Minnesota Monsters Win First Playoff Game, Semifinal Preview

Duluth's Minnesota Monsters arena football team is making noise after joining Arena Football 1. The Monsters earned the opportunity to host a playoff game in their first season in the league.

They made the most of it on Sunday night, earning a victory and advancing to the AF1 Semifinals. Here's a recap of Sunday night's game and a look ahead at the rest of the playoffs.

Quarterfinal Recap: Monsters Roar To Victory In Delayed Game

The #3 seed Monsters got matched up against the Washington Wolfpack for the opening round of the playoffs. The Monsters and Wolfpack had played against each other at AMSOIL Arena just a few weeks prior in a game the Monsters won 56-42.

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The teams had to call an audible of sorts on Sunday night's playoff game, moving kickoff from 6 pm to 7:05 pm due to travel delays the Wolfpack encountered while traveling to Duluth for the game.

The Monsters quickly built a 13-6 lead in the first quarter, extending their lead to 29-12 by halftime.

From a scoring perspective, the momentum started to swing the other direction in the second half. Both teams scored just one touchdown each in the third quarter, and the Wolfpack outscored the Monsters in the fourth quarter 13-12.

Despite that, the Monsters' sizable first-half lead and some standout defensive moments in the second half helped propel Minnesota to a 48-32 victory in front of an excited home crowd.

Looking Ahead: The AF1 Semifinals

After getting their first AF1 playoff win at home, the Monsters go on the road to the #2 seed Albany Firebirds this coming weekend.

This is a rematch of the Monsters' Week 1 game this season, when Albany defeated Minnesota 50-23.

This was the Monsters' first AF1 game, facing the reigning league champion. A lot has changed between April 11 and now, and the team is hoping for a different outcome for this visit to MVP Arena in Albany, New York.

The game will be played at 3 pm (Central Time) on Saturday, August 1. As has been true all season long, the game can be heard on the FAN 106.5 FM, 560 AM, and on the Northland FAN website or mobile app.

Radio coverage of the game will start with the coaches and players' show 'Monsters on the Mic' at 1:50 pm, and pregame coverage will start at 2:50 pm before the 3 pm kickoff.

The other semifinal game this weekend will feature the Michigan Arsenal and #1 seed Nashville Kats on Sunday, August 2. The winner of this weekend's two games will face off the weekend of August 8 in the AF1 Arena Crown Championship.

If the Monsters win this weekend, one of two things could happen. They would either go on the road to play against the Kats in Nashville, or they could host the league championship if Michigan upsets Nashville this weekend.

Exciting times to be a Monsters fan! We'll see what happens this weekend.

Here's a look at some of the game action from last night's quarterfinals game: