What a great Spring Season! After an amazing preseason that included trips to England and to LA, the team started the season off strong, winning the first 4 games, and finishing the season 6-1-2, with 20 points and finished 1 point above New York Cosmos. The fans clearly had their favorites and their goats, but this was a team that played together and worked as a unit. As such, there wasn’t a ton of differentiation between the best and worst rated players for the Spring.

Goalkeepers

Player Average Matt Van Okel 7.57 Hildebrandt 7.50

Minnesota is blessed with two very quality goalkeepers and that is shown in the Loon Ratings, with only a slight difference between the two.

Defenders

Player Average Venegas 7.25 Tiago Calvano 7.00 Cristiano Dias 7.14 Justin Davis 6.83 Brian Kallman 6.20 Brent Kallman 6.00

The fans agree with Manny Lagos, as the original starters of Venegas, Calvano, Dias and Davis are rated a point higher than the two Kallmans, who started the season on the bench.

Venegas was the Defender of the Spring Season, but only played 4 games due to a broken jaw.

Midfielders

Player Average Vicentini 6.13 A. Pitchkolan 7.28 Bracallello 6.20 D. Mendes 6.50 Miguel Ibarra 7.63 Watson 7.13 Daley 6.33 Greg Jordan 7.00 Franks 5.50

I think there are many fans who would agree with Pitchkolan and Ibarra as the two best midfielders on the team, but from there the arguments will commence. Many consider Vicentini as one of the best midfielders, with his touch and passing an underrated asset to the team. Watson gets rated highly, but only was on the field in 6 games. Jordan was another polarizing figure, but his high work rate and goal earned him a high score.

Forward

Player Average C. Ramirez 7.44

Ramirez was the only forward to start in the spring season, and he didn’t disappoint. In fact, he just won NASL Player of the Month for June.

Player of the Spring Season

Ramirez had a great season, but Ibarra edged him by a small margin as the fan’s Player of the Spring Season. Ibarra’s ability to play anywhere on the field and to be a catalyst of the attack, as well as his amazing runs made him a favorite among the fans.

Substitutes

Substitute of the Spring Season

Jordan, Ibarra and Dias all tied with an average of 7 on their substitute appearances, I’m going to give the Substitute of the Spring Season to Jordan as both Ibarra and Dias only appeared in 1 game as a substitute, while Jordan appeared in 6 games.

Do you want to see each players ratings for each game? Check them out below the cut!

Indy Home FCE Home OTT Away SAS Away Cosmos Away Ft. Lauderdale Home Carolina Home Atlanta Away Tampa Bay Away Average Number of Appearances Starting Line Up 7.64 6.68 7.23 7.18 5.86 7.45 6.55 7.25 6.68 6.86 Matt Van Okel 8 8 8 6 8 8 7 7.57 7 Venegas 7 6 7 9 7.25 4 Tiago Calvano 8 7 7 8 6 7 6 7 7.00 8 Cristiano Dias 8 8 7 7 7 6 7 7.14 7 Justin Davis 7 7 6 6 6 7 8 7.5 7 6.83 9 Vicentini 6 6 6 5 7 6 7 6 6.13 8 A. Pitchkolan 9 6.5 8 8 6 8 7 7 6 7.28 9 Bracallello 7 5 7 6 6 6.20 5 D. Mendes 8 5 7 6 6 7 6.50 6 Miguel Ibarra 8 7 9 6 9 7 7 8 7.63 8 C. Ramirez 8 6 8.5 9 5.5 9 6 8 7 7.44 9 Watson 7 7 7 7.5 7.13 4 Daley 6 6 7 6.33 3 Hildebrandt 9 6 7.50 2 Brian Kallman 5 7 6 7 6 6.20 5 Greg Jordan 8 6 7.00 2 Franks 5 6 5.50 2 Brent Kallman 6 6.00 1 Substitutes Jordan (Sub) 7 7 8 6 7 7 7.00 6 Watson (Sub) 6 6 6.00 2 Bracallello (Sub) 8 6 6 6.67 3 Ibarra (Sub) 7 7.00 1 D. Mendes (Sub) 6 6.00 1 M. Reed (Sub) 5 5.00 1 M. Pridham (Sub) 5 5.00 1 Dias (Sub) 7 7.00 1 Tyler Polak(Sub) 6 6.00 1 Daley (Sub) 5 6 5.50 2 R. Garcia (Sub) 6 6 6.00 2 Franks (Sub) 6 6.00 1 Hildebrandt (Sub) 6 6.00 1 Overall Average 7 7 8 8 4 8 6 7 7 6.89 Manny Lagos 7 7 8 8 4 8 7 8 6 7.00