Minnesota took down Nebraska on the road but only after things stretched all the way into double overtime.
Long story short, Kailee Sharp made a hell of a save and Kellie McGahn, Molly Fiedler, and Julianna Gernes connected for a fantastic finish. The win clinched a third place finish in the Big Ten and a home match against Wisconsin on Sunday. I talked with Molly Fiedler and Kailee Sharp to see how the team is preparing for the start of post-season play.
NEW: @MollyFiedler & @SharpKailee talk about their nail-biter in Nebraska & Sunday’s border battle with the Badgers https://t.co/UNvaaZZsOM
— Matt Privratsky (@MattPrivratsky) October 27, 2017
A crime has been committed
Namely, the snub of multiple award-worthy Gophers from the end of season Big Ten awards. First, let’s take a look a the players who did make the cut:
- Sydney Squires (1st Team)
- Molly Fiedler (2nd Team)
- Tori Burnett (2nd Team)
- April Bockin (3rd Team)
- Kellie McGahn (Sportsmanship)
My take on the criminal mistakes for the full award list: Emily Heslin not listed at all is a felony. April Bockin being placed on third team is a felony. Gernes not listed at all is a felony.
As far as misdemeanors, I personally would’ve considered at least one more Gopher defender (pick your favorite, they’re all great) on the Third Team as well as Athena Kuehn for the Freshman Team. You certainly could have talked me into Kailee Sharp on the Third Team considering the three keepers listed there.
The overall results in some places seem to reward the very top team (Ohio State) and in others they reward individual statistics – but it’s certainly not consistent. (This is the part where I remind you that April Bockin led the entire country in assists and got placed on the third team in her own conference). I won’t get into it because I don’t want student announcers to call me out during future games. They’re as scary as a ghost on Halloween (viewers of the Nebraska match will appreciate that closing line.)
Next up
1 p.m., Oct. 29: vs Wisconsin (Big Ten Network)
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