Gopher Soccer Prepped for Big Road Test vs. Ohio State, Michigan State

MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota (4-1-3, 0-1-0 B1G) travels to Ohio State (6-3-0, 1-0-0 B1G) and Michigan State (6-0-2, 1-0-0 B1G) for a pair of conference matchups. The Gophers and Buckeyes will face off on Sept. 23, at 6 p.m., while Minnesota's matchup with the Spartans will be on Sept. 26, at 1 p.m., with both matches being on BTN+.

LAST TIME OUT - WISCONSIN
The University of Minnesota (4-1-3, 0-1-0 B1G) fell to the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2021 Border Battle by a score of 2-1 at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium on Sept. 18. In front of a record-breaking crowd of 1,864 the Gophers got a goal from junior forward Izzy Brown in the first half before Wisconsin scored the next two to take the road win back to Madison.

"I think we saw some really good moments of soccer tonight from our team," head coach Erin Chastain said. "I didn't think we defended our box as well as we have. Wisconsin really had two chances tonight, and they capitalized on them. In other moments we made it really difficult on them to have any clean looks but I thought we were undisciplined on those plays. We can be better than that. Loved how we were assertive we were on the goal we scored and we talked about scoring a goal like that. I'm proud of the group for coming out and setting the tone."

QUICK NOTES VS. OHIO STATE AND MICHIGAN STATE
- Minnesota defeated both Ohio State and Michigan State in their last meetings with the two programs with both matches ending in 1-0 decisions for the Maroon and Gold
- The only Minnesota native the Gophers will come across this weekend is on Ohio State's roster in the form of Nina Leflore, a sophomore defender from Minneapolis, Minn.
- Ohio State made the condensed 2020-21 NCAA Tournament last season, reaching the second round and falling to the eventual national champions in Santa Clara
- 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

THE IZZY FACTOR
In her first year rocking the Maroon and Gold junior forward Izzy Brown has been a legitimate threat offensively for the Gophers. The UNC-transfer leads the team with three goals this season, highlighted by her two-goal performance against Wyoming in a 4-0 win. Brown has also been Minnesota's most efficient finisher this season with 18.8 percent of her shots resulting in goals this season. Additionally, all three of Brown's goals have come within the first 11 minutes of the match.

DON'T GET SO DEFENSIVE
Minnesota's shutout streak reached 704 minutes before Wisconsin broke through the stingy back line of the Maroon and Gold on Sept. 18. Despite giving up the pair of goals against the Badgers last weekend Minnesota is still the No. 1 ranked Big Ten defense with 0.25 goals against average this season which is also the third-best in the nation. As a team Minnesota also ranks near the top in the country in save percentage (4th, 0.929) and shutout percentage (2nd, 0.875).

SCOUTING OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes (6-3-0, 1-0-0 B1G) return home after opening up Big Ten play with 2-1 win over Maryland last weekend. All three of Ohio State's losses this year have come against ranked opponents with those losses to No. 15 BYU (3-0), No. 2 North Carolina (2-0) and No. 6 TCU (4-1). The Buckeyes offense is charged by the three-headed attack off Kayla Fischer, Emma Sears and Kailyn Dudukovich with Sears leading the way with five goals this season. Fischer, who has four goals and five assists this season, leads the Big Ten in shots per match (4.75) this season and is fourth in points per match (1.63). Senior goalkeeper Bailey Kolinski has played every minute in net for Ohio State this season, owning a 1.67 goals against average this season while making 21 saves.

As a team Ohio State, who made the NCAA Tournament last season, ranks near the top of the Big Ten this season in shots per match (3rd at 20.00), total points (2nd at 47) and total goals (3rd at 18). Last time the Gophers and Buckeyes faced off on the pitch was on Sept. 29, 2019, when Minnesota earned a 1-0 win in Minneapolis off the foot of Athena Kuehn with an assist from Patricia Ward.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
Under the coaching of first-year head coach Jeff Hosler Michigan State is off to its best start in program history at 6-0-2 (1-0-0 B1G). The Spartans are fresh off a 1-0 win on the road against Indiana and took out the likes of Dayton, Oakland and Central Michigan on the road in the non-conference portion of the season. Michigan State's offense is paced by fifth-year senior Ava Cook and Zivana Labovic who both have three goals each this season with Cook sitting at fourth in the Big Ten in shots per match at 4.13. In goal redshirt junior Lauren Kozal has played every minute for the Spartans, securing five clean sheets in eight matches which is tied for the second most in the Big Ten this season. Kozal's 0.36 goals against average this season has her ranked 12th in the nation this season and her save percentage of 90 percent is good enough for 11th-best in the country.

The last time the Gophers and Spartans clashed was back in March of 2021 when Sadie Harper scored the only goal of the 1-0 win for Minnesota. Minnesota is currently riding a five-match unbeaten streak against Michigan State dating back to 2015 while Gophers unbeaten streak in East Lansing dates back to 2013.

STARTING FAST
Eight of Minnesota's nine goals this season have come in the first half with six of those goals coming within the first 15 minutes of the match. All four of the Gophers game-winning goals have come in the first half with Izzy Brown's first-minute goal against Wyoming being the fastest goal of the season for the Maroon and Gold.

UNBLEMISHED IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
For the first time since the legendary 2008 Gopher squad that reached the NCAA Tournament Third Round Minnesota finished the non-conference portion of its schedule undefeated (4-0-3). The run in the non-conference was just the second time in program history the Gophers had not taken a loss before Big Ten play and did so without allowing a single goal.

A RECORD-BREAKING START TO THE CHASTAIN ERA
The dawn of the Chastain era has been one for the record books in 2021. Erin Chastain, who returned home to Minnesota to lead the Gophers after 14 seasons at DePaul, kicked off her opening season with a undefeated 4-0-3 start, marking just the fourth women's soccer coach in Big Ten history, and first Minnesota soccer coach, to start her first year undefeated in her first seven matches.

STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Nationally the Gophers are, to no surprise, ranked near the top in every statistical category defensively. Additionally the Gophers are ranked eighth in the country in corner kicks per match while also coming in at 47th in shots per match. Minnesota's 8.12 corners per match is the best in the Big Ten while the mark of 17.50 is ranked sixth in the Big Ten in regards to shots per match.

UP NEXT
The third week of the Big Ten season will be a tough one for the Golden Gophers with No. 16 Rutgers (6-2-0, 1-0-0 B1g)) and No. 8 Penn State (6-2-0, 0-1-0 B1G) coming to Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. Minnesota's match with Rutgers will be played on Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. on BTN+. The Penn State matchup will kick off at 1 p.m. on BTN+ on Oct. 3.

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Izzy Brown

Sadie Harper

Athena Kuehn

Patricia Ward