The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Positive Numbers: Whitecaps (Re-Entry!).  Congratulations go out to the Whitecaps, who, in their first year in the National Women's Hockey League, finished the regular season this weekend on the road and won both of their games to win the regular season title (if there is one)!  Saturday was the more important, and impressive, game as the club got the game-winning Goal from Jonna Curtis with about 90 Seconds left to beat the Boston Pride, 2-1.  With the next day's 4-1 shellacking of the Connecticut Whale, the title was theirs.  Not bad for an expansion squad, huh?

Now the Isabel Cup Playoffs begin.  I'm not totally sure on the format, but all five teams play.  On Thursday the Whale visit the Metropolitan Riveters.  This year has been starkly bifurcated, with Minnesota, Boston and the Buffalo Beauts finishing two Points from each other; Metropolitan escaped last place by two Points, but they finished 14 Points behind third-place Boston.  The winner of that game flies to St. Paul to face the Whitecaps Sunday afternoon ... in a game I got a ticket for!!!  And if the regular season is any indication, I don't think this game is going to be a problem.  Meanwhile, the game between the Beauts and Pride should be a stem-winder.  The winner of the game plays probably Minnesota, and then we'll see who lifts the trophy.

#0: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -4).  It may not matter much, but this weekend they finally achieved their first home sweep in the regular season.  And they did so against a very good opponent, albeit an unfamiliar one -- Arizona St., which, despite being only in its fourth season in top-flight men's college hockey and without a conference to call home, are all but assured of making it into the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever.  (I would have loved to have seen the Sun Devils' hockey sweaters, but parking restrictions discouraged me from going, sad face.)  And the two wins were decisive: 5-1 Friday, 5-2 Saturday.  This despite some hard, borderline dirty play from ASU.

But I have to confess that that sweep didn't move the needle when it came to the PairWise.  As it stands right now, they are tied for 20th alongside North Dakota.  They would need to jump at least five spots to get an at-large to the tourney.  So the only way for them to get to the Ice Dance is to win the league tournament.  That task starts this weekend with a best-of-three series vs. Michigan at 3M at Mariucci.

#-1: United FC (Re-Entry!).  Wanted to watch this game Saturday.  The team had a watch party at City Works in downtown Minneapolis, but the game started a half-hour after my shift was over, and I thought there would be a snow emergency declared in the city, so I thought I didn't want to deal with the hassle.  I decided to go to a burlesque show close to home (instead of the Gopher men's hockey game; again I didn't want to deal with a potential tow, but I missed a very good performance, as noted above), so I decided to eat close to home, at the Mill NE.  But they didn't have a TV, and I swore they had a TV.  The closest sports bar on Central Ave. to the Mill NE and to the Minnsky Theatre (place where the burlesque show was) was Mac's Industrial, but it was crowded and no TV was tuned to the match.  So I listened on the radio until I had to go to the show.

And it started off badly, with the team conceding the lead to Vancouver off of, you guessed it, a Corner Kick.  But you know what?  The side picked itself off the mat and started fighting back.  Francisco Calvo, who appears to be taking a more offensive role this year, got fouled in the box, and Darwin Quintero deposited the Penalty Kick to knot it up at 1 late in the First Half.  Then, in four Minutes, the Loons took the lead for good on tallies by Calvo and Romario Ibarra.  The Whitecaps scored late, but MNUFC held on for a 3-2 win, matching its road win total for 2018 and getting them above .500 for the first time in franchise history (in Major League Soccer, of course).

The main change appears to be their defensive mettle.  I had a feeling that in the previous two years, Vancouver's tactics would have sliced through the Loons.  But after a wholesale (and, might I add, ruthless and even rude) off-season where they told many of their starters to leave the squad, their additions, most notably MLS stalwarts Osvaldo Alonso and Ike Opara, bossed around the 'Caps and neutralized any attacks through the middle.  That's something previous editions could not do.

To make sure Allianz Field would be ready and to ensure there wouldn't be matches played below freezing, United FC will play their first five Matches on the road.  Next Saturday they play San Jose, projected by many to finish as the worst team in the league.

#-2: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -8).  These players did what they needed to do and routing the Wildcats in Northwestern Thursday, 62-50.  Joey Brackets, as of right now, not have the U. in the field, but in as an 11-seed.  They are still projected to avoid the play-in game.  Frankly, these guys aren't that good.  And they're still in The Big Dance with room to spare?

We'll see if they burn through that room.  They finish the regular season with a pair of foreboding opponents.  On Tuesday they host Purdue.  And on Friday they finish the regular year at Maryland.

