University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, February 21
Minneapolis, MN
1:00 PM
University of Minnesota
0-0-1, 0-0-1
0
vs
0
Nebraska
0-0-1, 0-0-1
1
2
3
4
F
Nebraska
0
0
0
0
0
Minnesota
0
0
0
0
0
Gophers Open Season With Scoreless Draw vs. Nebraska
2/21/2021 5:23:00 PM | Soccer
MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Minnesota soccer program opened the 2020-21 season by earning one point in the Big Ten Conference standings after earning a 0-0 draw against Nebraska on Sunday afternoon.
Although the Gophers were ultimately unable to secure a season-opening victory, the team produced an impressive shutout performance against the visiting Huskers. Goalkeepers Maddie Nielsen and Megan Plaschko combined for 110 minutes of shutout soccer in goal, recording one and three saves, respectively. Nielsen turned in the first 45 scoreless minutes for the Maroon & Gold, while Plaschko entered at the onset of the second half and played the remainder of the game.
On the offensive end, Minnesota came out firing from the get-go. The Gophers held a six-to-one shot advantage over Nebraska at the half, backed by five corner kicks to the Huskers' one. Overall, Minnesota out-shot Nebraska 12-to-six by game's end, wielding a nine-to-one advantage on corners.
Seeing her first game action since the 2018 season, McKenna Buisman paced the Maroon & Gold with five shots. In total, seven different Gophers notched at least one shot, with Buisman and Megan Gray both putting one shot on target.
Minnesota also won the possession battle in Sunday's opener, besting Nebraska 59% to 41%.
In total, 15 Gophers saw some level of action. Freshmen Sophia Boman and Abi Frandsen both made their collegiate debuts, with each earning spots in Minnesota's starting lineup.
Boman, Katie Duong, Gray, Athena Kuehn, Delaney Stekr and Patricia Ward each played all 110 minutes for Minnesota.
Quotable
"I think the girls came out with a lot of energy, a lot of fight. For them, now it's real. We've been waiting and now we're back," said head coach Stefanie Golan. "We got a shutout, which is a big thing. Defensively, we gave up a couple of looks, but our goalkeepers came up with the saves that we needed them to make today. On the flip side of it, I thought we created opportunities that were clean-enough looks that we could have won the game... We continued to fight and compete and the team stayed together the whole game."
"It was so nice to finally put everything together," said senior captain Makenzie Langdok. "We've been training for so long and I honestly think we painted some really good pictures. A lot of good notes to take away from the day, obviously areas to grow in, but it was a really good start and it was really good to get out there."
Notable
Minnesota will take to the road for their next two contests, traveling to Michigan (Thursday, Feb. 25) and Michigan State (Sunday, Feb. 28).
Although the Gophers were ultimately unable to secure a season-opening victory, the team produced an impressive shutout performance against the visiting Huskers. Goalkeepers Maddie Nielsen and Megan Plaschko combined for 110 minutes of shutout soccer in goal, recording one and three saves, respectively. Nielsen turned in the first 45 scoreless minutes for the Maroon & Gold, while Plaschko entered at the onset of the second half and played the remainder of the game.
On the offensive end, Minnesota came out firing from the get-go. The Gophers held a six-to-one shot advantage over Nebraska at the half, backed by five corner kicks to the Huskers' one. Overall, Minnesota out-shot Nebraska 12-to-six by game's end, wielding a nine-to-one advantage on corners.
Seeing her first game action since the 2018 season, McKenna Buisman paced the Maroon & Gold with five shots. In total, seven different Gophers notched at least one shot, with Buisman and Megan Gray both putting one shot on target.
Minnesota also won the possession battle in Sunday's opener, besting Nebraska 59% to 41%.
In total, 15 Gophers saw some level of action. Freshmen Sophia Boman and Abi Frandsen both made their collegiate debuts, with each earning spots in Minnesota's starting lineup.
Boman, Katie Duong, Gray, Athena Kuehn, Delaney Stekr and Patricia Ward each played all 110 minutes for Minnesota.
Quotable
"I think the girls came out with a lot of energy, a lot of fight. For them, now it's real. We've been waiting and now we're back," said head coach Stefanie Golan. "We got a shutout, which is a big thing. Defensively, we gave up a couple of looks, but our goalkeepers came up with the saves that we needed them to make today. On the flip side of it, I thought we created opportunities that were clean-enough looks that we could have won the game... We continued to fight and compete and the team stayed together the whole game."
"It was so nice to finally put everything together," said senior captain Makenzie Langdok. "We've been training for so long and I honestly think we painted some really good pictures. A lot of good notes to take away from the day, obviously areas to grow in, but it was a really good start and it was really good to get out there."
Notable
- Minnesota has now shut out their opponent in two out of their previous three games, having also beaten Northwestern, 1-0, on Oct. 24 of last season.
- Sunday's action marked the Gophers' first official day of competition in 484 days, dating back to Oct. 27 of the 2019 season.
- Goalkeepers Maddie Nielsen and Megan Plaschko combined for 110 scoreless minutes of play and four total saves.
Minnesota will take to the road for their next two contests, traveling to Michigan (Thursday, Feb. 25) and Michigan State (Sunday, Feb. 28).
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Team Stats
NEB
MINN
Goals
0
0
Shots
6
12
Shots on Goal
4
2
Saves
2
4
Corners
1
9
Fouls
12
13
Game Leaders
Shots
5
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
Midfielder
/ SoccerForward
/ Soccer
Midfielder
/ Soccer
Forward
/ Soccer
Forward/Midfielder
/ Soccer
Defender
/ SoccerForward
/ Soccer
Goalkeeper
/ Soccer
Goalkeeper
/ SoccerDefender
/ Soccer
Forward
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