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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.
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