University of Minnesota Athletics
NCAA Tournament Preview: Gophers Host Marquette
11/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Tournament Preview
The co-Big Ten regular season champion No. 22 Minnesota Golden Gophers (20-3-0) have gained their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1999 and will play Marquette (11-7-3) in the opening round of the 2008 College Cup at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.
No. 15 Colorado earns the top seed of the regional on the strength of an at-large bid and an appearance in the Big XII championship match last weekend. The Buffaloes meet Summit League champion South Dakota State (14-4-1) in the first game of the regional at 3:00 p.m. (CT) Friday.
Scouting the Gopehrs
Minnesota enters the first and second round weekend of the NCAA Tournament coming off a runner-up performance at the Big Ten Tournament last weekend in Iowa City, Iowa. The second-seeded Gophers earned victories over Northwestern and Purdue to advance to the championship match. No. 20 Penn State upended Minnesota by a 2-1 score in the championship match.
Senior Lindsey Schwartz had a big game for Minnesota in its 3-1 quarterfinal victory over Northwestern on Nov. 6. The Bettendorf, Iowa native tallied a goal and added a pair of assists in Minnesota’s victory. Schwartz’ goal in the 60th minute put the Gophers ahead for good at 2-1. The game-winning score was Schwartz’ sixth game-winner of the season, tying a single-season school record.
Gopher goalkeeper Lindsey Dare (Apple Valley, Minn.) recorded her Big Ten-record 16th shutout of the season on Friday on the strength of the Gophers’ 1-0 semifinal win. Clare Grimood scored the only goal of the match in the eighth minute of play with a left-footed blast from 30 yards out. With the shutout, Dare surpassed Penn State’s Emily Oleksiuk, who had 15.4 shutouts during the 200 season. Dare, a fifth-year senior, also owns a 0.43 goals against average (GAA) this season that led the Big Ten and ranks eighth nationally.
Senior midfielders Grimwood (Eagan, Minn) and Kaitlin Wagner (Plymouth, Minn.) were named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team at the conclusion of the weekend. Wagner scored the Gophers’ first goal of the tournament on Thursday.
Scouting the Golden Eagles
Marquette comes to the Twin Cities as an at-large bid out of the Big East Conference. The Golden Eagles upset then-No. 24 Rutgers by a 1-0 score in the quarterfinal round of the Big East Tournament on Nov. 2 before falling to No. 1 Notre Dame by a 2-0 score in the semifinals.
Having played a tough regular season schedule that included six ranked foes, the Golden Eagles have won at least 11 matches for the 13th consecutive season and are making their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Golden Eagles are led on the offensive end by sophomore forward Ashley Baras, a Big East third team selection, who leads the team with five goals and 12 points. Freshman Natalie Kulla has made 55 saves this season and owns a 0.82 GAA while playing the majority of the minutes between the posts for Marquette this season.
Breaking Down the Regional
No. 15 Colorado draws the top seed in the regional on the strength of their 14-4-4 record and runner-up performance at last weekend’s Big XII Tournament, which culminated in a hotly-contested 1-0 loss to No. 13 Missouri in the championship match.
The Buffaloes make their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and have won three out of their last four first round matchups. Colorado earned its first ever trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 following the 2006 season and will look to advance as the top seed again this year.
Colorado faces Summit League champion South Dakota State Friday afternoon in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Jackrabbits are making their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in just their fourth season at the Division I level.
SDSU head coach Lang Wedemeyer, who has been at the helm since the school’s inaugural women’s soccer season in 2000, has led the team to a 14-4-1 record this season that includes a 7-1-0 league record. After drawing the second seed in the Summit League Tournament, the Jacks won a pair of games to capture the league title last weekend in Macomb, Ill. South Dakota State clinched its first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 victory over Oakland (Mich.) in the Summit League Tournament championship match last Sunday.
Senior forward Erin Kasmarik leads the Jacks in scoring with 10 goals and 24 points. Senior goalkeeper Nicole Lagrosso has started each of SDSU’s 19 contests this season and has posted a 0.73 GAA while recording nine shutouts. Six different Jackrabbits, including Summit League Defensive Player of the Year Kerstyn Ferrell, hail from the state of Colorado.
Five Gophers Named All-Big Ten
Following its first Big Ten regular season title since 1997, five Gophers recieved All-Big Ten accolades. Kelsey Hood led the list of honorees as the senior collected Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors as well as first-team accolades. Hood has been named to the All-Big Ten list each of her four seasons as a Gopher.
Sophomore defender Jennie Clark joins Hood on the first team. Clark, a Norwalk, Iowa native, has been a key cog in the Gophers’ stifling defensive efforts this season that has the team contending for multiple all-time Big Ten records for defensive excellence.
Lindsey Schwartz and Lindsey Dare were named second-team all-conference following solid performances in their senior seasons.
With five game-winning goals and 13 points this season, striker Tamara Strahota (Burnsville, Minn.) was named to the Big Ten’s All-Freshman team.
Hey Mikki
In just her fifth season at the helm of Minnesota Soccer, head coach Mikki Denney Wright is the Big Ten Coach of the Year this season.
Denney Wright has turned around a program this season that had gone 18-31-3 (.375) in the three years prior to being named head coach in January of 2004. Minnesota Soccer has posted a 54-38-6 (.582) record during her tenure, including a 20-3-0 (.870) mark this season. Denney Wright and her staff hope to have the program in position for its first ever trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen this weekend. She and the Gophers will look to improve on the program’s 3-0 record when playing at home in the NCAA Tournament when they face Marquette at 6:00 p.m. (CT) on Friday.
