U of M Women Dominate and Defeat Bowling Green
Courtesy: University of Minnesota – 9/10/10
A pair of second-half goals from redshirt freshman Steph Brandt and junior Tamara Strahota carried the Minnesota women’s soccer team to its sixth-straight win on Friday afternoon in a 2-0 blanking of Bowling Green.
“We were clinical today and because of that we were able to put ourselves in a great rhythm in the second half. We also finished in today’s game which allowed us to take advantage of a couple great opportunities,” Minnesota head coach Mikki Denney Wright said.
Both teams struggled to find rhythm in the first half on Friday with Minnesota junior midfielder Shari Eckstrom nearly giving the Gophers a first-half lead from the top of the box until the Falcons defense was able to clear the ball out of harm’s way. While the score would remain knotted at 0-0, Minnesota (6-1-0 overall, 0-0-0 Big Ten) would outshoot Bowling Green 9-3.
The second half was a different story, however, as the Gophers upped the pressure on both ends of the field; peppering Falcons goalkeeper Alexa Arsenault with 15 second-half shots while the Minnesota defense and sophomore goalkeeper Cat Parkhill held firm and did not give up another shot to Bowling Green. Minnesota would finish the game outshooting the Falcons 24-3 while Parkhill would go on to record her second shutout of the season, making two saves.
After 67 scoreless minutes of play, Brandt gave the Gophers a 1-0 lead at 67:36 when she bested Arsenault in a 1-on-1 situation for her second goal of the season. Sophomore forward Allie Phillips started the play, feeding Eckstrom the ball before the junior midfielder sent quick pass to Brandt. Eckstrom and Phillips, two of Minnesota’s leading scorers, tallied their first assists of the season on the goal.
Strahota would seal the win for Minnesota in the 87th minute when she delivered a scoring volley from the top of the box off a corner kick from senior midfielder Katie Bethke. It was the second goal of the year for Strahota, who made the move to center back last weekend. Meanwhile, Bethke, who tied with Eckstrom for a game-high five shots, recorded her Big Ten best sixth assist on the goal.
Minnesota returns to action this Sunday with a 12:00 p.m. (CST) game at Toledo.
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