University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Fall in Sweet 16 Contest
11/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
The Minnesota women's soccer season came to an end on Saturday after Georgetown tallied the Sweet 16 matchup's only goal with under a minute remaining as the Hoyas earned their first-ever Elite 8 berth.
"We just want to congratulate Georgetown on their advancement to the Elite Eight. (It was) a great competitive battle today," Minnesota head coach Mikki Denney Wright said. "It was going to be a set piece war, and that's what it ended up being. We got a couple of great chances off set, and they certainly are so dangerous with the long throw, and they scored off a corner. We're proud of our team for getting here, no doubt about that. We had a very successful season, and [we're] proud of what the senior class has done for our program."
The Gophers (14-6-3, 4-4-2 Big Ten) actually outshot Georgetown 11-10 in a contest that went back in forth throughout the 90 minutes of action with both teams having several near goals. But a chance to advance came down to set pieces with the Hoyas holding a 5-2 advantage on corners. And the final corner of the game proved to be the most important as Georgetown's Samantha Baker sent her attempt sailing into the box from the right flag and in for her fifth goal of the season.
"It was a very tough game and obviously a difficult way to lose for the Minnesota girls," Georgetown head coach Dave Nolan said. "I felt as the game went on I felt it was going to come down to a little brilliance or a little good fortune, and I think we got a little bit of good fortune at the end on the way the ball went in."
In goal for the Hoyas, Jackie Desjardin made five saves to earn the shutout while sophomore Cat Parkhill turned away three shots for the Gophers. Junior midfielder Shari Eckstrom led Minnesota with four shots while senior forward Katie Bethke had three shots.
Georgetown (15-6-2) advances to its first-ever Elite 8 with the win. The Hoyas will play Ohio State of the Big Ten next weekend after picking up the first three NCAA tournament wins in program history in route to the Elite 8.
