Soccer Returns Home for Big Non-Conference Weekend Test

MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota (2-0-1, 0-0-0 B1G) returns home to Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium for a big non-conference weekend when they host Mississippi State (2-2-0, 0-0-0 SEC) on Thursday, Sept. 2, at 1 p.m. on BTN+ as well as Wyoming on Sept. 5, at 1 p.m. The Gophers are coming off yet another shutout win, the latest being a 1-0 road victory over Drake.

LAST TIME OUT - DRAKE
The University of Minnesota (2-0-1, 0-0-0 B1G) remained undefeated with a 1-0 victory over Drake on the road on Aug. 29. Senior captain Delaney Stekr slotted home a penalty kick and helped keep the Bulldogs scoreless for the second win of the season. It was another clean sheet performance for junior captain Megan Plaschko, giving her eight clean sheets in 13 career starts. The Minnesota defense held the Bulldogs to just four shots in total, giving Minnesota its third-straight shutout.

"A win is a win," Minnesota head coach Erin Chastain said. "We are certainly going to build from here. I don't think it was our greatest performance, but I still think we generated a good amount of chances. Drake battled tonight, so credit to them. I'd like to see us be able to execute on some of our chances and I'd like to see us play a little bit more like we did in the second half tonight. We'll be looking forward to getting back to work in preparation for Mississippi State next week."

QUICK NOTES VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE AND WYOMING
- Minnesota's matchups with Mississippi State and Wyoming are both firsts with the MSU matchup being the first time the Gophers have taken on an SEC opponent in the regular season since 2019 against Ole Miss
- According to the MSU record book, the Bulldogs matchup with the Gophers is the first against any member of the Big Ten conference
- Neither Mississippi State or Wyoming have a student-athlete who hails from the great state of Minnesota
- 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

PUPS ON THE PITCH - SEPTEMBER 5
Bring your pup out to ELR! Leading up to the game, submit your pup's best video on social media (@GopherSoccer) for everyone to ogle over. The cutest three pups will get a prize and owners will get two free tickets to the game! During the game, all pups are invited to participate in the halftime Puppy Parade and to take their photo at our photo booth! All owners of pups in attendance must submit this waiver (PDF) at the gates.

A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION
First-year head coach Erin Chastain continued her winning ways with the 1-0 victory over Drake. Chastain's 2-0-1 start as head coach of Minnesota marks the first time a Gopher head coach has remained undefeated in their first three matches. Chastain's Gophers have been stingy on the defensive end thus far this season, allowing just six shots on goal in three matches and outshooting their opponents 48-27 in total.

GRITTY GOPHERS
With the 1-0 shutout win over Drake the Gophers extended their season-opening shutout streak to three, marking the first time a Minnesota team has done that to start a season since 2015. That year the team also started 2-0-1 and finished with a record of 12-7-3 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The shutout streak also is the first for any Chastain coached team to start a season dating back to her first year as a head coach in 2007 at DePaul.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
It will be another matchup with a squad known as the Bulldogs on Sept. 2 when Mississippi State (2-2-0, 0-0-0 SEC) comes to Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium to take on the Gophers. MSU is coming off a 1-0 win against Southeast Missouri on Aug. 29, at home. James Armstrong's team has scored four times this season with junior midfielder Onyi Echegini leading the way with a pair of those goals. Both of Echegini's goals have turned out to be gamewinners while she also added an assist in the Bulldogs 1-0 loss to Lipscomb in their season opener. Sophomore Maddy Anderson has been the Bulldogs goalkeeper in all four matches this season. The 2020 SEC All-Freshman team member has made 13 saves while allowing a total of three goals with a .813 save percentage.

The Gophers will have to be ready for adjustments as the Bulldogs have scored three of their four goals in the second half and 32 of their 55 shots have come in the second half. As a program, Mississippi State has made the NCAA Tournament once in its history back in 2018 when the team, then led by Tom Anagnost, finished 9-7-2.

SCOUTING WYOMING
Wyoming will stroll into Minneapolis with a similar start to the season as the Gophers. Also with a first-year head coach in Colleen Corbin the Cowgirls are 3-0-0 with wins over Colorado School of Mines, Omaha and the University of South Dakota. Junior forward Faith Joiner is the lone Wyoming student-athlete to have multiple goals with two. The remaining six goals the Cowgirls have scored this season have come from six different players with Jamie Tatum, a midfielder, adding a pair of assists to total four points this season. In goal it has been redshirt junior Alex Daws all 270 minutes this season. She has only made seven saves and has allowed a total of two goals this season to hold a save percentage of .778.

Similarly to Mississippi State, the Cowgirls have been fond of second half goals this season with five of Wyoming's eight goals coming in the second half. As a program Wyoming has never made the NCAA Tournament since starting NCAA women's soccer in 1995 but owns one Mountain West regular season title back in 2018 when the team finished 12-4-4.

PLASCHKO POWER
Plaschko, a junior captain, has been perfect for the Gophers when she has been called upon so far this season with three straight shutouts. The Eagan, Minn., native is one of just 13 student-athletes in Division I women's soccer to have three shutouts so far this season and is one of 23 that has a perfect save percentage.

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.

Since being named to the watch list Stekr has led the Gopher's back line to three-straight shutouts and scored a game-winning penalty kick goal. Boman scored Minnesota's gamewinner in the season opener against Baylor at home. Megan Gray has made an impact as well, drawing the hand ball that led to Stekr's penalty kick goal against Drake while also starting in all three matches thus far this season.

UP NEXT
The Gophers will have a split third week of the season to end the non-conference season when they travel to take on Omaha (1-2-0, 0-0-0 Summit) on Sept. 9, before returning home to take on North Dakota (1-1-0, 0-0-0 Summit) on Sept. 12. The match with North Dakota will be streamed on BTN+ at 1 p.m., while the Omaha match will be streamed on OMavs.com.

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Players Mentioned

Sophia Boman

Megan Gray

Megan Plaschko

Delaney Stekr