The Gopher soccer team gave new Head Coach Erin Chastain a couple exhibition wins against North Dakota State and St Thomas but the first game that counts comes on Thursday against Baylor. To get ready for the first official game of the Chastain era in Minnesota, let’s run through how the Gophers have looked this preseason and take a quick glance at the non-conference slate.
How the team’s looked overall The team has looked a bit more consistent and composed than I personally expected. There are lots of returning players and plenty of carry over on the staff, even with a new head coach, but I still expected slightly more random hiccups, honestly. Instead they’ve been essentially as composed and connected as we typically saw in previous years. Though the offensive shape took a bit of a hit in the first half against St Thomas as outside mids really got sucked into the center of the field a bit, giving up large swaths of wide space -- a fairly fixable issue at least. They are largely making the simple pass and letting the run of play come to them and doing a solid job of at least getting *into* the final third/18 yard box even if the final pass/move/turn hasn’t always been there to turn the possession into a true chance on goal. But the difference from last year, or especially from 2019, is there are flashes of truly great finishes -- goals that will be goals no matter which keeper is trying to save them. Those flashes are enough for me to think they’ll get they’re scoring average back above 1 per game for the first time since 2018. Defensively they haven’t really been tested yet, so it remains to be seen how some of these new starting defenders (Abi Frandsen and Kenz Langdok as your starting outside backs) will respond when going up against some of the speed demons they’ll face on opposing wings. A bit of a wildcard is in play at centerback as well, where returning starter Alana Dressely was expecting to shift inside. Dressely got tangled up with an attacker during the St Thomas game and her status is a bit uncertain. If she’s out for an extended stretch we may see freshman midfielder Elizabeth Overberg slide into the other centerback spot alongside returner Delany Stekr (where she got some early reps finishing out the match against the Tommies).
Either way expect the goals against average to creep up a tad from last spring (when they were one of the stingiest in the Big Ten) but maybe not by a ton. New holding midfielder Lauren Donovan has looked composed as hell as a freshman and is earning rave reviews from the staff (and from fellow/former badass blonde holding mid Emily Heslin when we saw her at the St Thomas match) so she may help stem some of the traffic heading the defense’s way. The non-conference slate ahead On paper, Baylor and Mississippi State are the harder challenges here. But Minnesota has had a bit of a “play to the competition problem” at times in both non-conference and Big Ten play. And, remember, even for young players who showed well in the exhibitions or who might show well in the early non-conference matches, there can be a bit of a shift as they have to start playing those second matches of the weekend and add more off-field responsibilities to their lives (read: classes start). So anything can happen. But given the flashes of potential we’ve seen so far, and the mix of veterans who can offer some stability and new players work their way into the rotation, the Gophers should really go into every one of these non-conference games feeling like it not only could win, but *should* win. Aside from most of them being at home, they also get a bit of a break with no second game after the first road trip to Drake. Still lots of room to grow Part of the reason we’re so optimistic is because there is so much room to grow for this group, with a lot of it feeling -- frankly -- like low hanging fruit. Khyah Harper has already been impactful just with her work rate and her ability to find dangerous spaces in the box, but she’s not even looking super comfortable in the attack yet. Once she settles in a bit more and starts to get consistent shots on goal, she’ll draw even more attention and open things up for others. Izzy Brown looks a bit more comfortable but she’s also got more in the tank. Patricia Ward hasn’t even played yet (she’s not hurt, just needs to pass the fitness test so she can get cleared to play) and will at the very least add some stress for opposing defenders as they track her up top, let alone the possibility for some breakout potential following her return to the front line.
