#0: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -1). Congratulations to the University of Minnesota women's soccer program. For the second time in their history (and first in 21 years!), the team won the Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament, held at home, last weekend. In Friday afternoon's semifinal, the Gophers defeated Michigan 1-0 on a cross from Juliana Gernes in the 8th minute. And in Sunday afternoon's final, vs. 7th-seeded upstart Rutgers, Emily Heslin broke a 1-all tie in Minute 84 (less than a minute after Rutger's Chantelle Swaby tied the game; Sydney Squires opened up scoring in the 27th) by rocketing a loose ball from the top of the box for the game-winning, tournament-clinching goal. It was the Sophomore Heslin's first game of the year and the second of her career. And it gave Minnesota its first double ever.
Because of that, they obviously glided into the NCAA Tournament. And for the first time ever (I don't know about that, I'm just guessing), they received one of the 16 national seeds. Specifically, they are the #4 seed in the Palo Alto Region. I was all hyped up that they were in line for a seed because that meant they not only got to host the first-round game at home this weekend, they would be in line to host the second and Sweet 16 rounds the next weekend. (I am working the Vikings game, but it was possible I would at least catch one of those games at Robbie.) But one day while lying in bed I realized that it didn't work that way. If you were going to host the second and third rounds of the tourney, it would have to be at the highest-available seed for those rounds. The Gophers' Sweet 16 opponent would be #1 seed (and actually #1 overall seed) Stanford. So they in fact will be in Palo Alta, Calif. next week, assuming they win. My bad.
The assumption is that they win, and their first-round opponent isn't a regional low-major like speculated, such as South Dakota St. or even Marquette. It's N.C. State, a program going back to the NCAAs for the first time in two decades. The Wolfpack are currently in bad form, winning once and tying once in their last seven matches. But they are a middle-of-the-road team in the powerful ACC, prime characteristics of a Cinderella.
I planned on going to the game because, besides watching my alma mater Saturday on TV, I had this weekend free. I totally had time to go to the match, right? Well, shit, Minnesota (who has moved up to 8th in the polls, by the way) decided to play this match Saturday at 7 p.m. -- the same time as my alma mater's game. I've been to so many of this club's matches, and this is the damn thanks I get? This is why these guys aren't in Positive Numbers. Sorry, it's petty, but that's how I feel. And good luck anyways.
#-1: Gopher football (Last Week: 0). Don't look now, but with their 44-31 win over Purdue at Das Bank on Saturday, this squad is 7-2. They aren't ranked in the Top 25, and appropriately so; their non-conference wins were over States Oregon and Colorado, plus they played a second-division team. But the schedule laid out in such a way where all the easy teams were grouped together and all the hard teams were grouped together. The victory over the Boilermakers finished a run of four cupcake games, and the U. won all four. In that sense, they have established, again, a level of mastery over the truly awful teams in the Big Ten. In such a hyper-competitive league where the program's glory days were a half-century ago, that's not the worst thing in the world.
However, the rubber meets the road for the last three games. First up is a road game Saturday night against a resurgent Nebraska team. Now we will see how good this team really is.
#-2: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -2). Oh, man, I miss the rivalry games against North Dakota, the redneck school up in the boonies with the racist name. The now-Fighting Hawks played the U. for the first time in a couple years for a pair of games at Mariucci Arena, and I hear it was festive and loud and, near the end of the second game Saturday night, antagonistic. I wish I were there.
A win and a tie for the good guys. Tommy Novak scored with an extra skater with 77 left in regulation to tie the game up at 5 Friday, where it stayed. And on Saturday, Eric Schierhorn stopped all 33 NoDak shots to preserve a 2-0 win, including a Penalty Shot from the Hawks' Brock Boeser given with 40 seconds left in the game.
For their efforts, Novak was named B1G First Star Of The Week and Mike Szmatula Third Star Of The Week. And the Gophers rose into the top 10 in the polls. They have a week off before facing MSU-Mankato in a home-and-home.
#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0). Don't want to downgrade the team's sweep at Maryland Sunday, but ... it's Maryland. They've proven a lot, but there was nothing to prove from a nothing program like the Terrapins. This weekend's back-to-back games in Illinois (Illinois Saturday night, Northwestern Sunday night) that'll end the road portion of their regular season -- now that might mean a little more.
#-4: Wild (Last Week: -3). Lost at Colorad 1-0 Saturday, but beat the Penguins in Pittsburgh last (Thursday) night 4-2. They rode their top line to victory against the defending Stanley Cup champions. That's all I have to say. This week is very busy: At Philadelphia and Ottawa, then home to Calgary and Boston, the latter of which I will attend with my friend.
#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4). I guess patience remains the name of the game with this team with extraordinary young talent. Still, losing at Oklahoma City and Brooklyn and then blowing out Orlando is testing mine. If Karl-Anthony Towns is so good now and Andrew Wiggins is flashing signs of brilliance, why aren't they winning more? They play four games this screening week, all at home -- vs. the L.A. squads this weekend, then Charlotte Tuesday and Philadelphia Thursday.
#-Infinity: Vikings (Last Week: -5). Holy fuck ... now this team is in collapse.
First of all, don't single out Blair Walsh just because he missed an Extra Point. Again. Sure, if he would have made it in that game last week versus Detroit the Lions would have had to drive all the way to the end zone in order to win the game. But from what I saw of that game (and admittedly I was busy getting a car stuck at a security checkpoint) that defense wasn't going to stop Matthew Stafford from throwing a Touchdown. Getting into Field Goal distance in a matter of 20 seconds and two plays was ample evidence of that. And beyond that -- only 16 points? The offensive line is still shit, and Sam Bradford has reverted to being the mediocre Quarterback he has been throughout his career. (And the Vikings gave up their first-round pick next year for this guy!)
What I am saying is is that, like with the Twins, the ViQueens are in Total System Failure. They looked like Super Bowl contenders three weeks ago; now, on a three-game losing streak and going into Washington, they now look like a team that'll miss the playoffs. Fixing this shit? This is on them.
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