The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Chad Courrier

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November 12, 2009

Time will tell if Mavs learned from loss

Last March, the Minnesota State women’s basketball team was cruising through the most successful season in program history, having lost only twice in the first 28 games heading into the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament.

An overwhelming favorite to win the league tournament, the Mavericks were upset by Concordia-St. Paul in the first round, at Bresnan Arena, and it looked as though a season’s worth of hard work could be lost with a single stumble.

Well, everyone knows how that story ended, with the Mavericks regrouping from that loss and rolling into the national tournament, eventually winning the Division II championship at San Antonio.

The Minnesota State football team could well be facing a similar crossroad. The Mavericks won their first 10 games, claiming the Northern Sun’s South Division championship, and were on the road to play St. Cloud State last Saturday in a rivalry game. At stake was an undefeated regular season, share of the Northern Sun’s overall championship, the rights to the Traveling Training Kit and the No. 1 seed in the region, which would have meant a first-round bye and at least two home games if the Mavericks could keep winning.

Well, everyone knows how that story ended too, with the Huskies scoring late to defeat the Mavericks, who fell to No. 3 in the region and now will likely only host one postseason game, that game coming Saturday at noon against Hillsdale College. Much like the women’s basketball team did in March, the football team now has no margin for error, and the next loss will be its last.

So how do the Mavericks react to the only loss of the season? Will a season that seemed so promising for the Mavericks just a week ago be over late Saturday afternoon? Were those dreams of winning a national championship, which seemed more and more possible with each victory, just cruel nightmares?

The women’s basketball team showed that anything is possible. In fact, if you consider how far that program has come in the last decade, you certainly would have expected a championship run to happen to several other programs at Minnesota State before women’s basketball.

The football team does not have a storied history of success, although since joining the Northern Sun, and having other nearby powers elevate out of Division II, the Mavericks have become one of the teams to beat regionally in the last two seasons.

But can Minnesota State overcome last week’s loss to St. Cloud State to get back on the winning track? Can the Mavericks overcame a talented Hillsdale team and get on a run that lasts until mid-December?

Nobody knows how that story will end.



Chad Courrier is a Free Press staff writer. To contact him, call 507-344-6353 or e-mail at ccourrier@mankatofreepress.com.

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Chad Courrier