University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Soccer Season Recap
12/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
"Our program is obviously very proud of how far we've come in the last year. Making it to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years is an accomplishment, and I think it says a lot about our team that when we lost in the Sweet 16, they were still hungry and still wanting more and feeling like they could go further," Minnesota head coach Mikki Denney Wright said. "I think it speaks well to the future of our program that now our team has been there, and they are hungry for more and hungry for more success at Minnesota soccer."
Boasting one of the most experienced senior classes in the country, Minnesota opened the season on the road against then-No. 4 Notre Dame, who barely edged passed the Gophers in Minnesota's first Sweet 16 appearance in 2008. The Irish were Minnesota's first of six nationally ranked opponents in 2010 including a 2-0 win over No. 9 Texas A&M that sent the Gophers onto the Sweet 16. Minnesota finished the year with a program-best 4-2 record against ranked teams including a 5-1 run against top-25 teams after falling 1-0 to Notre Dame in the season opener.
The close loss to the Irish was the lone blemish on Minnesota' record during the first half of the season as the Gophers pieced together an unbeaten streak that stretched 11 games and ended as the second-longest streak without a loss in Minnesota history. The streak kicked off with a week-long trip to Nashville that saw Minnesota pick up a pair of 2-1 wins over Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky before closing out the road trip with a 7-0 win over Belmont. The Gophers finally returned to the Twin Cities for their first home games of 2010 nearly a month after the season opened when Minnesota hosted the annual Minnesota Gold Classic. After shutting out UC-Santa Barbara 2-0 in its opening contest, the Gophers upset No. 15 San Diego in the deciding game of the tournament to pick up their first win over a ranked opponent in 2010 - it wouldn't be their last however.
After beating Bowling Green 2-0 and tying Toledo 0-0, Minnesota scored a rare 3-1 win over then-No. 20 South Carolina at Stone Stadium, where the Gamecocks had only lost four times since 2007 and hadn't given up three goals at home in that span leading up to the Gophers win. The Gophers finished out its unbeaten streak with wins over Illinois State before opening the Big Ten season with a 1-1 tie at Iowa that resulted in the Gophers earning their first national ranking of the year and a 1-0 win over No. 15/20 Illinois at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.
The win over the Illini brought Minnesota to a No. 12 ranking in the national polls - the highest the Gophers would climb in 2010 - but the ranking would not last as Minnesota stumbled slightly during the Big Ten season, heading into the final week of the regular season on a 1-4-1 run. However, Minnesota swept its final two games against Northwestern (2-1) and Indiana (2-0) to lock up an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
Not only did the Gophers make the national tournament, the team was selected to host the opening two rounds at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium, where they had never lost an NCAA tournament game. After moving past Creighton with a 4-2 win in the first round, Mother Nature tried to prevent the most important game of the Gophers' season thus far when nearly a foot of snow fell in the Twin Cities the day before Minnesota was set to host No. 9 Texas A&M. After workers and volunteers strained through the night to clear the playing field, the Gophers didn't disappoint as they upset the Aggies 2-0 to move onto the program's second Sweet 16 game in Minnesota history. Minnesota's luck ran out in the third round, however, when Georgetown slipped a corner kick into the net in the game's final minute to win 1-0 and advance to the Elite 8 for the first time in its program's history.
The 2010 Minnesota women's soccer season concluded with a slew of honors for the team and individual players. Seniors Katie Bethke and Kylie Kallman each were named to the All-Big Second Team while the pair of seniors and sophomore Cat Parkhill each were honored with roster slots on the 2010 NSCAA/Performance Subaru NCAA Division I Women All-Great Lakes Region Team. Minnesota, which finished the season ranked No.16/21 in the final polls, also set a program record with 16 Academic All-Big Ten award winners and earned an NSCAA Academic Award for the fourth-straight season.
