Snowligan

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...

 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...

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...

 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...

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...

  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.  

 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...

 I posted a poll on Twitter that asked people if they preferred it when the team that knocks you out of the playoffs a) goes on to win everything or b) gets immediately eliminated.  Obviously, I prefer when my team doesn't get knocked out AT ALL. However, everyone but one team fails to lift the Larry O'Brien/Lombardi/whatever trophy at the end of the season.  I also prefer it when my teams make the playoffs, even if they lose immediately. After all, that's the experience of 90% of American sports fans who have no shot at the trophy.  However, this season was a weird one for Fusion men fans. Firstly, Duluth pounded everyone and ran away with the #1 seed. Under the conditions of last year, they would have lifted the Conference Championship, Fusion would have made it in as #2 seed and defending champs Med City would have seen their season end.  Instead of that scenario, NPSL changed the rules for the North this season and allowed the top 4 finishers to make the pla...

 I was going to publish a deep dive into the Fusion rosters as I did back in 2021, but since there is no discernible thread of local roots to the men's team, and because it's 1am (probably), I began to look at things more philosophically.  What does "Support local soccer" mean? Support the local side, regardless of the multinational nature of the 11 in front of you? Support those men and women who graduate local high schools, whichever team they end up on? Support the Bison/Dragons regardless of where their recruits come from? I think I will continue supporting Fusion until they go pop (which seems inevitable in the dog-eat-dog world of US soccer and in a market with ~1 article a season about the club in the local paper.) The high school stories were interesting, but if I'm honest, the current teams represent my own cultural makeup more than, say, Minneapolis City's root and branch local approach.  Fargo is North of Normal, after all. Out on an island.  There ...

 I went to the WPSL opener for Fusion and my notes suggest only 4 of the starting XI were even listed on the roster on May 17th . That's May 17th 2021, less than a month ago. The women who also suited up at the start are: Kayla Werlinger  is from Fargo through West Fargo Sheyenne to U Mary Mckenzie Ickhart , is from Waconia, MN and MSU Moorhead  Haley Dyer ,  Kamryn Fiscus  and  Briana Perry , whose sole local connection is going to school at Jamestown Kayleigh Sedlacek , ditto for MSU Moorhead Destiny Tacey  is from Park University in Arizona and I have no clue how she fits in.  Now to break down those on the roster now who weren't in the starting 11 or that earlier roster: Jalyn Bauer  is out of Horace, ND and West Fargo Sheyenne to MSUM Gabby Wolf  is out of Moorhead. Ally Peters , out of Moorhead and MSU Moorhead Emily Larsen  is out of West Fargo  Cazzia Salgado  is another out of Park University Laura Powell is...

 Players listed on the WPSL website: Delaney McIntyre - Defender out of Flin Flon, MB and Minnesota-Crookston (she's returning) Lauren Harrison - Defender out of Manvel, ND and Bemidji State Emily Soukup - Goalkeeper out of Moorhead, MN. She's a MSU-Mankato signee and returning Kadyn Sharpe - Defender out of Moorhead, MN Madeline Etter - Midfielder out of Moorhead, MN and MSU Moorhead Summer Carlson - Defender out of Moorhead, MN Abigail Hoff - Defender out of Fargo (North) and U Mary (Bismarck) Yasmina Dokara - Midfielder out of Fargo (WF Sheyenne) and U Mary Taylor Alkire - possibly out of Porterville, Cali. No clue how she ended up here. Isabelle Morin - Midfielder, out of Bemidji and Bemidji State Chloe Strom - Defender, returning. Out of Moorhead, MN Carolyn Smith - Mid/Forward out of Grand Forks and Bemidji State Grace Beck - Defender/Midfielder out of East Grand Forks, MN and St Scholastica Gabriella Sarkis   - Midfielder out of Springfield, Mass.  Guil...

Yan Rosado in goal Adachi, Celik, Lilly and Riehl in defence Pike, Valle, Runsvold, Coxon, Zamba in midfield and local lad Austin Schafer up front (as published by Fusion, but rearranged into formation)

 New locals: Yousuf Alshimani - Moorhead Ali Gedo - Moorhead Nobin Gurung - Fargo South New Internationals:  Diago Adachi - Hyogo, Japan Abass Ajibade - Winnipeg, Manitoba (also FC Manitoba) Kyle Bleidt - Kadiz, Kentucky Dicke Boucka - Libreville, Gabon (St. Cloud State) Samuel Coxon - Barns Green, Sussex, England  Alex Hamer - Solihull, England (Jamestown) Larry Ngomsu Foyet - Douala, Cameroon (St Cloud State)  Frankie Parkinson - English? Aaron Pike - Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England (Jamestown) Grant Stamp - Ammanford, Wales  Diego Valle -  Yucaipa, California Thomas Zamba -  There are only four returning Fusion players who have actually played for the club (Chuol and Musa actually both played for FC Fargo too, the last remaining of that group) Mach Chuol - Des Moines, IA Fiaz Musa - Des Moines, IA Austin Shafer - Jamestown, ND Hartrick Tarr - Grand Forks, ND There is an odd subcategory of returnees too . The following players all tr...

