Gopher Soccer Looks to Remain Undefeated on Thursday at Drake

MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota (1-0-1, 0-0-0) takes its talents on the road for the first time this season when they take on Drake (0-1-1, 0-0-0 MVC) on Thursday, Aug. 26, at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. The Gophers are coming off an undefeated opening weekend where the team took down Big 12 foe Baylor to earn first-year head coach Erin Chastain's first win and followed it up with a 0-0 draw with the University of Illinois - Chicago.

QUICK NOTES VS. DRAKE
- The matchup between the Gophers and the Bulldogs is the sixth all-time with Minnesota holding a 3-1-1 advantage over Drake with the last meeting coming in 2007 when the two teams ended in a scoreless draw in Des Moines, Iowa
- The Gophers have not lost a regular season match in the state of Iowa since Nov. 9, 2008, when the Gophers lost to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament Championship match 2-1, since then Minnesota holds a record of 8-0-2 in Iowa
- Drake has scored five goals against the Gophers all-time, with four of those coming in a 4-1 win in 2003, outside of that performance the Gophers own a 7-1 advantage on the scoreboard against the Bulldogs
- The 2021 season for Minnesota will be the first under the new leadership of Erin Chastain who returned to her alma mater after serving as the head coach at DePaul for the past 14 seasons
- The University of Minnesota coaching staff is comprised of four women, making them one of just four staffs across the Power 5 conferences to have an all-female staff
- Drake's roster is comprised of six different student-athletes that hail from Minnesota, between the two programs on Thursday there will be potentially 15 student-athletes that could hit the field that come from the land of 10,000 lakes

LAST TIME OUT - UIC
The University of Minnesota (1-0-1, 0-0-0 B1G) secured its second shutout in as many matches on Sunday afternoon at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium with a 0-0 draw against the University of Illinois - Chicago. Megan Plaschko, along with the Gophers back line, allowed just four shots with only one on frame to secure the clean sheet. The back-to-back shutouts to start the season is the first time the Maroon and Gold have achieved that since 2017. Sunday's clean sheet is Plaschko's seventh of her career and that total comes in just 12 starts, with 10 of those coming in the shortened 2020-21 season.

"Sunday matches are arguably the hardest in college soccer," Minnesota head coach Erin Chastain said. "We are disappointed in the result, but there are still bright spots with our group. Defensively we were organized and we were tough. We generated some really nice chances in the run of play that hopefully now our next step will be capitalizing on those."

THE FIRST ONE IS ALWAYS THE HARDEST
First-year head coach Erin Chastain earned her first win as the leader of Minnesota's soccer program when the team defeated Baylor 1-0 in the season opener. Chastain, who was hired in July, got a goal from Sophia Boman just six minutes into the first match of the season and held on for the win at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. The win for Chastain was her 120th win of her career after she spent the past 14 seasons at DePaul. Chastain, who was a four-year starter and three-year captain for the Gophers in the 1990s, is the fifth head coach in program history.

BIG TEN FLEXIN'
In the first non-conference action for the Big Ten since the 2019 season, the conference had one of the strongest weekends among the Power 5 conferences. The Big Ten finished the first weekend with a record of 20-2-4 (.846) only behind the ACC's 23-0-2 (.940) winning percentage. The Big Ten and ACC were head and shoulders above the rest of the Power 5 conferences with the Pac 12 posting the third-best winning percentage of .658 with a record of 11-5-3 followed by the SEC's 12-10-4 (.538) and the Big 12's 9-8-3 (.525).

SCOUTING DRAKE
Drake is coming off an opening weekend where they finished with a record of 0-1-1 with a positive result coming against Big 12 power Kansas. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Kelsie Stone was honored by the Missouri Valley Conference for her 10-save performance against the Jayhawks, making 10 saves in the 0-0 draw on the road. Drake followed up its season-opening draw with a 2-0 loss against Creighton, also on the road.

Despite not scoring a goal in its first two matches, nearly half of the Bulldogs 11 shots have been on frame with Emma Nagel leading the team with three shots. Last season the Bulldogs only scored three goals during their shortened eight-match season, with two of those goal scorers, Alison Walls and Megan Valenzuela, returning for the 2021 season. In goal Stone returns with 44 career starts and has appeared in 49 matches to truly bring a strong stable voice to the Bulldogs defense this season.

BEND, DON'T BREAK, DEFENSE
The opening weekend of the season couldn't have gone much better for the Gophers defense, not allowing a goal in 200 total minutes on the ELR pitch. Megan Plaschko secured back-to-back shutouts for the Maroon and Gold, making six total saves to increase her career clean sheet total to seven in her career. The defense allowed a total of 22 shots in two matches, but just six were on frame, proving that the defensive organization in front of Plaschko was phenomenal. The back line of the Gophers played all 200 minutes across the board during the first two matches with Delaney Stekr, Makenzie Langdok, Abi Frandsen and Elizabeth Overberg keeping nearly every threat in front of them.

NEW GOPHERS ON THE BLOCK
It was an exciting weekend for a number of Gophers during the first weekend of the 2021 season with five student-athletes making their debut. Khyah Harper, Izzy Brown, Christa VanLoon, Elizabeth Overberg and Lauren Donovan all hit the pitch for the first time in the Maroon and Gold, helping the team finish with an undefeated record of 1-0-1. Overberg and Donovan both played every minute of their opening weekend of Division I soccer, proving they belong by helping the Minnesota defense not allow a goal. Despite not scoring, Khyah Harper arguably had the most dangerous weekend offensively, attempting nine shots with four of them on goal in her first matches with the Gophers.

STEKR, GRAY AND BOMAN NAMED BIG TEN PLAYERS TO WATCH
Three individuals from the Gophers were named to the Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch List, announced by the conference office on August 16. Delaney Stekr, Megan Gray and Sophia Boman were named, all firsts for the trio.

Stekr, who was a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree last season, has appeared in 27 matches for the Gophers in her career and has started in 21 of those matches as a defender. Gray enters the 2021 season with 54 matches played with the Maroon and Gold. She's scored three goals in her career including one in Gophers last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018. Boman rounds off the Gophers honorees after a stellar freshman campaign where she was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. Last year Boman scored two goals and had one assist while starting all 12 matches.

In addition, the conference released the 2021 Big Ten Coaches' Poll where Minnesota found itself sitting 10th among the conference's 14 teams.

UP NEXT
The Gophers will get back to a two-match weekend when Mississippi State (1-1-0, 0-0-0 SEC) and Wyoming (1-0-0, 0-0-0 MWC) travel to Minneapolis. Minnesota will host the Bulldogs on Sept. 2, at 1 p.m., while Wyoming will play the Gophers at ELR on Sept. 5, at 1 p.m. Both matches will be seen on BTN+.

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Players Mentioned

Sophia Boman

Izzy Brown

Lauren Donovan

Abi Frandsen

Megan Gray

Khyah Harper

Makenzie Langdok

Elizabeth Overberg

Megan Plaschko

Delaney Stekr

Christa VanLoon