Author: Mark Privratsky

This week in D1 Minnesotans we highlight Maddie Dahlien creating goals and earning a Bronze Medal with the USA in the U-20 World Cup. An unprecedented number of Minnesotans are playing on highly ranked teams, with Izzy Engle shining at #3 Notre Dame, Payton Cahill keeping at #5 Wake Forest, Kaitlyn Macbean bagging goals for #6 Penn State, and Iowa's MN fowards Maya Hansen & Berit Parten now up to #13. Wisconsin is just outside the top 25 and this weekend they make their first Big Ten trip to LA to face USC and UCLA alongside their Gopher rivals. First years Grace Pohlidahl (Army), Berit Parten (Iowa), Ashley Thurk (MN) and Izzy Engle (Notre Dame) are playing heavy minutes and making an impact ahead of schedule. We've got games to watch in the next two weeks, an update on St Thomas as they enter Summit League play, and as always, our STAT TRACKER with our 122 Minnesotans (and counting!) 

Of the ​28 MNs who are rostered as true freshman this fall, 21 have seen the field, and plenty seeing a solid chunk of minutes. But after 10 or so games, there are a few who are truly staking a claim as impact players from the jump. Grace Pohlidahl joined her sister Hannah at Army and immediately became a 90 minute player. Ashley Thurk has been a mainstay defensively for the Gophers, playing nearly 90 a game as they look poised to challenge for a BIG Tournament spot. The other two standouts are freshman goal scorers we've highlights this fall already because they are on FIRE for big teams. Izzy Engle currently sits on 10 goals in 9 games, with a G+A/90 of 1.71,  and is tied for 3rd in the nation in scoring (along with MN Kaitlyn Macbean of Penn St). Not to be outdone, Berit Parten at Iowa also continues to score effectively, with 6 goals in 519 minutes (& a few from a game that was abandoned) for a squad that looks to be challenging for the BIG Title. 

We are officially in the era of the Super Conference and that means a 18 team, coast to coast Big Ten. It also means coast to coast travel to new and potentially more threatening opponents. Last weekend Wisconsin snuck a 1-0 victory at home to the seemingly improved Gopher squad, in a great early test for both teams. This weekend the new Big Ten becomes real as both Minnesota and Wisconsin take their maiden voyage to Los Angeles to face UCLA and USC, two ranked foes with plenty of pedigree. For the Gophers, snagging any road points would a positive, while Wisconsin would likely set their sights higher given recent success. 10 our of 18 teams make the new Big Ten Tournament, with the four new additions all being competitive. Matt will be in Los Angeles to cover the inaugural trip as the Gophers face USC and UCLA this weekend. Stay tuned to Equal Time socials for on the ground content!

"Quick (fake) scenario for you: St Thomas is currently 4-4-1 as they head into Summit League conference play this weekend. In the fourth year of their NCAA transitional purgatory where postseason play remains out of reach, Head Coach Sheila McGill calls me up and says “Matt, we want you to come in, talk to the team, and give us a pep talk and some guidance for the rest of the fall.” I tell Sheila I’ll be right there. I jump on my ebike and bike to the Tom’s meeting room and write two words on the white board: Villain Season. Let’s jump into this very real idea based on a very fake situation." 

This is a taste of Matt's latest deep dive on St Thomas entering Summit League play, read the full piece HERE

Find our updated tracker for D1 MN's HERE. We are currently at 122 players and counting, feel free to DM us if we have missed a Minnesotan playing D1!

Author: Matt Privratsky

​Quick (fake) scenario for you: St Thomas is currently 4-4-1 as they head into Summit League conference play this weekend. In the fourth year of their NCAA transitional purgatory where postseason play remains out of reach, Head Coach Sheila McGill calls me up and says “Matt, we want you to come in, talk to the team, and give us a pep talk and some guidance for the rest of the fall.” I tell Sheila I’ll be right there. I jump on my ebike and bike to the Tom’s meeting room and write two words on the white board: Villain Season. Let’s jump into this very real idea based on a very fake situation. 

Where Things Stand for St Thomas
None of the results, on paper, stick out as super odd compared to what might be expected. Dropping a game at Marquette, a team that earned a tie against Milwaukee and fought the Gophers pretty hard? Nothing to be ashamed of. Losing on a 5-0 margin? That might be a bit outside of where you want to be. Losing to an ok Northern Illinois team on the road? Nothing we’re panicking over. Losing 4-1 after being tied at half (even considering the bad luck red card etc)? A little tougher to stomach. 

