University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, August 17
Salt Lake City, UT
8:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Utah
Players Mentioned
Goalkeeper
/ Soccer
Forward
/ Soccer
Forward
/ Soccer
Forward
/ Soccer
Midfielder
/ Soccer
Defender
/ Soccer
Midfielder
/ Soccer
Midfielder
/ Soccer
Forward
/ Soccer
Defender
/ Soccer
Forward
/ Soccer
Gophers to Open Up Season at Utah
8/15/2018 6:28:00 PM | Soccer
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota soccer is set to open up the 2018 season this weekend with a pair of matches in Utah. The Gophers head to Salt Lake City to open up the season against Utah on Friday, Aug. 17 at 8 p.m. CT before capping off the weekend versus Utah State on Sunday, Aug. 19.
KEY RETURNERS
A core class of seniors return to lead the Gophers on the pitch. Emily Heslin, April Bockin, Molly Fiedler, Emily Peterson and Maddie Castro all return for their final year in Maroon and Gold. 41 of the last years 127 points return with the fab five including 9 goals and 23 of the 45 assists.
LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED
The Gophers are 14-8-3 all-time in season opening matches. The Gophers are 6-5-2 all-time in season opening matches away from Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. Minnesota in the last five seasons have started away from home three times going 2-0-1, with the tie coming last season against Washington State.
THE GOLAN FILE
Head Coach Stefanie Golan enters her seventh season at the helm of Gopher Soccer. She holds a record of 72-39-15 at Minnesota and a career record of 105-57-25. A notable win in Golan's career is the Gophers 1-0 win over No. 4 Penn State in State College on Sept. 20, 2015. She has also led Minnesota to a Big Ten Title in 2016 and three NCAA tournaments (2013, 2015, and 2016).
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Seniors Emily Heslin and Emily Peterson will lead the Maroon and Gold on the pitch as the Gophers 2018 captains. Both Minnesota natives started in all 19 games last season with Peterson leading the defense and Heslin assisting a high powered offense. Peterson aided the defense en route to seven shutouts and allowed the third fewest shots on goal in the Big Ten for 2017 regular season. Garnering the captain band for the second straight season, Heslin tallied eight points on three goals and two assists during the 2017 campaign.
MINNESOTA HOME GROWN
Four of the seven newcomers hail from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Playing for the only Division I program in their home state of Minnesota are Ana Aguado, McKenna Buisman, Alana Dressely and Lydia Ruppert. They join the roster with Minnesota natives April Bockin, Makenzie Langdok, Emily Peterson, Molly Fiedler, Maddie Castro, Emily Heslin and Arianna Del Moral.
PRESEASON HONORS
The Gophers were projected to finish sixth in the Big Ten, as voted on by the conference coaches. Individual honors were also announced as seniors April Bockin, Molly Fiedler and Emily Heslin were named among the 42 student-athletes. Â
SERIES HISTORY
The Gophers won the only meeting in series history with Utah, 3-0 at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium during the opening weekend of the 2016 season. Sunday will mark just the second meeting between Minnesota and Utah State. The two foes met up at ELR last season in which the Gophers recorded a 5-0 victory.
2017 ROUNDUP
The Gophers are coming off an 11-5-3 recording during the 2017 campaign which included a 7-3-1 Big Ten record where the Gophers finished second in the regular season. The offense picked up strong in the middle of the season as the Gophers went on a five-match winning streak between Sept. 24-Oct.8. During the stretch the Maroon and Gold outscored the opposition 17-7. Their final three wins came in shutout fashion before the Gophers fell short in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal match falling to Wisconsin 2-0.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING IN 2017
Scoring is the name of the game and that is exactly what Minnesota did in 2017. The Gophers finished first in the Big Ten and top 20 nationally in assists per game (2.37), points per game (6.68), scoring offense (2.16), and total assists (45). The Gophers were known as a second half team scoring 26 of their 41 goals in the final 45 minutes.
Individually, April Bockin ranked third in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten with 12 assists which came out to 0.63 assists per game. Sydney Squires led the offense in her senior season ranking 12th in the NCAA and first in Big Ten with 14 goals while tallying 31 points to rank 25th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten.
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KEY RETURNERS
A core class of seniors return to lead the Gophers on the pitch. Emily Heslin, April Bockin, Molly Fiedler, Emily Peterson and Maddie Castro all return for their final year in Maroon and Gold. 41 of the last years 127 points return with the fab five including 9 goals and 23 of the 45 assists.
LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED
The Gophers are 14-8-3 all-time in season opening matches. The Gophers are 6-5-2 all-time in season opening matches away from Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. Minnesota in the last five seasons have started away from home three times going 2-0-1, with the tie coming last season against Washington State.
THE GOLAN FILE
Head Coach Stefanie Golan enters her seventh season at the helm of Gopher Soccer. She holds a record of 72-39-15 at Minnesota and a career record of 105-57-25. A notable win in Golan's career is the Gophers 1-0 win over No. 4 Penn State in State College on Sept. 20, 2015. She has also led Minnesota to a Big Ten Title in 2016 and three NCAA tournaments (2013, 2015, and 2016).
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
Seniors Emily Heslin and Emily Peterson will lead the Maroon and Gold on the pitch as the Gophers 2018 captains. Both Minnesota natives started in all 19 games last season with Peterson leading the defense and Heslin assisting a high powered offense. Peterson aided the defense en route to seven shutouts and allowed the third fewest shots on goal in the Big Ten for 2017 regular season. Garnering the captain band for the second straight season, Heslin tallied eight points on three goals and two assists during the 2017 campaign.
MINNESOTA HOME GROWN
Four of the seven newcomers hail from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Playing for the only Division I program in their home state of Minnesota are Ana Aguado, McKenna Buisman, Alana Dressely and Lydia Ruppert. They join the roster with Minnesota natives April Bockin, Makenzie Langdok, Emily Peterson, Molly Fiedler, Maddie Castro, Emily Heslin and Arianna Del Moral.
PRESEASON HONORS
The Gophers were projected to finish sixth in the Big Ten, as voted on by the conference coaches. Individual honors were also announced as seniors April Bockin, Molly Fiedler and Emily Heslin were named among the 42 student-athletes. Â
SERIES HISTORY
The Gophers won the only meeting in series history with Utah, 3-0 at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium during the opening weekend of the 2016 season. Sunday will mark just the second meeting between Minnesota and Utah State. The two foes met up at ELR last season in which the Gophers recorded a 5-0 victory.
2017 ROUNDUP
The Gophers are coming off an 11-5-3 recording during the 2017 campaign which included a 7-3-1 Big Ten record where the Gophers finished second in the regular season. The offense picked up strong in the middle of the season as the Gophers went on a five-match winning streak between Sept. 24-Oct.8. During the stretch the Maroon and Gold outscored the opposition 17-7. Their final three wins came in shutout fashion before the Gophers fell short in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal match falling to Wisconsin 2-0.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING IN 2017
Scoring is the name of the game and that is exactly what Minnesota did in 2017. The Gophers finished first in the Big Ten and top 20 nationally in assists per game (2.37), points per game (6.68), scoring offense (2.16), and total assists (45). The Gophers were known as a second half team scoring 26 of their 41 goals in the final 45 minutes.
Individually, April Bockin ranked third in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten with 12 assists which came out to 0.63 assists per game. Sydney Squires led the offense in her senior season ranking 12th in the NCAA and first in Big Ten with 14 goals while tallying 31 points to rank 25th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten.
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