center back spots to the midfield to try and convert one of their many chances, and was perhaps unlucky to not have at least one goal/assist. The match ended 2-0 to Mankato United as they took home the inaugural Hwy 14 Derby (Corn Cup for us). Check out our interview with Rochester standout, Gwen Mummert:
Even though Rochester created more chances, they weren't able to convert them into goals. A big reason was Clair Hemstock from Mankato United. Check out our interview with Clair:
WPSL Northern Conference Wrap Up With the WPSL season even more compressed than normal years, we're seeing a lot of games coming fast down the schedule. Just after our last post, the Minnesota Thunder put 6 goals on Fire SC and they were just getting started. Let's check out the scores around the WPSL Northern Conference. Thursday, June 10 MN Thunder: 6 Fire SC 98: 0 Holy Angels Stardome Saturday, June 12 Dakota Fusion FC: 0 MN Thunder: 7 Jim Gotta Stadium, Moorhead WOW! The Minnesota Thunder put 6 on Fire SC on Thursday, then drive up to Moorhead and put a TOUCHDOWN on Dakota Fusion FC. I have a tattoo of Rose Lavelle's autograph on my leg, and this week that tattoo is in tribute to the Thunder. Congratulations! Saturday, June 12 Rochester United FC: 2 Salvo SC: 2 Spartan Field at Mayo High School Sunday, June 13 Maplebrook Fury: 4 Fire SC 98: 1 Maple Grove High School Stadium The Fury wanted everyone to know that the Thunder aren't the only ones who can run it up a little. Wednesday, June 16 "The Corn Cup" Mankato United SC: 2 Rochester United FC: 0 Bethany Lutheran College Thursday, June 17 MN Thunder: 3 Salvo SC: 1 Holy Angels Star Dome A rematch of the 2-1 Salvo win earlier in June, as the Thunder are able to get a 3-1 revenge win. This win really put some separation for the Thunder at the top of the standings with 4 wins from 5 matches. Friday, June 18 Fire SC 98: 6 Dakota Fusion FC: 0 Centennial High School The Fire move to Centennial for their last few games and boy do they open it up with a bang. Dakota Fusion has had a tough run of scores this year, giving up 17 goals in 3 games. Friday, June 18 Mankato United SC: 1 Maplebrook Fury: 3 Bethany Lutheran College Sunday, June 20 Salvo SC vs. Maplebrook Fury Reynolds Field, U of Northwestern DELAYED- Game suspended at 1-1 in the 50th minute for inclement weather. Sunday, June 20 Mankato United SC: 9 (!?) Dakota Fusion FC: 1 Bethany Lutheran College Wow! The Thunder were catching my eye with 6 and 7 goal outputs, and may I say, justifiably. But holy smokes (fargo) Mankato said hold my beer and put up 9. Sunday, June 20 Fire SC 98 :0 MN Thunder: 1 Centennial High School Matches coming up (and as we write this...) Wednesday, June 23 Fire SC 98 vs. Rochester United FC Seafoam Stadium at Concordia University Friday, June 25 Dakota Fusion FC vs. Maplebrook Fury Jim Gotta Stadium at Moorhead High School Friday, June 25 Salvo SC vs. Mankato United SC Reynolds Field at U of Northwestern Sunday, June 27 Salvo SC vs. Fire 98 SC Reynolds Field at U of Northwestern Sunday June 27 Dakota Fusion FC vs. Mankato United SC Jim Gotta Stadium at Moorhead High School Sunday, June 27 Maplebrook Fury vs. MN Thunder Maple Grove High School Stadium
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Matt sits down with new Gopher Soccer Head Coach Erin Chastain to ask about her initial conversations with staff/players, how she'll approach this first season, what she'll take from previous coaching stints into this new role in her home state of Minnesota, and a return of segments "The Internet Said It" and Listener Questions!
Special thanks to Pentz Homes for coming on board as a sponsor for our shows. Matt and his wife Rochelle personally worked with Lydia on the Pentz Homes team to buy their house in St Paul and she and the team were absolutely fantastic. Head to pentzhomes.com to learn more if you need help buying or selling a home You can watch the show as a video embedded below or listen to it as a podcast on on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher.
Author: Matt Privratsky
This week, the University of Minnesota announced that Erin Chastain will be the new head coach of the Gopher Soccer program. A former Gopher captain and Minnesota native, Chastain returns home to become the 5th head coach in program history following Stefanie Golan’s departure for her own home state of Missouri. What set Chastain apart, how do we predict this fall season, and what are her initial tasks on her to-do list? Let’s dive in.