In short, the record isn’t too bad. They even snuck into the top 200 in RPI prior to the Marquette loss. But some of the margins are a little worrisome. So, with 8 games to go before that huge inaugural DI recruiting class finishes their senior season, I’m going to recommend a new motto/mindset for the 2024 Summit League season: this is now Villain Season. 

Villain Season
Yes as a young program you want to focus on building your identity. Yes you want to focus on development. Yes you want to be good people and not complete jerks. But the truth is, the only substantial, real life impact the Toms can have as a transitional/purgatory/no postseason squad is to change *other team’s* results. Now, this has been true for each of the last three seasons as well. But this year feels a little different. As I’ve continued to say: the Toms have really solid talent. The players largely are there for this team to be a headache in the Summit League. But there hasn’t really been a ton you can point to – by stats (below) or the eye test – in terms of big steps forward. Obviously there's a possibility those improved xG/goals numbers stick, but for the sake of this piece, let's pretend they go back down to earth like last season. Part of that is the Summit League being far tougher than folks might appreciate. But for the sake of this piece, we’re going to pretend at least one small part of it (among many) is the overall mindset and goals of the squad.

​So, in short, I’m proposing this team go full on super villain. I want them to go into every single training session, lift, bus ride, warm up, and game as if their number one goal is to ruin the week of their opponents. Oh South Dakota, you think you’re gonna battle for conference tournament contention and take three points off us? We are going to battle our asses off and force you to leave with a tie or a loss. Denver, you think you’re hot stuff? We’re gonna fly into Colorado and straight up steal a point off you. We are going to scrap. We are going to work hard. We’re going to be willing to try shit on the ball. We have literally nothing to lose and we are going to *play like it.* When I’m a St Thomas player defending an opposing attacker, I want them to fail. I want their day to suck. Yes I want to do well, but I also want them to *not do well.*

You’re probably thinking: Matt this sounds sort of weird, maybe even a little mean, and definitely a little extreme. Well, yea, you’re basically right. But here’s the thing, being a college soccer player is hard. We like to hype them up, celebrate them, and point out all the rad stuff they do, but these players deal with an insane amount of mental and emotional pressure. And, at times, it can legitimately suck to be a DI women’s soccer player. It can! It’s really hard! And this St Thomas team hasn’t had a lot of opportunity to experience really really big on-field payoff through big post season wins and competitive tournament play that can sometimes make it more worth it.

So that is why I’m (half jokingly) putting forward this motto as one for them to hold in the front of their mind for the rest of the fall. These players deserve to feel confident. They deserve to feel like they’re making an impact. And they deserve to feel like the time and energy they’ve invested into their college careers was worth it. They are super talented and I believe that entitles them – at least a little bit – to be super villains. ​

Some Stats, Surprises, and Sunshine
Other than my unrequested proposal for a dramatic mindset turn, let’s also take a look at some midseason markers that jumped out at me when scrubbing through some tape and statistics. 

• Lexi Huber enters Summit League play as both the leading scorer and leader in game winning goals. That is super rad and impressive. Let’s pretend it’s a years-later Equal Time bump (ADD LINK)
• Olivia Rowe may not be reaching all-league levels like I mentioned in the season preview piece but she’s not super far away from it. She’s fourth in saves and has faced plenty of action in net for the Toms – holding it down!
• Lots of young players have showed well in new or expanded roles this fall: Bryant, Carlson, Hoiska, McEwan, Nygaard, Knowles and others have all had particularly impressive moments. Just nice to see when you remember how many rotation spots will need to be filled after this big senior class wraps up their St Thomas careers. 
• Two particular “would not have guessed it” stats on top of that: Sophia Barjesteh and Tatum Trettel are second and third on the team in total shots so far! I for sure could have predicted they’d both be impactful and valuable (particular shout out to Trettel, who has battled through so many injuries and really does look back to form this fall) but being only behind leading scorer Lexi Huber in terms of shots would not have been on my bingo card for those two specific players. No real conclusion that I’m drawing from it, just found it interesting. We’ll see if Nguyen and other front line mainstays get more opportunity during conference play, too. It’s been fun to see Barjesteh in an expanded role and, as mentioned above, super fun to see Trettel fully healthy and dangerous. ​

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Author: Mark Privratsky

The 2024 NSIC Kickoff Weekend is upon us! The non conference gave us a glimpse of what to expect in the Northern Sun, but we know it really comes down to how ​these squads face off against each other. To get you ready for the weekend, we'll catch you up on St Cloud State's wild schedule to begin their season as defending champs, dig into UM Crookston's hopeful start in a potential rebound year, and the local teams who made the Central Region rankings. We will highlight the Games of the Week, Jenny Vetter making her Pro debut with Spokane Vephyr, Mackenzie Rath signing with San Diego Wave and share our interview with UMD star Anna Tobias. 

