Matt sits down with new Gopher Soccer Head Coach Erin Chastain to ask about her initial conversations with staff/players, how she'll approach this first season, what she'll take from previous coaching stints into this new role in her home state of Minnesota, and a return of segments "The Internet Said It" and Listener Questions!
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Author: Matt Privratsky
This week, the University of Minnesota announced that Erin Chastain will be the new head coach of the Gopher Soccer program. A former Gopher captain and Minnesota native, Chastain returns home to become the 5th head coach in program history following Stefanie Golan’s departure for her own home state of Missouri. What set Chastain apart, how do we predict this fall season, and what are her initial tasks on her to-do list? Let’s dive in.
How did Chastain set herself apart What should be clear now, and was likely a little understated in our previous analysis, is that her extensive *head* coaching experience likely played a real role in putting Chastain above other “internal” candidates and even other strong outside options. Yes, she also has impressive assistant coaching stops on her resume (Santa Clara, Northwestern) but Becky Maines is no slouch in that department either, nor was Krystle Seidel -- who’s most extensive coaching experience also took place *at the U*. So in terms of resume and skill set, it was significant that Chastain was able to show a track record of recruiting and winning at a high level as a head coach, for a significant sample size, at the Power 5 level. Though it also bears remembering that -- as hard as it is to believe -- the soccer itself, once interviews begin, almost never comes up. Tom McGinnis, Sr Associate Athletic Director in charge of women’s soccer and several other sports, led the search and told us in anexclusive behind the scenes look at the hiring process, that it would shock you how little tactics, strategy, or even just the sport in general comes up during those interviews. Instead, a candidate’s fit in terms of values and passion for coaching at the University of Minnesota really become the focus.
How might the team's style of play/performance change? As a standard disclaimer, I will admit I have never watched a DePaul women’s soccer game that didn’t involve the University of Minnesota. So we are going to keep things pretty damn basic here. The Big East and the Big Ten are different conferences. Stefanie Golan and Erin Chastain are both badass head coaches, but they are different people. And every season comes with much more nuance and randomness than outsiders -- like me -- can really truly account for in our analysis. And yet, for all that, the statistical profile of the Stefanie Golan’s Gophers and Erin Chastain’s Demon Deacons (man typing that takes getting used to...) are essentially the same. 
For this analysis we used the last 8 seasons because both the U of M and DePaul really tried to narrow in that era in giving a snapshot of Chastain’s tenure there. She had a few seasons prior that seemed like something of an understandable ramp up to leading a program so we’ll let 2013 be our starting point. DePaul and the U both score just under 1.5 goals a game and giving up about a goal a game over that era. For all we know DePaul’s version of that statistical profile was a bit different than the U’s, and they did dip in terms of overall performance -- from their incredibly impressive run from 2013-2016 -- but part of that may just be the natural ebbs and flows of leading a program for that long. Golan’s move to Missouri was a bit hard to understand because it wasn’t as set in our expectations as a move like Chastain's from smaller DI school to larger DI school. We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, that a change of scenery can be beneficial for both players and coaches. Anyway. Back to the comparison. As a reminder, the U’s path to getting to that 1.5 goals scored and 1 goal allowed typically looked like:
And, frankly, some of those traits may carry over simply through the existing players themselves, but it will be so interesting to see which ones respond differently and blossom under a new coach.
Chastain’s To-Do List First on Erin Chastain’s to-do list, other than literally moving herself and/or her entire family here, is to finalize the rest of her staffing decisions. She’s leaving behind what was an all female staff at DePaul, including long time assistant and associate head coach and now Interim Head Coach Michele O’Brien -- who would seem positioned as a likely predecessor… -- as well as Rachel Pitman. Let’s pretend for a second that both of those women get elevated at DePaul and are not heading to Minnesota. The cupboard on the Minnesota staff that Stef left behind is pretty damn full. Becky Maines was a candidate for the head coaching job but some players we’ve spoken to spoke highly of the idea of her remaining on staff in her current assistant capacity. Because Chastain is so experienced, keeping a younger coach like Maya Hayes on board could make sense as well. Director of Operations Sarah Johnson (SJ) is fantastic and could help serve as a stabilizing presence if more changes to the rest of the staff were made. For all we know Erin could keep all of them due to time constraints for this season and re-assess next winter. Or she literally already has every position lined up for someone outside the program. The reality is probably in between those two scenarios, though. Next she has to actually finalize the roster. It’s pretty late to be bringing in any transfers, but is it maaaaybe still possible? Could Minnesotan Morgan Turner use her COVID year of eligibility to return home to Minnesota after a four year career at DePaul under Chastain? Who knows. If a magically available centerback and a few central midfielders just sort of materialized because they specifically love Erin Chastain, we’re not going to complain. We do know that she spoke to the team yesterday after the hiring announcement and the responses we’ve heard so far are super positive. Not to beat a dead horse, here, but the players we are most curious about are the ones who take this opportunity with a new leader in charge and shine. Even with the *same* head coach, players can look very different from one year to another (Delany Stekr being a BOSS centerback after not playing the year before, Patricia Ward being a seriously great outside back after years on the wing, Katie Koker breaking out at outside back after getting to solidify into a role there vs a jack of all trades responsibility). We should have a long introductory show with Coach Chastain in the coming days. The fact that she was even able to respond to our inquiry during maybe the craziest most hectic day of her life speaks really highly of her and we can’t wait to dive into all the absurd lineup questions we have no business asking!
