The University of Minnesota Women’s Soccer team had mixed results over the weekend. The Gophers traveled to Durham, N.C. for the Duke Classic where they defeated Villanova on Friday night with a dominating 5-0 performance. On Sunday, the #9 ranked Gophers lost to #7 ranked Duke in a tightly contested match, 1-0.
Gophers 5-0 Wildcats
Friday night’s performance against Villanova (1-4-0) was particularly challenging since the Gophers took on two opponents: the Wildcats and Hurricane Hermine, which had lessened to a tropical storm but still brought rain and windy conditions to the match. Despite the situation, Minnesota rose to the occasion and scored 5 goals against Villanova.
April Bockin scored twice for the Gophers, both in the first five minutes of the match. Just 4 minutes into the game, Bockin connected on a header served up by senior forward Simone Kolander. Molly Fiedler and Kolander were involved in the second goal just a minute later when Bockin slotted it in on the left side of goal.
Julianna Gernes scored five minutes before the half to put her team up by three.
Kolander got into the action in the 61st minute on a header off of Kellie McGahn’s corner kick, one of nine for Minnesota in the game. Josee Stiever scored her 3rd goal of the 2016 campaign in the 72nd minute which closed out the scoring for Golden Gophers.
“It was a solid performance overall, despite some difficult conditions,” said Gopher head coach Stefanie Golan.
The match allowed the Gophers to give some minutes to various members of the roster in a tournament situation. Goalkeepers Tarah Hobbs and Mara Dougherty both put in 45-minute shifts. Each had two saves. In all, 19 Minnesota players saw 25 minutes or more of action.
Blue Devils 1-0 Gophers
The task got harder on Sunday when Minnesota faced host Duke. The Blue Devils came into the match with a 3-1-1 record, outscoring their opponents 14-3. The game was an evenly-contested affair that saw the Gophers outshoot Duke 12-9 with a 5-2 advantage on corner kicks. Hobbs went the distance in goal for Minnesota making three saves but giving up an Ella Stevens goal in the 32nd minute for the Blue Devils. The Duke freshman forward was able to volley in a cross from the left side which proved to be the game-winner.
After the match, Golan admitted that “we certainly could have earned a draw or even pulled out a win, but I’m so proud of the way we battled a top team on their field. Friday we came out with a 5-0 victory, and today we went toe-to-toe with the best Duke team I’ve seen.”
The tournament (and particularly the game against Duke) was exceptionally rewarding for Golan, who attended and played soccer at the university 15 years ago. Golan said that after the game, legendary US Women’s coach and current North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance sought out Golan and told her he was impressed by her team’s performance. “Hearing that from a legend was pretty awesome,” said Golan.
Gophers Simone Kolander and April Bockin were named to the All-Tournament Team for their performances.
Next weekend, the 5-0-1 Golden Gopher women will travel to the West Coast for their last two non-conference matches of the season. They will play No. 2 ranked Stanford on Friday, Sept. 9 and Santa Clara, ranked 22nd, on Sunday, Sept. 11. Many of the players on Minnesota’s roster will know Bronco junior forward Jenna Roering from Centerville, Minn. who already has two goals and two assists this season. Roering was the 2011 Gatorade Player of the Year and Minnesota Ms. Soccer in 2012.
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