How did Chastain set herself apart What should be clear now, and was likely a little understated in our previous analysis, is that her extensive *head* coaching experience likely played a real role in putting Chastain above other “internal” candidates and even other strong outside options. Yes, she also has impressive assistant coaching stops on her resume (Santa Clara, Northwestern) but Becky Maines is no slouch in that department either, nor was Krystle Seidel -- who’s most extensive coaching experience also took place *at the U*. So in terms of resume and skill set, it was significant that Chastain was able to show a track record of recruiting and winning at a high level as a head coach, for a significant sample size, at the Power 5 level. Though it also bears remembering that -- as hard as it is to believe -- the soccer itself, once interviews begin, almost never comes up. Tom McGinnis, Sr Associate Athletic Director in charge of women’s soccer and several other sports, led the search and told us in anexclusive behind the scenes look at the hiring process, that it would shock you how little tactics, strategy, or even just the sport in general comes up during those interviews. Instead, a candidate’s fit in terms of values and passion for coaching at the University of Minnesota really become the focus.
How might the team's style of play/performance change? As a standard disclaimer, I will admit I have never watched a DePaul women’s soccer game that didn’t involve the University of Minnesota. So we are going to keep things pretty damn basic here. The Big East and the Big Ten are different conferences. Stefanie Golan and Erin Chastain are both badass head coaches, but they are different people. And every season comes with much more nuance and randomness than outsiders -- like me -- can really truly account for in our analysis. And yet, for all that, the statistical profile of the Stefanie Golan’s Gophers and Erin Chastain’s Demon Deacons (man typing that takes getting used to...) are essentially the same. 
For this analysis we used the last 8 seasons because both the U of M and DePaul really tried to narrow in that era in giving a snapshot of Chastain’s tenure there. She had a few seasons prior that seemed like something of an understandable ramp up to leading a program so we’ll let 2013 be our starting point. DePaul and the U both score just under 1.5 goals a game and giving up about a goal a game over that era. For all we know DePaul’s version of that statistical profile was a bit different than the U’s, and they did dip in terms of overall performance -- from their incredibly impressive run from 2013-2016 -- but part of that may just be the natural ebbs and flows of leading a program for that long. Golan’s move to Missouri was a bit hard to understand because it wasn’t as set in our expectations as a move like Chastain's from smaller DI school to larger DI school. We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, that a change of scenery can be beneficial for both players and coaches. Anyway. Back to the comparison. As a reminder, the U’s path to getting to that 1.5 goals scored and 1 goal allowed typically looked like:
And, frankly, some of those traits may carry over simply through the existing players themselves, but it will be so interesting to see which ones respond differently and blossom under a new coach.
Chastain’s To-Do List First on Erin Chastain’s to-do list, other than literally moving herself and/or her entire family here, is to finalize the rest of her staffing decisions. She’s leaving behind what was an all female staff at DePaul, including long time assistant and associate head coach and now Interim Head Coach Michele O’Brien -- who would seem positioned as a likely predecessor… -- as well as Rachel Pitman. Let’s pretend for a second that both of those women get elevated at DePaul and are not heading to Minnesota. The cupboard on the Minnesota staff that Stef left behind is pretty damn full. Becky Maines was a candidate for the head coaching job but some players we’ve spoken to spoke highly of the idea of her remaining on staff in her current assistant capacity. Because Chastain is so experienced, keeping a younger coach like Maya Hayes on board could make sense as well. Director of Operations Sarah Johnson (SJ) is fantastic and could help serve as a stabilizing presence if more changes to the rest of the staff were made. For all we know Erin could keep all of them due to time constraints for this season and re-assess next winter. Or she literally already has every position lined up for someone outside the program. The reality is probably in between those two scenarios, though. Next she has to actually finalize the roster. It’s pretty late to be bringing in any transfers, but is it maaaaybe still possible? Could Minnesotan Morgan Turner use her COVID year of eligibility to return home to Minnesota after a four year career at DePaul under Chastain? Who knows. If a magically available centerback and a few central midfielders just sort of materialized because they specifically love Erin Chastain, we’re not going to complain. We do know that she spoke to the team yesterday after the hiring announcement and the responses we’ve heard so far are super positive. Not to beat a dead horse, here, but the players we are most curious about are the ones who take this opportunity with a new leader in charge and shine. Even with the *same* head coach, players can look very different from one year to another (Delany Stekr being a BOSS centerback after not playing the year before, Patricia Ward being a seriously great outside back after years on the wing, Katie Koker breaking out at outside back after getting to solidify into a role there vs a jack of all trades responsibility). We should have a long introductory show with Coach Chastain in the coming days. The fact that she was even able to respond to our inquiry during maybe the craziest most hectic day of her life speaks really highly of her and we can’t wait to dive into all the absurd lineup questions we have no business asking! |