University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Set Sights on No. 9 Florida
9/12/2013 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Sept. 12, 2013
| Minnesota (6-0) at Florida/Jacksonville | |
| Date/Time | Minnesota at Florida (Fri., Sept. 13 / 6 p.m.) |
| Location | Gainesville, Fla. |
| Live Video | Florida Video (Subscription required) |
| Live Stats | |
| Live Blog | Game Day Live |
| Date/Time | Minnesota at Jacksonville (Sun., Sept. 15 / 1 p.m.) |
| Location | Jacksonville, Fla. |
| Live Blog | Game Day Live |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Florida | Jacksonville |
| Social Media | @GopherSoccer | Facebook |
LAST TIME OUT
The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi over the weekend in order to improve on their overall record to 6-0-0. In turn, the Gophers were able to win their home tournament, the sixth-annual Minnesota Gold Classic, and elect four members of the team to the All-Tournament team.
On Friday, the Gophers were able to find the net twice as sophomore Haley Helverson and freshman Ashley Pafko were able to score in regulation. Both Helverson and Pafko were first time scorers for the Golden Gophers this season. (Recap Here)
A Sunday afternoon battle between Ole Miss and Minnesota had both teams fighting for the win as they were tied at one at the end of 90 minutes. The golden goal was scored by freshman Josee Stiever during the first overtime. Stiever had an outstanding weekend for the Golden Gophers. (Recap Here)
THIS WEEK IN GOPHER SOCCER
Minnesota will start their three week away game schedule with a trip to Florida to take on the Florida Gators and the Jacksonville University Dolphins. The Gophers will begin the weekend with a match against the Gators at James G. Pressly Stadium at 7 p.m. ET on Friday. Minnesota will then travel to Jacksonville for a Sunday afternoon match against the Dolphins beginning at 2 p.m. at Southern Oak Stadium.
SCOUTING FLORIDA
No. 9 ( NCSAA) Florida is on a winning-streak as the Gators defeated two Big 12 competitors at home last weekend. The Gators were able to score quickly in Friday's match against Oklahoma as Pamela Begic headed in Florida's first goal of the evening in the 9th minute. Two new goal scorers were able to post their first collegiate goals as Lauren Smith and Brooke Sharp scored for Florida. The Gators were able to record their third consecutive shutout on Sunday against Oklahoma State as Florida was able to finish the match 2-0. The Gators saw five different scorers over the course of the weekend with Annie Speese recording her second match of 2013 with two assists.
SCOUTING JACKSONVILLE UNIVERSITY
Jackonsville University will take on Georgia Southern on Friday and the Golden Gophers on Sunday. The Dolphins are 3-2-0 going into the weekend with their two losses being in the final half-minute of overtime contests. Jacksonville is leading the Atlantic Sun as the highest-scoring team with an average of 2.40 goals per game even though they were only able to score once in two matches over the weekend. Their leading scorer, Kaitlyn Bassett, is tied in the league for goals scored and is ranked 15th nationally. The match against the Gophers marks their first home match since Aug. 25. ÂÂÂÂ
ROOKIE MAGIC
Freshman Josee Stiever has played an important role in the Gophers 6-0 start on the season. Not only has Stiever started in all six games but she has scored three times and recorded an assist. Stiever factored into three goals this past weekend against SEC opponents LSU and Ole Miss. She was able to help Ashley Pafko score the game winning goal against LSU on Friday night and on Sunday she was able to force an Ole Miss handball in the penalty area that set up a pentalty kick for Katie Thyken to tie the game. But the biggest play of all came when Stiever was able to score the golden goal in overtime to seal the deal for the Gophers over Ole Miss. Stiever was honored by CS360 as one of the Primetime Performers this week.
THE RANKINGS
After an important weekend and two wins over SEC opponents, the Golden Gophers found themselves in the rankings released on Tuesday. Minnesota is ranked 24th by SoccerTimes.Com and 21st by SoccerAmerica. The Gophers also received votes in the NSCAA rankings ending up 34th overall.
GOPHER GOALS
Friday, Sept. 6 - 7:00 p.m. LSU vs Minnesota W, 2-1
15:48 - Haley Helverson (Assisted by Simone Kolander)
80:45 - Ashley Pafko (Assisted by Josee Stiever)
Sunday, Sept. 8 - 1:00 p.m. Ole Miss vs Minnesota W, 2-1
87:36 - Katie Thyken (Penalty Kick)
97:21 - Josee Stiever (Unassisted)
DID YOU KNOW?
This is the first time the Gophers have met both their opponents for the weekend.
Florida is the third consecutive SEC opponent the Gophers have seen this season.
The Gophers are only the second Big Ten opponent that Jacksonville has competed against. The last was Indiana in 2007.
DEFENDING THE ROBBIE
With the reputation of being a tough home team, the Golden Gophers are looking to take advantage of their ten home games this fall. Last weekend, the Gophers had two victories at home bringing their overall record on their home pitch to 126-51-12. Minnesota looks to extend that home win count when they meet Ohio State and Penn State at home in October.
TUNING IN
You will be able to watch both matches live from the weekend. The first match can be found on GatorVision. The second match can be found for free on ASun.tv. For both matches, updates can be found by following @GopherSoccer on Twitter or by logging into the live blog that will begin 15 minutes before game time.
STUDENT SOCCER SCHEDULE
Students who want to support Gopher Soccer but do not have a car are in luck as the soccer student shuttle will continue throughout the remainder of the season. The shuttle will pick up in front of Mariucci Arena on the west side of Oak Street (between Mariucci Arena and TCF Bank Stadium.) Friday's pick up times are 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff with drop off after the game. Sunday's pick up times are 12:30 and 1:00 p.m. for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff with drop off after the game. Maps can be found on our Facebook and Twitter pages. The next home game is October 4 against Ohio State.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Join the conversation by following us on Twitter @gophersoccer and using the hashtags #Gophers, #GopherSoccer and #TheRobbie. You can also find us on Facebook and "Like" our page! /GoldenGopherSoccer