Coming off their first ever NSIC Title, the Huskies return most of their minutes played from last year, along with a slate of newcomers hoping to build on last years momentum. St Cloud had a solid test in non conference, playing NCAA Tourney teams Michigan Tech (L 0-1) and Northern Michigan (W 2-1), before besting two other regional opponents in Roosevelt (W 2-0) and UW Parkside (W1-0). As they start NSIC play, they have perhaps one of the more lopsided schedules you could create in terms of opponent strength. They will face 6 NSIC Tournament teams from 2023 in their first 7 games, completely frontloading the slate with UMD, Bemidji State, Augustana, Wayne State, Concordia St Paul, Minnesota State Mankato and U Mary. If the Huskies want to challenge for another trophy this year, they will need to come through the first half of the schedule relatively unscathed. Howver, they will have plenty of space to find momentum going into the NSIC Tournament, with the close all being (2023) bottom half of the table squads. ​

​In a Conference like the NSIC, there are definite tiers of talent, and also resources, so any teams growth has to be methodical and built year over year. For a relatively new Coaching staff at Crookston, they are in the midst of building that growth at one of the most far flung and (let’s be honest) under-resourced spots. They had a particularly tough 2023, going 0-18-0, but there were still close losses and respectable score lines at times. For 2024 Coaches Neil Mancktelow and Morgan Philliber recruited a slate of 11 newcomers (many of which are already seeing minutes), and clearly worked to find another level of resilience and potential. They started the year with an ambitious exhibition against D1 North Dakota, losing only 3-0, which you’d think would inspire some confidence. In the Non Conference, the Golden Eagles lost two close games to Lincoln University (an HBCU in Missouri) and University of Nebraska Kearney 0-1 at a round robin in Sioux Falls. In their third game in Spearfish, South Dakota, they snagged a 0-0 draw, ending their losing streak from last year, and also getting their first shutout since 2021. The result earned Keeper Jordan Metz an NSIC Keeper of the Week award (with an assist to finish the game from Emma Stempien) They face two tough games this weekend, at Bemidji State and home vs UMD, but next weekend could present an easier opportunity for points, with a trip to Sioux Falls and then a final non conference game against Jamestown. Jamestown is a soon to be NSIC member that Crookston beat 2-0 in an exhibition last year.

We've all probably been seeing too much about political polls, but there is one lesson we can take into NSIC play. Like their political counterparts, it's good to know the details and relevance of sports poll, to understand if it actually means anything. In Division 2 soccer, the coaches poll matters A LOT. When the NCAA Tournament field is selected, like most other sports, conference champs get an automatic birth. However, most teams that make the tourney are selected by at large invites, selected by the coaches of the Region. Last year St Cloud and MN State Mankato made the NCAA Tournament via at large selection, and the Conference would probably hope for at least a couple at large spots again this year. As we kick off NSIC play, we have four local squads getting ranked with few surprises, MN State Mankato, Concordia St Paul, Bemidji State and St Cloud State. With big NSIC matchups starting right away in the first weekend, we’ll see who takes the early momentum towards the postseason in a competitive '24 season.

Jenny Vetter left the NSIC as the all time leading scorer, and took no time finding her way in the pro game. Vetter signed with a young club, Racing Power FC in Portugal, scoring 14(!) goals in her debut season in their top flight. Seeking an opportunity closer to home this year, she signed with the USL Super League's Spokane Zephyr as the first Minnesotan to join the league. After a slight injury delay, she has now made her debut with two substitute appearances for Zephyr. It seemed like as soon as Vetter debuted, her MN State Mankato teammate Mackenzie Rath (of MN Aurora 2) signed as a replacement with San Diego Wave in the NWSL, marking a huge fall for the Mavericks program and the NSIC. You can watch all of the USL Super League action on Peacock.