University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
1-0-2
Notre Dame
1-0-2
Gophers Tie No. 24 Fighting Irish in Iowa
8/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-0-2) played the No. 24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-0-2) to a 1-1 tie in Iowa City in the first game of the Iowa Tournament.
After falling behind 1-0 in the second half, sophomore defender Nikki Albrecht found a long rebound after a Molly Fiedler shot and buried it in the bottom left corner to tie the game 1-1 in the 74th minute.
"Each time out, we want to grow and get a little bit better, and we did that tonight," head coach Stefanie Golan said. "We've got a special group who went toe to toe with a very good Notre Dame team. We need to recover and be ready to go against Iowa State on Sunday."
Notre Dame held the advantage in total shots, but the Gophers had more opportunities on goal with six to the Irish five. Six different Minnesota players had one shot on goal in the night, highlighted by Albrecht's goal.
Minnesota attacked early in the game, blasting six shots in the first 11 minutes of the contest. Notre Dame kept pressuring the Gophers back line, and were called for it often. In total, Notre Dame had three offsides infractions and four fouls in the opening half.
After the first half it was 0-0, with the Gophers holding a slight advantage in total shots at 6-5. Goalkeeper Brooke Littman made three saves in the half, with April Bockin, Sydney Squires and Maddie Gaffney all having one shot on goal.
Emily Heslin had a few opportunities in the second half with a pair of free kicks, one from almost 40-yards away and the other from just outside the box. The first went high, with the second going wide.
In the 57th minute, Notre Dame who struck first. After a series of passes, the Fighting Irish fired home on a wide-open net to take the lead. The goal snapped a 436-minute streak of no goals given up, including the Gophers exhibition games.
Trailing for the first time this season, Minnesota responded. Albrecht knocked home the Gophers first road goal of the season to tie the game up.
"We created some really good looks on goal, and their keeper made some great saves early," said Golan. "I was so proud of our resiliency to get one back after going down a goal and that was a big time moment from Nikki to score in that spot."
Minnesota had another opportunity just a few minutes later after a heel pass from Squires found Gaffney. Gaffney sailed the shot to the left of the net, just missing.
Junior Kailee Sharp made a huge save in the 87th minute when the Fighting Irish sent a cross into the box; Sharp saved a shot that was fired off Jennifer Westendorf's foot, her 11th shot of the game.
In the overtime periods, the Irish led in total shots with four to the Gophers two. Sharp made one save in the 20 sudden death overtime minutes, and the Gophers came away with the tie.
Minnesota will remain in Iowa City, Iowa until Sunday when the Gophers take on the Iowa State Cyclones at the Iowa Soccer Complex. That game will begin at 11:30 a.m. Check back here on gophersports.com to follow that game, and follow the Gophers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so you don't miss a thing this season.
Team Stats
Jennifer Westendorf (2)
Assisted By: Eva Hurm
GOAL by ND Jennifer Westendorf (FIRST GOAL), Assist by Eva Hurm, goal number 2 for season.
56:31
Albrecht, Nikki (1)
GOAL by MINN Albrecht, Nikki, goal number 1 for season.
73:52
