Minnesota Migration: A weekly recap of Minnesotans in the pros

After missing out on playing against Minnesota United FC in the 2^nd round of the U.S. Open Cup, Tyler David made appearances as a 2^nd half sub in the two games that followed for Saint Louis FC. The first was against the leaders of the USL Western Conference the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. The game did not start out well for St. Louis as they found themselves down 2-0 by the 18^th minute. David entered the game in the 76^th minute, but by that point fatigue from playing three games in a week and playing at altitude set in and there was little fight left in St. Louis.

The next week Saint Louis hosted the Tulsa Roughnecks. After winning the two teams’ last meeting 5-2, STLFC put on another offensive show by scoring three unanswered goals in the first half. By the time David came on in the 68^th minute, STLFC was up 5-0. David lined up in the center of the midfield and saw a fair amount of the ball. When Tulsa finally got a goal of their own, it was David who was beaten to a header in the box. However, David nearly made up for his error twice late in the game. In the 89^th minute David fired in a low shot from outside of the eighteen that beat the diving Roughnecks keeper, but hit the far post. The ball was cleared out of the box, but not out of danger. The resulting play ended with David feeding former Minnesota United FC midfielder Kentaro Takada for what looked like the 8th goal for St. Louis, but David was ruled off side during a give-and-go near the end line.

Next week St. Louis travels to take on Arizona United SC.

The Boston Breakers came out of their much needed bye week looking to recover from their previous 4-0 defeat. Hosting the league leading Washington Spirit was not an ideal scenario.Things got worse when the Spirit found the back of the net in the 13^th minute after Washington’s Katie Stengel pounced on the rebound after keeper Libby Stout stopped an initial shot. However, less than a minute later the Breakers pulled level when they were awarded a PK. For the remainder of the game the Breakers pushed forward to no avail while Kassey Kallman and Julie King, who were reunited with defensive partner Whitney Engan after her time with the USWNT, did well to recover from giving up an early goal and held the Spirit to four shots on goal all game and hang on for a 1-1 draw.

The Breakers have a tough test for them in the coming weeks as they start a four-game road trip starting with the Chicago Red Stars.

Minnesota has a new representative in the NWSL. On Saturday, Apple Valley native and former University of Minnesota goalkeeper Cat Parkhill was signed by NWSL side Kansas City FC. The team signed Parkhill after trading away backup goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland on Thursday for two picks in the 2017 NWSL college draft. While Parkhill will have a tough time getting minutes, she has a strong mentor in two-time NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year Nicole Barnhart.

While Calum Mallace continues to heal from his foot injury, the Montreal Impact played a home and away series with Toronto FC in the semifinals of the Canadian Championship. The Impact suffered a 4-2 loss in Toronto on June 2^nd and could only manage a 0-0 draw at home on Wednesday to miss out on the final.

Montreal will look to recover their form against Columbus Crew SC in Columbus on Saturday.