U of M Men’s Club Team Makes it to National Semifinals

While the University of Minnesota may not have a Men’s D-1 program, they do have a Club Soccer program that has been well respected for many years. In recent times former Minnesota Kicks and Strikers player and coach Alan Merrick has led the U of M team and has them competing at a national level again.

After playing scrimmages against local D-III colleges, the team headed off to Colorado in late October to play in a regional tournament. This year the team played several matches in Denver and defeated both South Dakota Mines and Colorado Mines. After romping in the first game the Gophers found the going a bit tougher in their game with Colorado. The Gophers’ Max Rosenfelder scored with a header from Will Dennehy’s cross and Skylar Schulz doubled the Gopher’s lead with a blast from the corner of the box off of another Will Dennehy knock down.  The Gophers held on comfortably to advance to the National Tournament and keep a perfect record throughout the Regional Tournament.

The team then traveled to Phoenix, Arizona this weekend to play in the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association’s NCCS National Soccer Championships. The Gophers first defeated the University of Delaware 2-0 to guarantee them a spot in the next round.  An early side-foot goal by Skylar Schulz from Max Rosenfelder’s cross opened the scoring for the Gophers.  Ryan Goddard scored the second goal for Minnesota with Alex Casey assisting.

Later that night, the Gophers played Weber State for the number one seed, with both teams having already advanced. Weber State went up 1-0 after they turned in the rebound off of the post. They doubled their lead a little bit later with a cross from the right that was finished at the back post. After halftime, the Gophers asserted themselves on the game and pulled one back through a penalty converted by Calvin Mai. However, the Gophers were unable to put another one in but still advanced to play Florida on Friday who had won their group.

Minnesota defeated Florida on Friday and later that day took out Cal-Berkeley in a penalty kick shootout. The win propelled them into the semifinals on Saturday morning. But the Gophers were shutout and fell 1-0 to Missouri in that semifinal game.

The U of M Men’s Club team is a student-run and organized Sports Club that competes on the National Level. After tryouts, a Gold team and a Maroon team are both selected that comprises squads of around 20 players for the Gold (Varsity) and 20-30 players for the Maroon (JV) squads.

Gopher Men’s Club Team Roster
Lucas    Kuzj    GK    0    Senior
Joe    Linduska    GK    0    Freshman
Bijan    Jabar    Def    1    Sophomore
Ryan    Goddard    Mid    2    Sophomore
Andy    Eggum    Def    3    Senior
Ben    Cherrey    Mid/Fwd    4    Freshman
Skyler    Schulze    Mid    5    Grad
Nick    Decoursin    Mid    6    Sophomore
Will    Dennehy    Fwd    7    Sophomore
Connor    Brown    Fwd    8    Senior
Calvin    Mai    Mid    9    Grad
Ale    Castellote    Mid    10    Senior
Max    Rosenfelder    Mid    11    Sophomore
Alex    Casey    Fwd    14    Senior
Nate    Wright    Def    15    Senior
Seth    Natala    Def    16    Sophomore
Cory    Haleran    Def    17    Junior
Stephan    Brancel    Def    19    Sophomore
Kyle    Webb    Mid    20    Sophomore
Trevor    Goodwin    Def/Mid    22    Senior
Max    Rindels    Mid/Fwd    24    Sophomore