Gophers Dominate But Lose Again

UW-Milwaukee 1-0 University of Minnesota

Panther standout Sarah Hagen watches her game winner sail into the back of the Gophers net. Photo by Jeremy Olson - www.digitalgopher.net

The Golden Gopher women’s soccer team took their second loss of the weekend and their 4th of the season on Sunday in front of 1,220, the 10th largest crowd ever to watch a match at ELR Stadium. And just like Friday night’s performance against the Georgia Bulldogs, the Gophers dominated in nearly every statistic but walked away without the desired result.

Minnesota dominated corner kicks 4-1, shots 23-10, forcing 12 saves for Milwaukee  to the Gophers 3. The home team also took it to the Panthers with the bulk of possession and physicality, out-fouling Milwaukee 13-6. Yet the score line was still 1-0 Milwaukee at the end of the day, thanks in part to Panther senior standout and U-23 National Team regular forward, Sarah Hagen.

U of M head coach Mikki Denney Wright says she’s still not concerned about the wins and losses at this stage of the season (2-4-0) and knew her team would not be as dominant this year, at least in the beginning of the season, since they have had to replace so many starters.

“We are going to continue to learn and grow and we knew that,” said Wright after the game. “We replaced 6 starters and 7 with Tam out. (Junior Tamara Strahota tore an ACL during the summer.) So we knew there’d be 7 new starters in there and I think we are still trying to define ourselves. Our goal has been by the time the Big Ten season comes to have solved some things and I think we’ll get there. We’ve always been a team that has gotten better throughout the season. But we’ve played some good teams in the preseason and it’s taught us a lot.”

With that said, the Gopher head coach did not feel her team played particularly well on Sunday despite the statistics. She says she felt their outing against Georgia on Friday night in the first of their 2-game weekend in the Minnesota Gold Classic was a much better game.

“Friday night we had a great performance, I didn’t think today was a great performance for our group. Even though we dominated statistically those things don’t really matter a whole lot to me. I didn’t think it was a great performance for a number of our players. They are having some trouble bringing it consistently. We are just experiencing some growing pains. Sarah Hagen is a very dangerous player and we knew that yet we obviously didn’t take care of her on set plays.”

The Gophers started the attack early and often. In the 9th minute forward Nicole Baier broke through around the right side on the box and shot just wide of the far post.

At the 15 minute mark it was Baier again as she had made a cut across the goalmouth from right to left. She tried to beat Milwaukee keeper Jamie Forbes back across the right side when her momentum was already carrying her, left and Forbes was easily able to thwart the effort.

It was the Panthers who had good chance in the 3oth minute of play. Kelly Lewers took a shot from a tight angle on the left side. The ball went over Minnesota’s 5’7” goalkeeper Cat Parkhill and hit the underside of the crossbar, caroming down and into the ground. Lauren Bauer cleared the ball before another Panther player could get a touch.

In the 26th minute a scramble occurred in front of the Panthers net after Taylor Uhl was released one-on-one with Forbes. But she took too long and Forbes snatched the ball only to bobble it back into play. With Uhl, Forbes and another defender laying in a heap, Baier  attempted a first time shot but it was weak and easily cleared by the Panther defense.

The half ended with the scored knotted at 0-0.

The Gophers had long spells of possession in the second half but no real threat on goal. It was the Panthers’ Hagen whom Minnesota was trying to keep off the ball who eventually broke though with the first real chance on goal for either team. The Milwaukee forward slotted through the Minnesota defense on the right of the box and shot low to the far post. The shot beat Parkhill but slid just wide of the goalpost.

In the 74th minute the Panther’s Helen Steinhauser was the second UW-Milwaukee player to hit the Gophers crossbar in the match. The rebound bounced out and Milwaukee’s Kelly Lewers and Parkhill had a big time collision as the Gophers keeper leaped to punch the rebound away.

But it was Panthers captain Hagen who scored the only goal of the game in the 76th minute. After the Gophers had been called for a foul just outside and to the left of the penalty box, Keara Thompson took the kick and sent a driven ball into the middle of the box. Her cross found the head of the dangerous Hagen who made no mistake, nodding in powerfully and high over the Gophers defense for the game winner. It was Hagen’s 5th of this young season.

The Gophers attacked relentlessly for the remainder of the game but were never able to find the final ball or the shot that would put them on the scoreboard.

Minnesota is on the road next weekend where they will play Illinois State on Friday and DePaul on Sunday.  The Gophers will then return home on Sunday, September 18th to open their Big Ten season against Ohio State. It will be Rock the Robbie day where the Gophers will have free entry to the game and hope to set a new attendance record at the stadium. The Big Ten Network will also be televising the game live.

Stats

The Minnesota Gold Classic ended with Georgia and Milwaukee going 2-0 on the weekend and Minnesota and Iowa State 0-2. The Bulldogs would claim the championship crown over UWM due to goal differential.

Minnesota Gold Classic All-Tournament Team
GK- Ashley Baker, Georgia (Defensive MVP)
GK- Jamie Forbes, UW-Milwaukee
D- Mary Kate McLaughlin, Iowa State
D- Makenzie Gillaspie, UW-Milwaukee
D- Bailey Powell, Georgia
M- Nicole Locandro, Georgia
M- Olivia Bagnall, Minnesota
F- Sarah Hagan, UW-Milwaukee (Offensive MVP)
F-Nicole Baier, Minnesota
F- Hayley Womack, Iowa State
F- Susannah Dennis, Georgia