Minnesota Vixen head to Canton for women’s football national championship

July 6, 2022    ·       ·    News

For the Vixen, the championship game will be a revenge game after the Boston Renegades beat Minnesota for the league title last season.

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota's top women's football team is heading to the national championship game, which will be nationally televised by ESPN from Canton, Ohio on Sunday, July 10.
The Women’s Football Alliance PRO National Championship between the Minnesota Vixen (6-2) and the Boston Renegades (8-0) will be televised on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. CT.
The Vixen ended the season undefeated at home and won the WFA  American Conference Championship on June 25 after beating Cali War 36-30.
When they take the field at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, where the NFL regularly plays its first pre-season game and where the United States Football League also held their championship game last weekend, the Vixen will be looking for revenge.
Last year in the championship game, the Renegades beat the Vixen 42-26. This is the team's first time going to the championship in back-to-back seasons.
Established in 1999, the Vixen is the longest-running women's football team in the country, according to the team. Since then, the Vixen has been a part of several women's football leagues over the years.
Saturday's national championship game will be a heavyweight bout, with both the Vixen and Renegades leading the league in multiple key categories on offense and defense. The Minnesota Vixen, much like the Vikings, are seeking their first league championship and the Renegades are looking to continuing to make Boston Titletown.
On offense, Boston leads the WFA in total team offense with an average of 447.7 yards per game. However, the Vixen isn't far behind at sixth with 352.5 yards per game. For scoring, Boston and Minnesota are closely matched. The Renegades lead the league with 53.3 points per game, while the Vixen ranks third with 38.5 points per game.
The Vixen's offense is led by quarterback Erin Kelley, who leads the league in passing with 1,033 yards and sits third in passing touchdowns with 12, averaging 172.2 passing yards per game. Kelley was one of two quarterbacks to pass for more than 1,000 yards in the WFA this season and was one of the eight Vixen players named to the league's 2022 All-American team.
Boston's quarterback, Allison Cahill, wasn't far behind in passing yards with 974, which ranked third in the league. Cahill also leads the league in passing touchdowns with 15.
On the defensive side of the ball, both the Renegades and Vixen will feature some of the league's top players. Boston's Shantia Creech leads the league in interceptions with four, who is followed by Minnesota's Ace Theissen, who had three. In the trenches, the Vixen's defensive end Samantha Barber is tied for first in the league for most sacks with five. Both Barber and Theissen were named 2022 All-Americans.
At the helm of the Vixen's coaching staff is Ryan McCauley, who was recently named the WFA  Coach of the Year. He also teaches health classes in the Edina School District.
The Vixen isn't the only WFA team in the Land of 10,000 Lakes - the Minnesota Minx play at the WFA developmental level. Across the league's four levels - PRO, Division I, Division II and Developmental - there are 67 teams, stretching coast to coast with teams playing in places from Seattle to New Hampshire.
Back in 1999, the team originally started as part of a nationwide tour for women's football, which then led to the Women's Professional Football League. The Vixen called the WPFL home until they called the National Women's Football Association home for a single season before heading over to the Independent Women's Football League after the 2008 season. The Vixen stayed in the IWFL until 2017 when they joined the Women's Football Alliance.
Regardless of which women's football league they call home, the Vixen have continued their winning ways, securing four conference championships across two different leagues since 2016.
On Saturday, the Vixen will be chasing their first WFA PRO championship and the Renegades will be seeking their fourth league title. After losing in the title game in 2017, Boston won the championship in 2018, 2019 and 2021. The 2020 WFA season was canceled due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the Minnesota Aurora FC playoff-bound and the Minnesota Lynx starting to turn their season around, the Vixen may be the first Twin Cities women's team to bring home a championship this year.
Credit: Devin Ramey, KARE