Minnesota United announced today the club has signed MNUFC2 goalkeeper Alec Smir (pronounced smurr) to a Short-Term Agreement, making him available for Saturday’s MLS away contest against Atlanta United FC at 6:30 p.m. CT. This is Smir’s second Short-Term Agreement of the season, and is the last time he can be called into the first team for an MLS contest in 2024. Smir still has two Short-Term Agreements available for non-MLS competitions.

Smir has been with MNUFC2 since 2022, the season that the team was founded and began play in MLS NEXT Pro. Since 2022, the goalkeeper has made 22 game appearances (15 starts in net) in regular-season action. This season, Smir made the start and earned a clean sheet following the 3-0 U.S. Open Cup First Round victory at Chicago House A.C. in March. He was on his first Short-Term Agreement last week, making him available on the bench during the Loons’ 2-1 victory at home over Sporting Kansas City on April 27.

The North Carolina native notably was selected to participate in the 2022 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge in the return of “Goalie Wars”, defeating three other MLS NEXT Pro goalkeepers to win the surprise event at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

TRANSACTION: Minnesota United signs MNUFC2 goalkeeper Alec Smir to a Short-Term Agreement. This is Smir’s second Short-Term Agreement of the season, and is the last time he can be called into the first team for an MLS contest in 2024. Smir still has two Short-Term Agreements available for non-MLS competitions.

Alec Smir
Pronunciation: smurr
Position: Goalkeeper
Date of birth: 4/13/1999 (25 years old)
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 183 lbs.
Birthplace: San Antonio, Texas
Hometown: Greensboro, North Carolina

LAKE PARKE — It’s a sign summer is right around the corner.

After an abnormally warm winter, fishing experts said even with the recent rain, the lake levels will be low.

End of the Road Resort Owner Chery Hedlund said they were blessed with an early ice out this year.

Hedlund said the ice went off Upper Cormorant the first week in April, a month earlier than last year.

So Hedlund has been busy getting the resort’s 10 cabins ready for guests for opening day on May 11.

The resort is booked for the first full week.

“We’re turning around, putting in the docks and cleaning up the cabins and cleaning up the yard, and go to town and buy bait,” said Hedlund.

But it hasn’t been all good news with Mother Nature, as they’re dealing with low lake levels.

“We’ve been blessed with the last couple of weeks of rain. So it brought it up enough to tolerate the people who are going to be able to pull up to the docks, like they normally are used to. But if we don’t get more rain and it starts to drop down, then it’s right back to challenge time,” said Hedlund.

While Upper Cormorant Lake is known for its good fishing, fishing guide Mike Witt says more weeds with warmer water might make fishing harder this season.

“We have a lot of weeds that never died, and the weeds are gonna be strong, you know, coming into the spring, so we might find it might be a little tougher to find the fish,” said Witt, who also owns Quality Bait & Tackle in Detroit Lakes.

But on the bright side, he said he expects there will be more walleye, northerns, bass and pan fish.

“There wasn’t near as much pressure on the fish and the fish caught a big break. And I think we’re going to see lots of fish caught,” Witt said.

For more good news for anglers, Hedlund said the DNR stocks her lake every other year with walleye fingerlings. She said they tend to go to Knights Point.

“And the hotspots kind of change throughout the season,” said Hedlund.

It leaves some adventure for eager anglers.

My name is Anne Sara, better known as Sara.
I was born an only child in Port-au-prince, Haiti and moved to the U.S at the age of 2.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is where I was raised.
After graduating with my bachelor degree at Albright College, I moved to Florida to continue my studies.
WDAY is the reason why I moved to North Dakota.

LEWISTON, Minn. (KTTC) – The recent string of rainy weather has been beneficial for southeast Minnesota farmers as the season begins.

KTTC stopped by a Lewiston farm Friday.

Bruce Gilbeck of Fremont Farms said the rain has been a big help as he begins planting this year’s crop of soybeans and corn, even after a dry start.

“It was scary early, ‘cause we were so dry, and now we’ve been getting really good rains. So, I think our chances of our drought are at least minimized,” Gilbeck said.

Although Gilbeck said this amount of rainfall has been good for crops, he also expressed his concern if there ends up being too much rain.

Brad Carlson, an extension educator at the University of Minnesota Extension, said the area soil can handle about one inch of rain per week this time of year, but if it exceeds this amount, problems can arise.

“The other problem that we potentially might encounter here with the soil completely saturated is because there is no capacity for the water to soak in anymore,” Carlson said. “Most of what is going to fall from here on out is probably going to run off and so we do have the potential for some erosion problems also.”

Gilbeck also noted the possibility of crusting could be a concern. Crusting is a phenomenon where pouring rain creates a hard surface to the soil, making it harder for plants to bud.

“The only worry we have at this point is crusting and emergence issues, and it looks like we’re going to have rain for the next couple of weeks, so I think it will stay moist and we’ve got a nice sprout on the corn so I think it should come through without any crusting issues,”Gilbeck said.

Although the season has just begun, Carlson said the early stages bode well for this year’s yields.

“This year, the vast majority of the corn is planted now, there certainly is some that is still left, but most of it is in the ground and it got in the ground at a very ideal time, so from that standpoint, we are set up for very good yields this year,” Carlson said.

Gilbeck added how, for southeast Minnesota, an optimal planting date for corn is typically the last week of April or the first week of May to get the best possible product.

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