Just a brief note to acknowledge the presence of  Lucas Daunhauer  for Fusion in the  Lower League E-Cup  FIFA 20 tourney. His name wasn't on the squad list released a while back, but his bio says he is a Fusion player. He's a keeper so I guess he was chosen to take over from Steven Harris. 🤷🏻‍♂️

First off, the fact that the season has been cancelled sucks, but Fusion put out a public shout out to the men who had successfully tried out for the NPSL club. So here is the background I found: Returnees Austin Shafer (Jamestown, ND - Montana State Billings) Jacob Grosvenor (Christchurch, NZ - University of Jamestown, ND) Faiz Musa (Des Moines, IA/ Sudan - Marshalltown Community College, IA) Hartrick Tarr (Grand Forks, ND - Northwestern College, IA) Mach Chuol (Des Moines, IA - Marshalltown CC) Nigaba Olivier (West Fargo - Concordia College) New Locals High School Colton Altringer (Jamestown, ND, University of Jamestown) Jacob Holtz (Bismarck, ND - MT Billings) Noah Schmidt  (Minot, ND) Telvin Vah  (West Fargo - Concordia College) Gatorade High School Player of the Year 2018/19 College Kevin Ndeti (Nairobi, Kenya - U of J) Ruben Zapeda (Puebla, Mexico - U of J) Samuel Adama (London, England - U of J) Sondre Rygg (Trondheim, Norway - Conco...

As I recover from a Matrixectomy, news emerged that NPSL at the national level has  canceled  its 2020 Spring season.  The FAQs attached to the announcement offer more hope and some clubs have already declared their intention to play some  games this season. Closer to home, new NPSL North member Milwaukee Torrent has canceled its own men's and women's seasons. WPSL now dangles out on a limb, with no announcement from that league and therefore a schedule for WPSL North (and Fusion women's) is still scheduled to go ahead - at time of publication. Stay tuned.

I'm no longer running Fusion's social media so will be back here, I guess.

So, at least for Fusion, the season is over. For men and women. No repeat of the Robbins era NPSL playoff run. No Hartley era winless WPSL season. As it happens, Fire and Ice are repping the Central region in WPSL and Minneapolis will play Detroit in the Midwest regional semis (The other side is a farce between Rochester and Ann Arbor) Is it wrong to feel relieved that the season is over? The league seasons are a launching pad of emotion crammed into a couple of months. We tried our best but we couldn't get a consistent streaming offering when it comes to announcing. The highlight was two energetic (but unknown to me) kids doing that role up in the press box - but only for one game.  My aim is to get that more often but people need to be geeks enough that they don't mind being unpaid. On the field highlights include a first win and a first home win in WPSL and a 4-4 game in Sioux Falls in NPSL. Fun was also to be had reporting on Fusion for E Pluribus Loonum, a self-consciously...

As infamously captured by an interview by last season's Fusion women's coach saying he was more focussed on building a legacy than on wins and losses (He's not with the club any more, no clue if those two things are connected), success is a hard thing to define and even harder to capture. In practice, it IS to do with wins and losses and after a winless first season under Jack Hartley, Fusion have two wins already this season under Marco Campoverde. In essence, wins are the manifestation of success more than they are the sole benchmark of success. Especially in a league when draws are possible and only the division winners make the playoffs. Again, Fusion have two wins (at least). In many ways, tonight's win was a bigger victory. It was at home. It was against a team that was not an expansion franchise. Home wins build momentum as a club in a way that road wins don't. Local fans get the chance to watch local players win. Even if those local fans tonight were only...

A season to lose (a few times) A season to win (for the first time in your club's history) A season to go up * A season to go down ** * (Not in the US, unless you have a few million dollars spare) ** Not in the US, unless you count dying Yes, I'm in a philosophical mood. Fusion men have had a rollercoaster season but more downs than ups and as I type this no chance of playoff footy. The women have been in a whole different conference, every club has at least one win - thus Fusion have broken their duck after a season plus of WPSL footy. The win came against a brand new club. I'm also recovering from major surgery so I've been missing live games and just watching them via Cujoo. Neither season is over for another month but again, there's little to cheer so concentration turns to match by match victories (actual or moral) Maplebrook and Salvo have retooled and taken a chunk out of their local rival Fire SC to be in the pole position for the one spot in the W...