University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Michigan
No. 11 Gophers End in Draw Against Michigan
10/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
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Oct. 18, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota women's soccer team ended in draw with the Michigan Wolverines on Sunday afternoon after double overtime at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.
With the tie, the Gophers move to 11-3-3 overall and 6-2-1 in Big Ten play.
"Today was not a great game and I thought we had better quality opportunities overall," said head coach Stefanie Golan. "They may have had more shots, but they weren't dangerous and we had more chances to put one away and we didn't."
Game play in today's match was similarly matched-up with Thursday's game, where play was slowed in the first half and picked-up speed nearing the end and in today's case, resulted in the full 110 minutes.
"I think both defenses were very patient in the attack and that's what kind of stalled the offense a little bit," said senior co-captain Haley Helverson.
"It was really tough to get into the swing of things today," said junior co-captain Simone Kolander. "I think we came out fine and were creating some opportunities in both halves and unfortunately, we just weren't able to capitalize on a few things and Michigan really wanted to slow the game down. We love the speed of play to be fast, so that was really tough for us to ever really get into a rhythm too."
From the games played this weekend versus Michigan State and Michigan, the Gophers gave up one goal. On the season, the Gophers have allowed eight goals, but have never given up more than a single point in a game.
As the clock ran down after two scoreless halves, the speed and competitiveness of the match heightened. That physical play was reflected in the referee's decisions, as four yellow cards were handed out - all within the last ten minutes of regulation and two in the overtime periods.
"It's another Big Ten match, we're all really competitive and everyone wants to beat each other," said Kolander. "Michigan is right up there with us in the standings, so they know that a win and even a tie over us would have been a big deal and that's what we were all playing towards and against today."
"After both teams dropped matches on Thursday, both sides came in here wanting to beat each other even more so than we wanted to regardless," said Kolander. "Coming in, we knew it was going to be extremely competitive."
Minnesota tallied 12 fouls total, five within the two ten-minute overtimes and the Wolverines notched 15, two in the final ten.
On the night, Minnesota had six shots, seven corner kick opportunities and three saves.
Of the Maroon and Gold's six shots, junior Josee Stiever contributed two and Kolander, redshirt senior Taylor Stainbrook and freshman April Bockin all contributed one.
In goal, junior goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs' record moves to 10-3-3.
Moving forward, the Maroon and Gold will focus on recouping and gearing up for one more final game on the road of the regular season.
"We've got to recover right now," said Golan. "Our kids are tired and it's that time of the year. We'll take a couple days off and when we come back out, we'll just need to be a little bit sharper and with short training, we'll focus on keeping the ball and the possession piece of it and getting into the final third cleanly."
"Resting is definitely what we're going to focus on," said Kolander. "I think a lot of people are banged up and a lot of us have played a lot of minutes. We just need to get out bodies back healthy and just focus on our next opponent and getting mentally prepared."
"Rutgers is a good team," said Golan. "They just beat Penn State, so it will be another tough game on the road, but we've done well on the road so we're not concerned about it, we just want to make sure our kids are taken care of and feel as good as they can going into it."
LOOKING AHEAD
On Friday, the Maroon and Gold will travel to New Brunswick, N.J. for a single-game weekend against Rutgers.
The final game of the regular season for the Gophers will be hosted at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium for a 7:00 p.m. match-up against Illinois on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
FOLLOW THE GOPHERS
Are you following the Gophers on the road or from home? Make sure to follow @GopherSoccer on Twitter and use the team's new hashtag #Unbreakable. You can also check for updates on Facebook and Instagram by "liking" Golden Gopher Soccer on Facebook or following the Gophers on Instagram.
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