Mark Privratsky is joined by co-host and former Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference legend Rachael Norton for Equal Time Soccer's first NSIC show, featuring Bemidji State star Allyson Smith. Mark and Rachael talk about the NSIC preseason rankings, which teams to watch, and more before being joined by Ally about 22 minutes in to talk about her personal journey to BSU and how the Beavers could do this year. You can watch the show as a video embedded below or as a podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher.
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Mark Privratsky Pictured: Jenny Vetter, Mankato State. Photo Credit: NSIC The start of Division 2 soccer is just around the corner. Squads are in preseason for the return of the full fall soccer season. Every team is undefeated! My UM-Crookston (Small Campus, Big Degree!) Golden Eagles are tied with the Mavericks of Mankato. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) does an amazing job of producing a full preview of the fall season. That includes beautiful graphics that I am happy to use and credit to them! Here at Equal Time we will focus on the 9 Minnesota NSIC schools and how they fit into the conference landscape. Preseason Coaches PollThere aren't a lot of surprises in the preseason coaches poll, based on historical results. Minnesota State-Mankato was a no-brainer at No. 1, but it wasn't unanimous, as Concordia St Paul(4) and Augustana(3) also received first place votes. The Minnesota schools ranked in 1st-Mankato, 3rd-Concordia Stp, 4th-Bemidji State, 5th-St Cloud St, 7th-Winona, 9th Southwest MN St, 11th-UMD, 12th-Moorhead State, 16th-UMC (Go Golden Eagles). As a reminder, Mankato has won 4 NSIC Tournaments in a row, so it is certainly a game of "queen of the hill" right now. Players to WatchThe NSIC Coaches chose both a Conference Offensive and Defensive Player of the year, and they also picked and Offensive and Defensive player for each squad. Given her 20 goal output in the last full season (2019) where she was named Central Region player of the year, it was no surprise to see Jenny Vetter of Mankato picked as Preseason Offensive Player of the year. Jenny scored those 20 goals in 24 games. It'd be wild but not shocking to see her score a goal a game this year. Photo Credit: NSIC The NSIC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year is Megan Dahl of Bemidji State. Megan has twice been on the All NSIC teams, leading the defense for a Bemidji State Beaver squad that surely believes they can challenge for the Conference title. I like that Megan wears number 9, seemingly to mock the fowards that she is locking down? Future ContentFor the Minnesota in the NSIC beat, I will plan to write a weekly recap of scores/stats, and whatever stories we can find to highlight. I will also be hosting video/podcast interviews with former BSU and NSIC star Rachel Norton. D2 soccer is somewhat new to me, so bringing in someone who knows the game, yet is retired as a college athlete, so she may speak freely about the experience! Rachel will join me next week, potentially with a player guest, to preview the year and help me get a sense for NSIC Soccer.
Watching NSIC Games Our NSIC teams are in preseason as I mentioned, so check out your local teams schedule for some soccer over the coming week. One interesting game for Minnesota soccer is Mankato taking on newly Division 1 St Thomas tomorrow, August 20, at St Thomas. In the regular season that kicks off in September, there tends to be at least 1-2 games that are available to stream, so I'm eager to utilize that as well as getting to some games in person. See the full NSIC Women Soccer Release here: https://northernsun.org/news/2021/8/10/2021-nsic-womens-soccer-preseason-coaches-poll.aspx Mark Privratsky Are your ready for games that matter? Preseason is wrapped up for the most part, and we will see most Division 1 programs kick off their season on Thursday or Friday. Because we don't have a lot of box scores and stat sheets to sift through from the exhibition season (coach's secrets), I thought it may be helpful to highlight some games that you can easily stream this week(end)! Some of the Minnesotans on Power 5 Conference rosters can be tough to watch due to all of the streaming packages you may have to pay for, but we've got games close to home that you can stream for free. In a world with more and more options for streaming and more and more monthly payments, may I present to you, The Summit League! A few of our neighbors in the Summit League like North Dakota State, Denver, and South Dakota State have all of their games streamed free online. That is great news for you and I (and all the parents who want to watch games after paying for their child's entire youth soccer career)! If you know of other opportunities to stream free matches for these players, let me know! The hardest challenge of covering Women's College Soccer is a simple lack of information, so if we can learn about a new player or team, we will highlight them. After I posted our first Minnesotans Playing D1 piece , i got close to 20 new submissions of players to follow, which is exciting! As always, feel free to interact with me on social media (@markprivratsky) to get my attention on a story in the beautiful game! Games to Watch this Weekend,
Denver You can stream Denver's games with a simple click from their schedule at DenverPioneers.com. Denver features Minnesotans Shweta Raje, Megan Prazich and Sam Dietrick and they will be playing the "Colorado Cup' this weekend with the other D1 schools from Colorado. Thursday, August 19, 8pm CT Denver vs. Air Force Colorado Cup Sunday, August 22, 3:30pm CT Denver vs. Colorado State Colorado Cup North Dakota State Like Denver, you can stream NDSU games just by clicking on their schedule at GoBison.com. NDSU features probably the most Minnesotans on any roster in the country. Aly Cole, Paige Goaley, Kaitlyn Hanson, Bella Grandbois, Kelsey Kallio, Lauryn Roszak, Oliva Watson, Olivia Lovick, Josie Fieldman, Mckenna Strand, Dani Stuber, Lavin Douglass, Jess Hanley, and Ellie Schneider all roster with the Bison this year. You can catch interviews with Aly Cole, Ellie Schnieder and Olivia Lovick in our last MN's Playing D1 piece. Look for those 3 and many more to play a role with the Bison this year. Friday, August 20, 6pm NDSU vs. Idaho Fargo, ND Sunday, August 22, 1pm NDSU vs. Baylor Fargo, ND South Dakota State If North Dakota State has the MOST Minnesotans, SDSU might lay claim to the second most impact players from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Kaitlin Zabel, Taylor Lock, Rachel Preston, Kennedy Sanders, Jocelyn Tanner, Maya Hansen, and Kayla Anderson all suit up for the Jacks in 21. As our own Annie Williams can attest, SDSU is always a team to watch in the Summit League and Minnesotans play a major part. Go to GoJacks.com for easy streaming from the team schedule. Friday, August 20, 6pm South Dakota State vs. Augustana Brookings, SD Sunday, August 22, Noon South Dakota State vs. Texas-Rio Grande Valley Brookings, SD |
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January 2024
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