On the field, the Gophers boasted the Big Ten's most potent offense, leading the conference in goals (43), points (145) and assists (59). Minnesota also finished second in shots (391) and corners (159). The Gophers had seven student-athletes rank among the conference's top performers including Bethke, who led the conference and tied for sixth in the nation with 13 assists in 2010. Bethke, paced the Gophers with a team-high 25 points, and led a senior class that was responsible for half of Minnesota's scoring this season. Senior Molly Rouse finished among the conference's top 10 in points, goals, shots and assits while Kallman finished second on the team and third in the conference with eight assists.
"(The senior class) has forever changed our culture - what it means to be a winner, what it means to train hard, what it means to never settle," Denney Wright said. "We'll forever be grateful to this group."
The heralded senior class won't leave the cupboards bare in the Twin Cities however, as four of the team's top six scorers will return for the 2011 season including midfielder Shari Eckstrom and forward Steph Brandt, who each tied for 10th in the Big Ten with seven goals each.
"Our coaching staff and our team are still very hungry for more," Denney Wright said. "It's now their job to embrace the standards and take it even further - to continue the tradition of excellence."
2010 Minnesota Women's Soccer Accomplishments:
-Second Sweet 16 appearance in program history.
-14 wins this season are the second most in the last decade of Minnesota soccer.
-Finished the season ranked No. 16 in the final TopDrawerSoccer.com poll and No. 21 in the NWCA Coaches poll.
-11-game unbeaten streak (8/27-9/30) was the second longest in Minnesota history behind a 15-game unbeaten streak in 1997.
-Two All-Big Ten selection: Senior forward Katie Bethke and senior midfielder Kylie Kallman were each named Second Team All-Big Ten this season.
-Three Gophers named to the 2010 NSCAA/Performance Subaru NCAA Division I Women All-Great Lakes Region Team, tied for the most in the Big Ten this season. Kallman, Bethke and sophomore goalkeeper Cat Parkhill earned recognition for the Gophers.
- Four wins over nationally ranked teams are the most in Minnesota soccer history. NCAA tournament win over No. 9 Texas A&M was Minnesota's sixth win over a nationally ranked opponent in the last four years.
- The Gophers were the most potent team in the conference in 2010, leading the Big Ten in goals (43), points (145) and assists (59). Minnesota also finished second in shots (391) and corners (159).
-Allowed less than 20 goals for the third-straight season and the fourth time in Minnesota soccer history.
-7 Gophers finished the season ranked among the top 10 in the conference in individual statistics. Bethke finished the year ranked first in assists (13), first in assists per game (0.57), second in points (25), fifth in points per game (1.09) and eighth in shots (60). Junior midfielder Shari Eckstrom ranked first in the Big Ten in shots (80), third in shots per game (3.48), tied for tenth in points (19) and tied for tenth in goals (7) and ninth in assists (5). Senior forward Molly Rouse tied for tenth in the conference in points (19) and goals (7), while also tying for ninth in shots (59) and assists (5). Kallman, who finished the year third in the conference with eight assists, also finished third with 0.35 assists per game. Redshirt freshman forward Steph Brandt tied for fourth in the conference with four game-winning goals - just one behind a three-way tie for the lead. Brandt also tied for tenth in the Big Ten with seven overall goals. Sophomore forward/defender Tamara Strahota tied for ninth in the conference with five assists while Parkhill finished among the top five goalkeepers in the Big Ten in goals against average (0.75; fifth) and shutouts (seven, third).
-13 assists from Bethke put the senior in a tie for the sixth most this season in the country. Bethke also finished among the leaders in the NCAA tournament; her three postseason goals tied for second most in the national tournament.
-One of just 12 senior classes to reach the Sweet 16 twice in their careers.
-First time in program history hosting the Sweet 16 (also hosted first three NCAA tournament games for the first time in team history).
-16 Academic All-Big Ten honorees sets a new program record.
-3.48 team grade point average is the highest in the Big Ten this season and one of the top 20 team GPAs in the nation.
-Fourth-straight year earning an NSCAA Academic Award for team grade point average.
-One of just two teams in the conference to post a 1,000 APR score, graduating 100 percent.
-Kylie Kallman was honored as a CoSIDA Academic All-District Team member.
-Top three in attendance in the Big Ten for the fourth-straight year.