Sophia Boman has already looked ready to rock. Lauren Donovan is a god send at the 6. If both can play 90 minutes that could offer some serious stability and consistency for the entire rotation. Remember that with so much (necessary, considering two games a weekend) subbing at the college level, there are essentially reset periods every 15-25 minutes where you have to re-establish a rhythm and flow. But if the back line and the spine of your midfield stay consistent it makes that re-establishment period quicker and easier. Chrisa Van Loon had maybe the most on-field individual growth from her first touch to her last, in pre-season. She and the subs in the NDSU game came in with some understandable jitters during their first minutes in the Gopher uniform, but by the end of that game she was sending in nice left footed service into the box and taking on defenders. Then she continued that improvement against St Thomas and got even more confident and dangerous. That kind of game by game progression is downright impressive, even if it was essentially just her getting back to her own personal standards she was playing at during her freshman year at Oral Roberts. If she can be the player we’ve seen so far, or even more, she will be a steal of a pickup off the transfer portal for Minnesota. The remade backline has looked solid again (Abi and Kenz looking good), albeit without being tested much these first two matches. Now we have to wait and see if they go from 50 percent brand new across the back four to 75 percent new if Dressely’s injury is serious. Either way, Overberg may need to play against Baylor while Dressely works her way back so look to see how well she does between Stekr and Langdok as the right centerback. At the very least she’s surrounding by vets on three sides (those two plus Plaschko in goal -- who we can’t wait to see in more *action* against Baylor after a quiet two exhibitions). What to watch for this weekend On Thursday against Baylor, let’s honestly just hope no one else gets injured. A Minnesotan who had a two year stint with Baylor told us the team took great pride in having the most fouls (or was it cards?) in the entire country. So, you know, let’s see if some soccer also gets played? But seriously it will be a good test to see how players new to the rotation respond to super physical play. As much as I’m giving the Big 12 a hard time, the Big Ten isn’t exactly dainty in its own right. So facing some physicality early on will be a good learning experience. Something tells me this year’s Gophers won’t have a problem scrapping it up, a bit. They actually have pretty good size across the board and some solid grit. Illinois Chicago is a good Horizon League team that traditionally scores about 1.5 goals a game and gives up anywhere from .5-1 per game. Minnesota should probably be aiming for a shutout defensively and trying to get more than one goal on the board if they want good momentum heading into the first regular season road trip. Where to watch Come out to Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium to watch in person! Or, if you can’t make it, watch the broadcast on BTN Plus, where I once again will be doing the play by play and, this fall, will be joined by former all-everything Gopher midfielder (and one-time Matt interview subject) Josee Stiever as the color commentator!
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Mark Privratsky
Pictured: Morgan Turner, All Big East Forward at DePaul. Photo Credit: DePaul Athletics
Welcome to the "Minnesotans Playing D1" beat at Equal Time! The soccer never stops, and we are entering prime territory for Equal Time Soccer: the fall College season. We have always prioritized the Minnesota Gophers as the (formerly) only Division 1 team in our great state. That choice was made to focus our work, certainly not because there weren't other amazing stories to cover. As your support for Equal Time has grown, it has enabled Matt to bring me on to expand how we cover Minnesotan Women in College Soccer. My goal is to shine a light on any Minnesotan making an impact at the Division 1 level, and learn about soccer culture along with you. The Beat If any of you like to follow things like "Americans Abroad" in soccer journalism, this beat is a bit like that. As we saw amazing U.S. Women's National Team members go abroad to play in England or France, it can be difficult to watch their matches, but its fun to catch up on how they do on their new adventure. Each week I will recap the Minnesotans who are contributing to programs big and small around country, with basic stats and any stories we gather. I will also seek out guests for video/podcast content so we can get to know these impressive players and coaches better (If you have a suggestion of someone I should talk to, feel free to DM me @markprivratsky or the Equal Time account on Twitter) Attending Games What is the best part of soccer? Attending a great game! I will definitely try to attend as many games as I can this year. The Summit League is filled with Minnesotans and we now have a local opponent (villain?) for them to play in St Thomas. My grueling schedule as a bartender won't hold me back, and we may see some watch parties pop up later this fall that supporters can join us at as well. Yesterday I got my first taste of the College season when Matt and I attended an exhibition between the Gophers and NDSU in Fargo. It was a bit of a drive but the game was fun to watch, ending in a 5-0 scoreline after 3 30 minute periods. There was a good group of Minnesota friends and family, and a great showing of Bison fans for a mid-week pre-season game. I was able to catch up with 3 Minnesotans on the Bison, Ellie Schneider, Aly Cole and Olivia Lovick.
