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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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Mark Privratsky (not matt)
Greetings from the surface of the sun! As most of us huddle in our air conditioning (hopefully), some young women were crazy enough to play some WPSL soccer throughout the weekend and this week. Every club in the WPSL Northern Conference has now played at least one match, and there are some intriguing scorelines already. We at Equal Time decided to drive up to Roseville for the Salvo SC vs. MN Thunder match last Friday, so let's dig into that match and the other results from the past week.
We went to a soccer game!
Salvo SC vs. MN Thunder, Friday June 4 I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't REALLY want to get out in the heat to attend this game, but the action on the pitch and friendly hosts made this a worthwhile excursion. I was luck enough to catch up with former Gopher Soccer star and current Salvo player, Emily Heslin on my way into the stadium. Her first words did not disappoint, "woah you look wild, man!" To which I had to clarify, "No, I'm not him (Matt)." I took it as a great compliment and it reminded me of the twinteractions to come. Thank you to Emily for her pregame thoughts:
I can tell you that walking on the pitch before the match confirmed all the stereotypes of turf in heat. You could definitely feel a difference. Thankfully the stands are in the shade, so as the game kicked off it wasn't too hot for the decent crowd of (maybe 100?) fans. I didn't notice extra fatigue on the field except for the expected early summer season fitness levels. The game started a bit choppy, both teams making a few passes and then losing it. The Thunder had some better cohesion in stretches of the first half and started off the scoring in about the 10th minute with a high looping header off a corner.
Salvo pushed forward towards the end of the first half and found an equalizer just before halftime on a deep shot over the keeper's head.
The second half started with a lot of back and forth play again. It seemed destined for a draw, but Salvo found this amazing Golazo almost from nothing. (apologize for the video on this one, I had to watch the end from home so it's video of my tv)
Final Score Salvo SC: 2 Minnesota Thunder: 1
WPSL Northern Conference Roundup (yeehaw)
Friday, June 4 Mankato United SC: 7 Fire 98 SC: 2 Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato Wow! Mankato starts their year off with a bang, going for the full touchdown against Fire 98 SC. Safe to say that this team will make some noise this summer. By the way, I have learned that Bethany Lutheran College, where Mankato United play, is located in MANKATO, not New Ulm. Thank you for keeping me a lifelong learner, and I cannot wait to visit the Hwy 14 Derby ASAP. Saturday, June 5 Maplebrook Fury: 0 Rochester United: 0 Maple Grove High School Stadium Sunday, June 6 Maplebrook Fury: 0 Dakota Fusion FC: 0 Maple Grove High School Stadium Maplebrook started off their back to back with a draw on Saturday against Rochester. They played to a second straight draw on Sunday against Dakota United, which for me is the second best result of the weekend when you played back to back games in 90+ degree heat. Sunday, June 6 Minnesota Thunder: 3 Mankato United: 1 Academy of Holy Angels Stardome The Thunder bounced back from their opening loss to put 3 on Mankato, bringing 'Kato back down to earth after their 7 goals on Friday. Wednesday, June 9th Rochester United: 2 Mankato United: 2 Spartan Field at Mayo High School, Rochester In what the teams are calling "Hwy 14 Derby" (LOVE the name btw), both clubs put two goals on the board. You can tell from just the first week of full match play that we are going to see a lot of parity in the Conference. Good news for fans is that parity breeds fun and unpredictable results! 
WPSL Northern Conference Standings as of Thursday, June 10th based on the league website. Full disclosure that they don't appear to be updated for all results so teams may be delayed in getting that information submitted.
:WPSL What to Watch
Thursday, June 10th, 7:45pm Minnesota Thunder vs. Fire 98 SC Academy of Holy Angels Stardome Saturday, June 12th, 6pm Dakota Fusion FC vs. Minnesota Thunder Jim Gotta Stadium, Moorhead Saturday, June 12th, 7pm Rochester United FC vs. Salvo Sc Spartan Field at Mayo High School, Rochester Sunday, June 13th, 7pm Maplebrook Fury vs. Fire 98 SC (aka the Fire and Fury Cup *tm pending) Maplegrove High School Stadium Wednesday, June 16th, 7pm "The Highway 14 Derby" aka "the battle for corn" aka "the battle for soy beans" Mankato United SC vs. Rochester United Bethany Lutheran College Stadium, MANKATO Thursday, June 17th Minnesota Thunder vs. Salvo SC Academy of Holy Angels Stardome Get out and check out a match! We also used the Eleven Sports app this past week and will likely live tweet a match using the app from home this week. Shout out to the 10k Pitches pod for a great interview with Maplebrook Fury Owner Jean-Yves Viardin (coolest WPSL name I've heard so far). Check that interview out below.
 This weekend features the first full slate of games for the WPSL Northern Conference. All seven teams will play at least one match from Friday through Sunday, and we're excited to check out WPSL action for the first time this summer. One squad, Maplebrook Fury, is playing back to back Friday-Saturday games in 90+ degree heat. So whether you can make it to a match in person, or prefer to stream a game from the comfort of your air conditioned home, we will make it easy for you to jump start your Summer of Soccer. How to stream WPSL matches it's the summer of 21, and we expect to see our favorite sports from the comfort of our home, either for convenience or to beat the heat. Thankfully, we should see a number of WPSL Northern Conference matches streamed live on Eleven Sports (formerly MyCujoo). The platform soon to be named Eleven Sports has been a reliable lower division soccer streaming service for years, featuring a variety of leagues with free access. Signing up for Eleven Sports is easy, as I just learned for myself this week. Simply go to the Eleven Sports website: https://elevensports.com/en and click on "REGISTER" in the top right corner. From there you can simply use your Gmail or Facebook account to register with Eleven Sports, or simply make your own unique account with them.  Once you've made your account, you can search for the WPSL as a league or for your favorite team. As an example, you can search "Mankato United SC" in the search bar, and immediately get taken to their team page, with their schedule and links to game streams readily available. You may also see past matches that you can stream at your convenience. While the WPSL encourages every team to stream every match, it is still up to the individual clubs to produce a video stream, so checking the website/app regularly will ensure you know which games you can stream from home.  Matches this weekend If you are looking to catch a game in person, here are this weekend's opportunities. Mankato United SC vs. Fire SC 98 Friday, June 4th 7pm Bethany Lutheran College Stadium, Mankato Salvo SC vs. Minnesota Thunder Friday, June 4th 7pm Reynolds Field, University of Northwestern, Roseville Maplebrook Fury vs. Rochester United FC Saturday, June 5th 7pm Maple Grove High School Stadium Maplebrook Fury vs. Dakota Fusion FC Sunday, June 6th 7pm Maple Grove High School Stadium Minnesota Thunder vs. Mankato United SC Sunday, June 6th 7:45pm Academy of Holy Angels Stardome, Richfield Follow Equal Time Soccer this weekend As the new Equal Time contributor on the WPSL beat, I will plan to be at the Salvo SC vs. Minnesota Thunder match on Friday night in Roseville. Watch for Twitter and Instagram content around that match and whatever else we see going on this weekend. Mark Privratsky
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