Gophers Welcome Purdue, Maryland to Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium

Thursday, March 25
Minnesota vs. Purdue
Time: 1:00 p.m. CT
Location: Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium
Watch: BTN+

Sunday, March 28
Minnesota vs. Maryland
Time: 1:00 p.m. CT
Location: Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium
Watch: BTN+

Following three consecutive games on the road, Minnesota returns home to play the final three games of the season at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. This week, the Gophers welcome Purdue (March 25) and Maryland (March 28) to the Twin Cities, with Sunday's game against the Terrapins serving as Senior Day for the Maroon & Gold.

SEASON RECAP
Minnesota concludes the spring 2021 season with three straight home games, owning a 3-3-2 record on the year and sitting in 10th place in the Big Ten standings. The Gophers enjoyed their most successful stretch of the campaign from March 1 to March 14, when the team went 3-0-1 over four games, securing victories against Michigan State (1-0), Northwestern (2-1, OT) and Iowa (1-0).

LAST TIME OUT
Going into last weekend with a 3-1-2 record and tied for third place in the Big Ten standings, Minnesota dropped a pair of ranked games against No. 11 Penn State (3-0) and No. 21 Rutgers (1-0). Although the Gophers were held scoreless in those two games, Minnesota registered more shots than their opponents on both occasions. Minnesota outshot Penn State, 18-4, in their March 18 loss, while the Maroon & Gold finished with a 7-2 shot advantage over Rutgers.

SERIES HISTORY
The Gophers head into this week's matchups with winning records against both opponents. Minnesota and Purdue have faced off 22 total times, with the Gophers using an active seven-game winning streak against the Boilermakers to take a 14-8 lead in the all-time series. During that seven-game winning streak, Minnesota has outscored Purdue, 17-4.

As for Maryland, the series history resembles a much smaller, six-game sample size. Although Minnesota is ahead in the all-time series, 4-2, Maryland claimed the most recent victory with a 2-0 home win in 2019. Overall, the Gophers have outscored the Terrapins, 16-4, in their six meetings to date.

SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS AND TERRAPINS
Having won three out of their last four games with their last loss coming on March 4 at Nebraska, Purdue enters Thursday's game with a 4-3-1 record on the season. Currently tied for fourth in the Big Ten standings, the Boilermakers are 1-2 on the road this year. Purdue has scored nine goals this season while allowing only seven.

Conversely, Maryland finds themselves in last place in the Big Ten with a 0-6-2 record. The Terrapins are 0-2 on the road and have been outscored, 16-6, so far in 2021.

SENIOR CELEBRATIONS
Minnesota's three-game home stand to finish off the season likely represents the final games at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium for five Gopher seniors. Arianna Del Moral, Athena Kuehn, Makenzie Langdok, Maddie Nielsen and Celina Nummerdor will all be celebrated in a Senior Day recognition ceremony prior to Sunday's game against Maryland.

TEAM LEADERS
Through the first eight games of the season, Sadie Harper currently paces all Gophers with two goals, while Sophia Boman and Katie Koker have scored this year as well. Boman paces the team with 29 shots, while McKenna Buisman follows closely behind with 19 of her own.

STRONG ON D
Minnesota's four shutouts this season are tied for the second-most in the Big Ten, trailing only Wisconsin (five). The Gophers have allowed just seven goals all season, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten. The team has surrendered a mere 38 shots all year long, while producing 118 shots of their own. Dating back to last season, Minnesota has registered shutouts in five of their last ten games.

AT THE TOP OF THE B1G
Minnesota currently ranks at or near the top of the Big Ten in a variety of categories: corner kicks (first; 58), shots (second; 118), shutouts (tied second; four), shots per game (third; 14.75), fewest goals allowed (tied fifth; five), goals allowed on average (tied fifth; 0.88) and shots on goal (tied fifth; 43).

GOING THE DISTANCE
Three Gophers have played all 767 minutes for Minnesota so far this season: Boman, Katie Duong and Kuehn.

WEEKLY B1G HONORS
So far this season, three Gophers have hauled in weekly Big Ten honors: Boman, Koker and Megan Plaschko. Boman was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on March 16, while Koker and Plaschko earned Defensive Player of the Week and Goalkeeper of the Week honors on March 9, respectively.

GOLAN BECOMES LONGEST-TENURED GOPHER HEAD SOCCER COACH
With the 2020-21 campaign officially underway, head coach Stefanie Golan has now been at the helm of the program longer than any head coach in program history. Now in her ninth season with the Gophers, Golan has compiled an 90-63-23 (.577) record, won one B1G Regular Season Championship and two B1G Tournament Championships. Mikki Denney Wright (2004-11) is the only other Minnesota soccer coach to lead the program for at least eight seasons.

CAPTAINING THE SHIP
Seniors Kuehn, Langdok and Nummerdor serve as captains for Minnesota this eason. These three Gophers will lead a six-player, team-elected Leadership Group that also consists of juniors Alana Dressely and Delaney Stekr, as well as sophomore Duong.

UP NEXT
Following this week's games against Purdue and Maryland, the Gophers have just one game remaining on the spring 2021 regular season slate. Minnesota hosts Big Ten-rival Wisconsin on Saturday, April 3 at 1 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Sophia Boman

McKenna Buisman

Arianna Del Moral

Alana Dressely

Katie Duong

Sadie Harper

Katie Koker

Athena Kuehn

Makenzie Langdok

Maddie Nielsen

Celina Nummerdor

Megan Plaschko

Delaney Stekr