The United States World Cup win pushed their fan support on the field to a whole new level. And because of how they won — as outspoken and fearless champions for equal pay and representation — they also built a groundswell of support off the field. As the World Cup champs return to their club teams in the National Women's Soccer League, they’re bringing record breaking crowds with them. Yet their equal pay dispute with the US Soccer Federation is far from resolved. And even less certain is how or if the benefits of a new contract for national team players will trickle down to the rank and file in the NWSL.
Still, it’s clear that the conversation has shifted. And for a breakout star like Rose Lavelle, part of the battle is using her new platform in a way that brings real progress. “We obviously have a unique platform and us using our voice inspires more people to use theirs. Even just pushing the conversation past just talking and more towards action has helped more female athletes feel like they have the power to do that too.” Can Minnesota be next? At the same time, with only nine NWSL teams across the country, it remains to be seen how much the World Cup bump will impact places like Minnesota. With a brand new stadium and a Major League Soccer ownership group with connections and experience in so many other professional leagues, does Minnesota have the right ingredients to be an expansion team? Carli Lloyd, who has experienced the ups and downs of not only this league but its predecessors, knows it’s not always that simple. But the potential is there. “There’s obviously tricky things, other than just saying ‘it’d be great to have a women’s team here,” Lloyd said. “But a place like Minnesota I think would probably offer an amazing setup for a team.” Minnesotan and NWSL veteran Kassey Kallman agrees. Especially if the investment is there. “I think Minnesota is doing all the right things to have a women’s team at this point. You see the teams that are coming in that are affiliated with MLS teams that are doing so well. The teams that are struggling are the people that are more independent owners that have smaller stadiums. If they put in the resources the same as the do for the men, if they do the marketing the same as the men, it can succeed. People love women’s soccer here.” Early proof of concept The highest level women’s soccer team in the state are the Gophers at the U of M. Since current Head Coach Stefanie Golan started in 2012, they’ve won one regular season Big Ten Championship, two Big Ten tournament championships, and had four trips to the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers worst season in that span has still been over .500. That sustained success has led to some of the best attendance in the country for college soccer. In fact, I’d wager the Gopher Soccer program has sent about as many players into the pro ranks as the football and basketball teams, who receive infinitely more coverage and attention from local media. For more than a decade, Gophers have been going on to have successful careers in Norway (Kelsey Hood) and Germany (Jenni Clark), and while others have made stops in the pro leagues of Sweden, Czech Republic, Iceland, Serbia, Israel, Puerto Rico, and more. Outside the Twin Cities, high quality programs at the DII and DIII levels. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference is largely made up of Minnesota state schools and the MIAC and UMAC feature many of the state’s small liberal arts colleges. And players of all levels are featured in the WPSL, a massive semi-pro summer league with six teams in Minnesota and Fargo. Fans can make a difference It’s easy to forget when you watch the national team suit up in red, white, and blue at the immaculate Allianz Field, but the world class soccer we get to experience now is really thanks to years of support for lower level soccer up in Blaine. When finances were tight, and it looked like the Stars (formerly the Thunder) might fold, it was the outstanding fan support and game experience at the National Sports Center that helped convince this ownership group to invest in the Stars, and bring them to MLS as the MN United we cheer for today. So if we want the chance to see these incredible women play soccer week in and week out for a professional team based right here in Minnesota, and not just for one special night, we need to start by showing our support for the fantastic women’s soccer we already have. Check out a Gopher game. Watch a WPSL game online. And tell your friends and family about your experience. Rather than letting the visit from the women’s national team be a one time high that leads to emotional hangover, let’s use this World Cup win as our gateway drug into the wonderful world of Minnesota women’s soccer.
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There’s so much going on as college teams get ready for their fall seasons to get started. Polling is being thrown around. Watch lists are posted. And we got our first sneak peak at the 2019 Gophers squad during their exhibition against North Dakota State. With so much to cover, we figured we’d do a roundup of several topics that provide a mix of flavors for everyone.
Gophers scrimmage We got a look at the Gophers during their very first field session together a couple weeks ago. But that was literally the first time everyone had played together, so it was tough to glean too much from that single session. The scrimmage against NDSU, after players had a chance to settle into some new combinations, offered a bit more. First: the result. Minnesota won 3-0. A fairly standard scoreline for this regular matchup. What was more surprising was the flow of the offense. The Gophers have always built their attack on consistent passing and motion, but this attacking group had a unique spark. That’s significant now only because of how many top line attackers they lost to graduation, but also because of how particularly young and (on paper at least) inexperienced their replacements were.