#-3: Wild (Last Week: -1).  They are in the middle of a scary stretch of games against teams that, to be honest, are better than them.  And these guys cannot afford a slip-up like what happened Sunday night, when they had a lead at the X on Nashville but lost in a Shootout.  Nevertheless that is a point, and that defeat comes at the end of a week where the squad won two very impressive games on the road.  On Tuesday they came back to score twice in the final two minutes of the game to take a 3-2 victory over The Central Division-leading Bastard Atlanta Thrashers, and then on Saturday night they had their way against a very shaky Goalie in their 4-2 win over The Western Conference-leading Bastard Atlanta Thrashers.  (They flew home from Calgary to play the next night in St. Paul; that would explain their loss to the Predators, even though having a lead and blowing it is inexcusable.)

With all that, the Wild are still clinging to the last playoff spot in the Western Conference; as of press time, they are two Points up on The Bastard Winnipeg Jets.  But the tough road to hoe continues, and boy, it's a hellish four-Game screening week: At Nashville tonight/Tuesday night; back-to-backs at the Florida clubs; then home Monday to face San Jose.

#-4: Gopher softball (Last Week: -2).  See, I should be stoked that the softballers won four-of-five Games in Tucson, Ariz., over the weekend.  But look at the wins -- Two over Drake, one over James Madison (who were ranked above the U., I should add), and a 12-1 rout of Kent St. called after Six Innings.  But the loss was a 2-0 decision Saturday evening against host Arizona.  You look at the name "Wildcats" and then recognize that the victories are over non-BcS teams, and it's starting to become clear that we're not looking at a title contender.  They may be good, even great, but they are nowhere near excellent enough to see them hoisting the NCAA Championship.

This weekend they (and current B1G Pitcher Of The Week Amber Fiser) are in Austin, Tex.  They play a three-game series vs. Texas, and yet are squeezing in a Saturday night contest against Texas Southern.

#-5: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -7).  It may not have mattered, but man, they could have used a win Thursday at Rutgers.  Instead, as has been this club's bugaboo, they tired down the stretch and squandered a four-Point lead by getting outscored 22-12 in the Fourth Quarter, losing 60-54.  It has been striking to see what was a wide rotation get narrowed down to basically five players playing the entire game after that rotation stopped working.  But Head Coach Lindsay Whalen has tightened them up even further; lately, Minnesota has been a two-player game, with Destiny Pitts and Kenisha Bell basically being the entire offense.  That worked in the regular season finale Sunday, routing Michigan St. at The Barn, 82-63.  But finding the right combination to unlock this team's potential has come too late, I'm afraid.

There is always the Big Ten Tournament; win that (something Minnesota has never done) and the Gophers get the auto-bid.  Thursday they begin play in Indianapolis versus Indiana.  Win that and they stare down Iowa the next evening.  And then, who knows?

#-6: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3).  People, including me, continue to think these guys have a chance of reaching the postseason just because there is still time left in the regular season.  But maybe it's time to give up the ghost after the week the Woofie Dogs had.  Sure, they won at home vs. The Bastard Rochester/Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City-Omaha Kings, but in three games out east, they fell to Atlanta, Indiana and Washington.  Wednesday's loss to (too many cities and team names to mention) Hawks was particularly devastating; they couldn't close out the game despite a late lead and basically crashed out in Overtime, losing 131-123.  Karl-Anthony Towns continues to astound, but there has been more scrutiny of Andrew Wiggins' passivity and lack of outward passion for the game and for improving his game.  I have heard the Common Man call him "Standrew" Wiggins, which is funny, vicious, and probably accurate.

Busy week for the Woofs: Home to The Bastard Seattle SuperSonics tonight/Tuesday night, straight out to Detroit to play the Pistons tomorrow/Wednesday night, then back-to-backers against the Wizards and New York at Target Center.

#-7: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -6).  I really like actual series between teams not from the same conference in the early non-con baseball part of the regular season at the actual home stadium of one of the teams.  It's so different from this weekend tournament where you see squads play three different teams, even if they are teams they may not play again for decades, if ever.

It would also be good if, you know, your team would win one game.  Unfortunately, the U. did not do that, getting swept in a three-game series at N. C. St. over two days (Friday was rained out, so the Goofers were swept in a Saturday Doubleheader).  Sunday's loss was the worst; the Golden Goofers held a 4-2 lead heading in to the bottom of the Ninth but coughed up three Wolfpack runs to lose.

I should say more than that, but I need to end this survey early because I know I won't have any time Tuesday to complete this before the evening begins.  This weekend the club's back on the tournament circuit.  But this time the nine's in Seattle for something called the Seattle Baseball Showcase.  They will play Oregon St., San Diego and presumptive host Washington.  And then these guys will tack on a road game versus Seattle University.