Kansas or Minnesota: it just didn’t matter. The Minnesota Gopher women’s soccer team kicked off their 2016 fall season with two big performances this weekend. The Gophers defeated the Kansas Jayhawks on Friday evening with goals from Simone Kolander and April Bockin at Rock Chalk Park in Kansas. On Sunday they played their first match of the season at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. That result was even more dominant, winning by a score of 3-0 over Utah.
On Sunday, Utah traveled to Minnesota hoping to jump start their season after recording a 7-10-3 record last year.
The Gophers, coming off a 2015 record of 12-7-3, have high hopes for this coming season, which boasts the most veteran squad since coach Stefanie Golan took over the program five years ago.
Minnesota came out of the chutes quickly against the Utes with several early scoring opportunities, but didn’t close the deal and take advantage of those chances.
Twenty minutes in, forward Sydney Squires was fed a through ball down the left side of the field. She turned her defender with a deflection which sent her in on goal. However, Utah goalkeeper July Mathias rushed off her line to thwart Squires’s attempt.
In the 23rd minute, the Gophers brought the ball inside the Utes’ 18 yard box, resulting in a scramble in front of the goal. Senior co-captain Kolander took a shot that was deflected into the path of her co-captain Josee Stiever, who nodded it in from eight yards out to put the Gophers up 1-0.
After another sustained bout of pressure from the Gophers late in the first half — and some nifty combination play in the box — Stiever again latched onto the ball, dribbled square, then launched a shot that went just inches over the crossbar.
The half ended with the Gophers hanging on to the 1-0 lead.
It was Stiever again playing a critical role for the Gophers just two minutes into the second half. The senior midfielder dribbled down the middle of the field then laid a ball across the top of the box to Kolander. She blasted the ball high and to the far post, bulging the net with a screamer from 17 yards out.
The goal put Minnesota up 2-0 and started to open the game up for the Gophers.
Minnesota goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs was rarely tested on the day because of a unified effort from the Gophers back line. That was exemplified in the second half when Utah’s Holly Daugirda broke through the Minnesota defense. No less than six Gophers players converged on her to quickly kill the Utah attack.
After some substitutions by the Gophers, the Utes looked to take advantage and sprung their best attack of the afternoon. Paola van der Veen was fed a ball that put her through and into the box. There was confusion between the defensive line and goalkeeper Hobbs on who would clear the ball. Not taking chances, senior defender Rashida Beal got herself between van der Veen and Hobbs, turning the ball wide and away from trouble.
A few moments later, Utah had yet another great opportunity on goal. Hailey Skolmoski shot hard and low to the far post from the top of the box and through a crowd of players. The ball was well struck and far out of the reach of Hobbs. It looked to be goalbound, but Beal was there yet again to rescue her team. Protecting the far post where she had positioned herself when she sensed trouble, she cleared the ball off the line and out of danger just before Skolmoski could light up the scoreboard for Utah.
In the 83rd minute it was once again Stiever who took control of the game. Bockin carried the ball down the right side of the pitch. Steiver kept the ball alive by warding off the Utah defense. She then turned the ball and her defender and brought it into the box for a shot, slotting it at the far post and past Mathias.
The full time whistle allowed the Gophers a 3-0 victory on the day.
It was a banner day for Stiever with two goals, one assist, and dominant play through the entire match. Coach Golan didn’t act surprised. “We expect that,” she said after the match. “She’s a big-time player and we feel she’s been our strongest player for the last few years. When her and Simone team up together, it’s pretty hard to stop those two. I think that Josee joining Simone as team captain has given her a surge of confidence. She’s showing really well.”
“Simone and I have played together since we were freshmen, so we know each other really well,” responded Stiever. “We’re roommates off the field, which helps. We’re both captains this year and we’ve come together and said ‘this is our year and we’re ready to come together and lead the team’. Since we have really good chemistry, we can get other people involved, too.”
Recap from Friday:
The win over the Utes builds on their season-opening win away at Kansas on August 19. With Kolander and Bockin each scoring their first goals of the season Golan said, “Kansas put us under a lot of pressure, but we didn’t break. It was great to see that at the start of the season, that shows the strength of our chemistry.”
More details on on Friday’s match can be found at gophersports.com.
The 2-0-0 Gophers now look forward to two home matches against North Dakota on Aug. 26 at 7:00 p.m. and Eastern Michigan on Aug. 28 at 1:00 p.m.
Kate Sophia co-wrote this report.
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