Gophers Close Out Regular Season with Win Over Nebraska

The Minnesota Golden Gopher soccer team finished out their 2012 regular season with a 4-2 win over Nebraska on Friday evening in Lincoln. The victory brought the teams Big Ten record to 6-4-1 and 11-7-1 overall.

Senior captain Tam Strahota scored in the 12th minute of play and Katie Thyken tallied in the 30th to put the Gophers up 2-0 over the Cornhuskers. But the Gophers let Nebraska back into the match allowing a brace by Mayme Conroy who scored in the 77th and 85th minute. But the Gophers battled back and Lauren Bauer scored on a header off a Taylor Wodnick corner kick in the 88th minute for the game winner and just one minute later Allie Philips gave the Gophers an insurance goal by hitting a long range 40 yard shot that lofted over Cornhusker goalkeeper Emma Stevens to give the team their 11th win of the season. Minnesota has now won 6 of their last 9 matches and finish up the Big Ten standings in 4th place.

As the No. 4 seed, the Gophers will face the No. 5 seed in game two of the opening day of the Big Ten Tournament on Oct. 31. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Notes:

RPI:
Before coming into the match, Minnesota was placed at No. 45. A Top 50 RPI ranking would prove crucial when it comes to NCAA Tournament hopes.

Cat Parkhill:
Senior goalkeeper Cat Parkhill is finishing here career with the Gophers and will go out as one of the teams best. During her tenure with the Gophers, she has carved her name into the Minnesota record books. She sits atop the all-time list in goalkeeper minutes with 7,838. She also ranks second with a 0.98 career goals-against-average, second with 45 career wins, and third with 266 career saves.

Taylor Uhl:
Sophomore forward Taylor Uhl finishes the regular season atop many of the individual statistics in the Big Ten and as well as nationally.  She currently is the top goal scorer in the Big Ten with 19 and leads with points as well at 47.