But let’s start in the back. Maddie Nielsen started at keeper and looked solid. The coaches rave about her improved confidence and, after winning the conference tournament in a shootout, we’re not surprised. The team announced a slight change in formation (kind of) to a 5-2-3 from their traditional 4-3-3, but it really largely played the same. Nikki Albrecht was back to her left side spot of old, Cachet Lue and Marisa Windingstad played in the center, and Katie Koker was on the right. Athena Kuehn shifted to centerback last year, but she essentially played as a holding midfielder as she did as a freshman. Whatever you want to call it, that group of five is going to be solid as hell. Alana Dressely should rotate in as an outside back and Billings could see minutes there based on the matchups as well. Back to the attack. Part of the zip and pep seemed to come from the injection of freshmen who are in absolutely no mood to mess around. Katie Duong came in with sky high expectations and essentially met them by scoring two goals, but it was her grit and effort tracking all the way back to her own box that impressed even more. More on her later. Manthy Brady has such an easy swagger to her game that you can’t help but watch her when she’s on the field. She has a tall, strong frame but she’s also nimble with the ball and confident enough to really - pardon the language - try sh*t in the final third. Sadie Harper also showed some hustle in her second half minutes. The returners all looked solid. Hartkemeyer has a quick first touch and some moxy when attacking the goal. Nummerdor and Del Moral had a good mixture of smarts, touch, and spacing - per usual. Ward had flashes. Gray found seams in the defense. It remains to be seen how much their hustle and flow style remains once they’re tested against some tougher competition. But the confidence on the ball was there. A few more games together should tell us how well the defensive press comes along, as well. Big Ten Preseason Predictions The coaches poll places Minnesota in 6th (Woso Independent modeled them to finish 9th, just outside the conference tournament range). If things head in the direction they seemed to be going after the scrimmage, it’s hard for us to imagine the Gophers missing the Big Ten Tournament altogether. Athena Kuehn, Nikki Albrecht, and Celina Nummerdor were also named to the preseason watch list. This got us thinking, if things go well, who else could battle for All Conference recognition? WAY TOO EARLY PREDICTION TIME. If the team performs well, our best guess for other awardees would be: Maddie Nielsen (GK) Lue (DEF) Duong (MID, Freshmen Team) Gray (FWD) Brady (Freshmen Team) You have to crush it as a team to get that many players on the All Big Ten teams, so it’s not likely that many make the cut. But they seem to have shown the most juice so far. Duong is going national! Katie Duong has been named to the U-20 US National Team squad for their upcoming camp in California. Other than it being an easy hand off while the team is already there for their first two matches of the year, it’s such an incredible honor. Her last time with the national setup was back in 8th grade, but with all the attention she received for her youth and high school career (and based on the early flashes we’ve seen) she absolutely has the stuff to compete at that level.
Her teammate Nikki Albrecht has been called up to the youth nationals multiple times, as has recent graduate April Bockin. But we didn’t get a ton of opportunity to actually see them on the field in the red, white, and blue. With many of Minnesota’s non-conference opponents skimping on their broadcasting/streaming setups, we might have to tune in to watch Katie to get our Gophers fix that week (Aug 24-Sep 1). It’s polling season! No, not for the presidential race. For our many wonderful college soccer programs! As a dad who yelled at me as he walked away from our parking lot tailgate recently shouted: “there are a lot more Minnesotans playing soccer than just the Gophers, you know!” Yes sir, I agree! And while I can’t cover every single DI, DII, DIII program in the state *and* surrounding states on a game by game basis (we are actually just an I, and I am only one man), we *are* going to up our game. Every week, when the players of the week are announced for the NSIC (DII), MIAC (DIII), and UMAC (DIII), we will post a twitter poll for each conference that will last 24 hours. The winner of each of those polls will be interviewed for roughly 10 minutes and all three will be combined into weekly video and podcast. We (I) may live. We (I) may die. But either way we (I) are (am) going to attempt to make this damn thing a reality. Thanks again! Thanks to everyone who has been sharing and clicking on the recent coverage. It helps so much to have people spreading the word. And a special thanks to the new monthly supporters (David Olson, Jim & Kristen Gray, Kristen Nielsen, Erik Allen) who are helping cover the cost of running the website, the podcast hosting, the video equipment, and more. Join them for as little as $2/month at patreon.com/equaltimesoccer.
We took the drive up Highway 371 to chat with Jim Stone, the Head Coach of the Bemidji State University Beavers. After landing at #18 in the preseason DII coaches poll, BSU is set to start their 2019 campaign without last year's star keeper and top goal scorer.
Watch the full chat below and be sure to follow BSU throughout the season.
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