News & Articles

Marshall’s Ben Willerstein used his head to deflect Marshall’s goal into the Chisago Lakes goal to cut the deficit to 2-1. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Chisago Lakes star Nils Gulbranson fired a free kick through a wall of Marshall blockers for his state-best 39th goal to clinch the state tournament berth 3-1. Photo credit: John Gilbert

They started the World Series out in Los Angeles, where it was 100 degrees-plus for the first two games. Then the teams will switch to Houston, where they might still be under water from Hurricane Season.
Us? We don’t have wildfires that consume the whole state, or hurricanes and floods that leave everybody anything but high and dry. No, all we have is a sudden drop in temperature. After last week, when we had record high temperatures in the 70s, suddenly, and for no apparent reason, we woke up to learn that the high for Tuesday would be 40-something.

Mother Nature must have known it was time for sectional football playoffs Tuesday and Saturday, throughout the Head of the Lakes region.
Back at the start of the season. I saw Two Harbors play at Denfeld. We’re broadcasting some high school games on 92.1 The FAN, and I mentioned to Dan Hatfield, our boss, that we know that East, Denfeld, Hermantown and maybe Cloquet are often tough, but from what I had heard, a couple of darkhorses might be Two Harbors and Proctor. So we told the story of Two Harbors blitzing Denfeld 41-14 at Public Schools Stadium, as Spencer Ross bolted through for five touchdowns. He hasn’t stopped.

Proctor, meanwhile, had a couple of struggling games but then came on strong. I looked ahead on their schedules to see when they played, thinking it would be a great game to broadcast. Alas, they weren’t scheduled to play. But now they both are in the Section 7AAA playoffs, and after wiping out International Falls 68-6 at Two Harbors Tuesday, the Agates will play at Proctor at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Of course, all the fall sports are climaxing right now with state tournament berths at stake. Marshall stunned top-seeded Cloquet in soccer last week, and advanced to the 7AA final at PSS against Chisago Lakes. Now, Marshall had beaten Chisago Lakes 3-0 during the season, and 3-0 in soccer is close to mathematical elimination.

But Chisago Lakes got two first-half goals from Ryan Mower, before the Hilltoppers got things together. On a free kick from out on the left side, Ben Wallerstein headed the ball in for a deflection goal that cut the deficit to 2-1. A few more good threats proved futile for Marshall when Nils Gulbranson broke through the Topper defense and got tripped. He got a free kick and rifled it in for as 3-1 lead, which stood up to sent Chisago Lakes to state. On top of that, it was the 39th goal of the season for Gulbranson, most in the state.

ANOTHER VB TANGLE

Homecoming used to be easy. Once a fall season, every team would pick one game and declare it as homecoming, when all the aging alumni might come “home” to celebrate their alma mater’s current team. It gave both UMD hockey teams, the football team, and the volleyball team reason to be home competing for fan support last weekend.

This weekend, all four of those teams are out of town, playing on the road.
When UMD had its homecoming last weekend, the football team did its part by thrashing Minot State 37-0 at Malosky Stadium Saturday afternoon. The victory keeps the Bulldogs on target with a shot at repeating as North Division champion in the North Central Conference. With a 4-0 record in the division, and 6-2 overall, UMD goes to Bemidji this week to face the Beavers, who just happen to have an identical 4-0 and 6-2 season going.

UMD is ranked No. 10 in the Super Region 4 standings, and only the top seven ranked teams are assured of a slot in the playoffs. Winona State is currently No. 1, MSU-Mankato No. 3, Sioux Falls No. 6, and UMD 10th.
Before and after the football feature, other UMD teams made it a flurry of activity. The Bulldogs turned loose their sizzling volleyball team, whipping Minot State three sets to none on Friday, then beating Mary by the same 3-0 count on Saturday. UMD has now won six straight matches and, with a 19-2 record overall, moved up to No. 4 in the nation among Division 2 volleyball teams.

In case you’re unaware of how tight the NSIC is in volleyball, Southwest Minnesota State reclaimed the No. 1 spot among the nation’s Division 2 volleyball powers, with Concordia of St. Paul No. 2 and UMD No. 4 - meaning three of the top four in the country are from the Northern Sun.
In hockey, AMSOIL Arena was abuzz wiht Bulldogs Friday and Saturday, with mixed results. 
The UMD women’s hockey team lost a ragged game to Minnesota 4-1 Friday afternoon, and came back with a much more forceful performance Saturday afternoon, when a 1-0 lead disappeared in the third period and Minnesota won 2-1 to sweep the series.
That makes six straight losses for UMD, which dropped out of the Top 10 and faces a serious test this weekend at Bemidji State in another WCHA series.
The UMD men had a strange weekend against nonconference foe Merrimack, moving ahead 4-2 in the third period Friday night before Merrimack scored three of the last four goals for 5-5 tie. Nobody scored in the first overtime, at 5-on-5, and it took 4:02 of the second overtime, at 3-on-3, before Tyler Irvine scored on a breakaway. As usual, those who don’t see any value in teams playing off to a winner will declare the game a 5-5 tie, but everybody in the arena knew UMD had lost, and got a reprieve only because the game officially goes into the books as a tie.

The Bulldogs bounced back with a much more impressive second game, erupting for five third-period goals to beat Merrimack 7-2. The series dropped the Bulldogs to 10th in national rankings, but the signs are there that the chemistry is starting to click in. This weekend the Bulldogs play at Maine, then they come home to open the NCHC season at St. Cloud State.