High School Football and Soccer Wrap Regular Season Play as Hockey Action Heats Up

It's that time of the year, with plenty going on in the sports world. Let's take a look at local football, soccer, and hockey - including the end of the high school regular season for football tonight.

The Minnesota High School football regular season wraps-up tonight with games all across the Northland.  On ESPN Radio 560 tonight Grand Rapids will be at Denfeld.  Both teams are 0-7 and seeking their first win of the year.  The game will also be on My9.

Duluth East will be at home vs Moorhead and Duluth Marshall heads on the road to take on Hinckley-Finlayson.  That is a Great Polar Blue conference game, with the Toppers at 4-3 overall and 4-3 in conference play.

Esko will have a home game, but they will play in Cloquet tonight against Crosby-Ironton.

In the Sea Range, Virginia will be at Proctor and and Cloquet at Hibbing in just some of the other games scheduled.  After this, it will be post-season time, with playoffs set to start next Tuesday, October 23rd.

Wisconsin high school teams are already in the playoffs and will start either on Friday or Saturday depending on where their games are.  Superior plays at 2pm in Schofield, WI vs Appleton North on Saturday.  Northwestern and Spooner are also in the Wisconsin playoffs.

High school soccer playoffs ruled the Northland on Tuesday with several games taking place.  Esko-Carlton girls won in overtime 2-1 vs Hermantown to advance to the Section Finals.  Hermantown scored on a penalty-kick late in regulation to send the game into overtime.

Cloquet girls won 1-0 over Princeton, so it will be Cloquet and Esko-Carlton in the Section 7A Finals.

In boys soccer some amazing games as well, as Chisago Lakes had 2-0 lead over Duluth Marshall, but the Toppers scored four unanswered goals to win 4-2 to play in the Section 7A finals.

But the other semifinal took overtime and a shootout to decide.  Denfeld took a 1-0 lead over Grand Rapids, but the Thunderhawks tied the game, forcing overtime.  Nobody scored in the extra session, then Hunters advance with a 3-2 shootout victory.

And in hockey, great news, the NHL owners and players are at least talking.  The owners made a new offer of a 50-50 split and playing the full 82 game schedule.  Time will tell if they can hammer out a deal, but at least they are talking which is good news.  The two sides met yesterday in Toronto.

The deal calls for a full 82 game schedule.  The preseason has already been called off along with the first couple of weeks of the regular season.

But the UMD mens hockey team is playing and they are 1-1 on the season.  They play Notre Dame on Thursday and Friday in a non-conference series.

Already, one Bulldog has been honored by the WCHA. University of Minnesota Duluth forward Austin Farley, who produced four scoring points in his collegiate debut weekend as the host Bulldogs split a two-game series with visiting Ohio State at AMSOIL Arena, has been named the Red Baron® WCHA Rookie of the Week for Oct. 16.

He was thrilled to get his college career started, and did so with a bang, getting his first college goal, on his first college shift. Farley said, "Yeah it felt great.  My Mom got to make the trip up here, we're from Chicago so it's kind of tough for her.  I wanted to play my heart-out and Cameranesi made a great pass in the crease, and I was just right there and buried it."

A 5-9, 170-pound rookie left winger from Niles, Ill., Farley paced the 13th-ranked Bulldogs offensively with a team-high tying four points each on the Oct. 12-13 weekend. Last Friday (Oct. 12) night, Farley scored the game’s first goal at 1:05 of the first period on his first shift at UMD and later set up two others for three points, put five shots on goal and earned a +1 plus/minus rating as Minnesota Duluth defeated the Buckeyes, 6-2. One of his two assists came on teammate Mike Seidel’s game-winner. On Saturday (Oct. 13), Farley earned his third assist of the series when Seidel tied the game at 2-2 at 19:24 of the second period in an eventual 3-2 setback. He also had one shot on goal for a total of six.

Farley said it was a mixed weekend, "I think we came out flying on Friday, off the bat everything went well, we played well on Friday.  But on Saturday we didn't the bounces and we came out flatter and hopefully that's something we will look at get better."

Pick a sport, high school football, soccer or college hockey.  Plenty to go and watch and support here in the Northland this week!!