Mark Privratsky (not matt)
Greetings from the surface of the sun! As most of us huddle in our air conditioning (hopefully), some young women were crazy enough to play some WPSL soccer throughout the weekend and this week. Every club in the WPSL Northern Conference has now played at least one match, and there are some intriguing scorelines already. We at Equal Time decided to drive up to Roseville for the Salvo SC vs. MN Thunder match last Friday, so let's dig into that match and the other results from the past week.
We went to a soccer game!
Salvo SC vs. MN Thunder, Friday June 4 I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't REALLY want to get out in the heat to attend this game, but the action on the pitch and friendly hosts made this a worthwhile excursion. I was luck enough to catch up with former Gopher Soccer star and current Salvo player, Emily Heslin on my way into the stadium. Her first words did not disappoint, "woah you look wild, man!" To which I had to clarify, "No, I'm not him (Matt)." I took it as a great compliment and it reminded me of the twinteractions to come. Thank you to Emily for her pregame thoughts:
I can tell you that walking on the pitch before the match confirmed all the stereotypes of turf in heat. You could definitely feel a difference. Thankfully the stands are in the shade, so as the game kicked off it wasn't too hot for the decent crowd of (maybe 100?) fans. I didn't notice extra fatigue on the field except for the expected early summer season fitness levels. The game started a bit choppy, both teams making a few passes and then losing it. The Thunder had some better cohesion in stretches of the first half and started off the scoring in about the 10th minute with a high looping header off a corner.
Salvo pushed forward towards the end of the first half and found an equalizer just before halftime on a deep shot over the keeper's head.
The second half started with a lot of back and forth play again. It seemed destined for a draw, but Salvo found this amazing Golazo almost from nothing. (apologize for the video on this one, I had to watch the end from home so it's video of my tv)
Final Score Salvo SC: 2 Minnesota Thunder: 1
WPSL Northern Conference Roundup (yeehaw)
Friday, June 4 Mankato United SC: 7 Fire 98 SC: 2 Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato Wow! Mankato starts their year off with a bang, going for the full touchdown against Fire 98 SC. Safe to say that this team will make some noise this summer. By the way, I have learned that Bethany Lutheran College, where Mankato United play, is located in MANKATO, not New Ulm. Thank you for keeping me a lifelong learner, and I cannot wait to visit the Hwy 14 Derby ASAP. Saturday, June 5 Maplebrook Fury: 0 Rochester United: 0 Maple Grove High School Stadium Sunday, June 6 Maplebrook Fury: 0 Dakota Fusion FC: 0 Maple Grove High School Stadium Maplebrook started off their back to back with a draw on Saturday against Rochester. They played to a second straight draw on Sunday against Dakota United, which for me is the second best result of the weekend when you played back to back games in 90+ degree heat. Sunday, June 6 Minnesota Thunder: 3 Mankato United: 1 Academy of Holy Angels Stardome The Thunder bounced back from their opening loss to put 3 on Mankato, bringing 'Kato back down to earth after their 7 goals on Friday. Wednesday, June 9th Rochester United: 2 Mankato United: 2 Spartan Field at Mayo High School, Rochester In what the teams are calling "Hwy 14 Derby" (LOVE the name btw), both clubs put two goals on the board. You can tell from just the first week of full match play that we are going to see a lot of parity in the Conference. Good news for fans is that parity breeds fun and unpredictable results! 
WPSL Northern Conference Standings as of Thursday, June 10th based on the league website. Full disclosure that they don't appear to be updated for all results so teams may be delayed in getting that information submitted.
:WPSL What to Watch
Thursday, June 10th, 7:45pm Minnesota Thunder vs. Fire 98 SC Academy of Holy Angels Stardome Saturday, June 12th, 6pm Dakota Fusion FC vs. Minnesota Thunder Jim Gotta Stadium, Moorhead Saturday, June 12th, 7pm Rochester United FC vs. Salvo Sc Spartan Field at Mayo High School, Rochester Sunday, June 13th, 7pm Maplebrook Fury vs. Fire 98 SC (aka the Fire and Fury Cup *tm pending) Maplegrove High School Stadium Wednesday, June 16th, 7pm "The Highway 14 Derby" aka "the battle for corn" aka "the battle for soy beans" Mankato United SC vs. Rochester United Bethany Lutheran College Stadium, MANKATO Thursday, June 17th Minnesota Thunder vs. Salvo SC Academy of Holy Angels Stardome Get out and check out a match! We also used the Eleven Sports app this past week and will likely live tweet a match using the app from home this week. Shout out to the 10k Pitches pod for a great interview with Maplebrook Fury Owner Jean-Yves Viardin (coolest WPSL name I've heard so far). Check that interview out below.
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