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Anti-climax in the post-season

Tonight, the Fusion men's season came to an end in disappointing fashion with a 4-2 defeat to Milwaukee Torrent in the NISA Independent Cup. The regular season had laid out so much hard work, with zero defeats on their record but in peak American style, back to back defeats see Fusion miss out on any silverware to match that record. It had seemed that a window was opening in the NIC, when Michigan Stars lost to Inter Detroit, but Fusion failed to capitalise on the opportunity, falling on the road in Tosa. Prior to that, Fusion lost at home in the playoffs for a second straight season, this time by a 1-0 scoreline to the red hot Eduoard Nys and the surging Duluth FC, who have gone on to knock off Gateway Conference winners Des Moines United/Iowa Demon Hawks.  So, Alex Trent's debut season comes to an anti-climactic end but if the club can avoid another massive turnover in players, they could be building something.  I make no effort to hide my desire to see good football being p...
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Holy cow, a WPSL win

 Congratulations to Chris Andreasen. In winning tonight, he has surpassed the record of all but one Fusion WPSL coach. That coach, Marco Campoverde, is now an assistant coach with Salvo.  A quick note on sources: I have linked to the various pages of E Pluribus Loonum quoted but also feel relatively happy that I can quote them at length, given I was the original author of the reports quoted. It is a modest effort to prevent this club history disappearing if the site is ever taken down entirely.   Jack Hartley secured the first ever point in team history (against TwinStars Dragons) in 2018. " TwinStars arrived in town with Bemidji State Beaver Natalie Engel deputising for Bulut Turk Ozturk as coach and she and Fusion’s Jack Hartley oversaw a turf burner in a constant drizzle. Fusion spent much of the game living up to their potential rather than their record, leading 2-0 with goals from Katie Moller (in the 14th minute, with an assist from fellow goalscorer Mallory F...
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The women make their debut

Fusion met St Croix tonight, in a match up of the last two clubs to suit up this season in the WPSL North. Prior to kickoff, details of Fusion's roster were kept very quiet. In the end, the roster shows familiar trends of ND/Valley dominance and a handful of players who are playing college 'locally'.  Central ND is repped by Quinn Carter, born in Mandan and playing college ball at MSUM, and UM Crookston's Sarah Burgum.  Fargo Shanley adds Aubrey Dew (who is now at UND) and Mia Metzger (Northern State) Leighton Roberson and Sophie Bjerke from Fargo Davies are joined by Davies grad Jensen Seidel (MSUM) West Fargo Sheyenne is repped by Blayke Hurley (from Horace, now at MSUM) and her college team mate Lindsey Erickson (from WF). Emily Larsen brings the West Fargo Packers to the table (and she's at Concordia College now).  Ellie Feeney plays on her home pitch, having been a Moorhead Spud before joining Mary. The non-locals playing college in the area are Emmah Burnes (f...
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Yikes...well, at least there's games going on

 NPSL, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to suspend the defending national champions, Tulsa Athletics, without actually giving a reason - although there's a growing thread of circumstantial evidence that it has to do with Hicks Park. I'm too tired to deal with their petty shit right here, hense the title of this post.  Fusion replaced almost their entire starting lineup and seemed not to have lost any cohesion. Let's breakdown the roster shall we?  Alex Benitez - unknown Ben Colborn - Moorhead Spud.  Inchun Han - Lincoln Trail CC, NJCAA.  Luis Pinto - plays for former FC Fargo head coach Tommy Nienhaus at William Woods University, an NAIA school.  Oliver Benson, Sho Toda,  Takumi   Kumakura,  William   Devine,  Kairi   Saito,  Takumi  Sato,  Yuto   Nishio    - all  Iowa Western Reivers. Another NJCAA school.   Toshiki   Makimoto - seemingly played in Japan and Finland before Fus...
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Ten years, huh?!

In the first post on this blog, I wrote "FC Fargo is looking to play in the National Professional Soccer League ( NPSL ) next year". Ten years down the road, I have worn more hats than a Lids mannequin and Dakota Fusion are 8 years into their own NPSL tenure.  FC Fargo's inaugural coach Tommy Nienhaus is...not any more. Ten years would have been a miracle. In the end, he saw out FC Fargo's history. He's still around the NAIA level that he has always been.  From a hopeful wellspring of fans movements in the FCF days, Fusion's home fans nowadays seem to be the hardcore of friends and family. Not, in my humble opinion, the best base for developing a fanbase in any sense of that word. One hopeful positive that might lead to a return to passionate fans in the stands is the promise of a professional side in WPSL Pro. FC Fargo scheduled games across Fargo, including NDSU's Dakotah Field, whereas Fusion have been conservative in their scheduling to date.  FC Fargo...
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Where is the WoSo?

  Even with the explosive growth of women's professional clubs (these are the clubs announced through 2026), there is a gaping hole in the Mountain West. No teams in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada (or indeed Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska). That's a combined population of 25 million people. Using US soccer's preferred metric of TV Market, there's no team in the #4 market (Philadelphia), or the #8 (Boston). On down it goes.  
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So what now? Professional soccer hitting Fargo in 2026

 With this week's announcement that Fusion have filed a Letter of Intent with WPSL PRO for 2026, some things have become clearer, and some fuzzier.  WPSL PRO is seeking sanctioning (ie. permission to exist) as a Division III women's outdoor league [as they put it]. The standards themselves are under attack from MLS right now, but as long as they hold it means that we know two things. 1) Sajid Ghauri is worth $5m "or more", without counting his stake in Fusion or his "primary residence". Yes, I know, counting his ownership in Fusion reminds me of an old cliche. The best way to make a small fortune from football is to start with a large fortune. 2) Fusion PRO need a home stadium with a capacity of 1000. This is a surprisingly wide range of venues. Jim Gotta Stadium in Moorhead would probably have the inside track (because it already hosts Fusion NPSL/WPSL) if it wasn't for the fact that Mhd is in Minnesota - a bit inconvenient for the narrative of  “ bri...
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