Minnesotans Playing D1 Recap Because we have such big clusters of Minnesotans at different programs, I'll be recapping by squad. For this week, I'm going to list each player we've identified around D1, and in the weeks going forward I will focus on who played and created goals and assists. There are obvious trends like the huge amount of Minnesotans close by at Dakota Schools, but also a little cluster of players at big programs like Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Michigan, Boston College and Wisconsin. I'm excited to see which players shine this fall! As we've mentioned before, if we are missing players, let us know by putting players into this form: https://forms.gle/ZcpJqKcdY2nJ74A4A Austin Peay Avryn List, Freshman FWD Boston College Andi Barth, Freshman FWD Brown Clare Gagne, Sophmore GK KK Haug, Junior DEF/MID Charlotte Devaughn, Senior DEF Denver Shweta Raje, Junior GK Megan Prazich, Sophmore MID Sam Dietrick, Sophmore MID DePaul Morgan Turner, Senior FWD Megan Malecha, Junior DEF Dixie State Madison Monson, Sophmore MID Drake Brooke Davies, Freshman DEF Erika Townley, Junior DEF Rebecka Musungu, Junior MID Meghan Brown, Junior FWD Olivia Bruce, 5th yr FWD Delaney Goertzen: Junior MID Illinois State Erica Moline, Sophmore MID Katharine Ashley, Junior MID Michigan Meredith Haakenson, Senior GK North Dakota State University Aly Cole, Senior GK Paige Goaley, Junior FWD Kaitlyn Hanson, Sophmore DEF Bella Grandois, Freshman FWD/MID Kelsey Kallio, Sophmore FWD/MID Lauryn Roszak, Junior DEF Olivia Watson, Freshman FWD Olivia Lovick, Sophmore FWD Josie Fieldman, Freshman MID Mckenna Strand, Junior DEF Dani Stuber, Senior DEF Lavin Douglass, Junior MID Jess Hanley, Sophmore DEF/MID Ellie Schneider, Senior DEF Nebraska Sydney Merchant, Sophmore GK Allison Ulness, Senior MID/DEF Nebraska-Omaha Hannah Heinemann, Senior FWD North Dakota Alex Lee, Senior MID/FWD Cassie Giddings, Senior FWD Payton Schultz, Sophmore DEF Lexi Miller, Junior MID Olivia Knox, Senior FWD Emma Bangert, Senior MID Lauren Glas, Junior MID Northern Iowa Lizzie Mewis, Sophmore MID Olivia Knoepfle, Freshman MID/FWD Lauren Heinsch, Freshman FWD Morgan Barnette, Freshman FWD Jenny Nyblom, Freshman FWD/DEF Northwestern Madison Lo, Junior GK Lily Gilbertson, Junior MID Sydney Panek, Sophmore MID Notre Dame Paige Peltier, Sophmore FWD Ohio Ana Aguado, Grad GK (transfer from Gophers) South Dakota State University Kaitlin Zabel, Senior DEF Taylor Lock, Senior GK Rachel Preston, Senior DEF/MID Kennedy Sanders, Freshman MID Jocelyn Tanner, Sophmore GK Maya Hansen, Junior FWD Kayla Anderson, Sophmore DEF/MID Seattle Emily Bunnell, Senior MID (transfer from Gophers) South Dakota Liv Muehlberg, Freshman MID Izzy Quintavalle, Freshman MID Gabby Beberg, Sophmore DEF University of Tennessee-Martin Hannah Zahn, Freshman FWD Wake Forest Payton Cahill, Freshman GK Western Illinois Emma Ellington, Freshman FWD Wisconsin Maddie Ishaug, Freshman MID Claire Odmark, Junior FWD Dara Andringa, Sophmore MID Ali Fine, Sophmore MID Jessie Hunt, Sophmore MID Kenzie Jacobson, Freshman FWD
In many ways, this fall season for the University of Minnesota is going to be the least predictable in our time covering the team. The Gophers played a shortened 2020-2021 season *in the spring* of 2021 more than a year after their worst ever campaign in 2019. They lost four seniors to graduation and/or new one year stops on COVID eligibility. They lost one of their most talented and highly rated players in Katie Duong to Stanford and a versatile defender in Katie Koker -- who stepped away after a nice bounce back spring. They have less than four midfielders and more than ten forwards listed on the roster for a team that was already a little thin in the midfield. Oh, and they have a brand new head coach who happened to get hired so close to the fall season that she didn’t really get to see them on the field wearing actual U of M gear until a few days ago. And yet, I cannot help but be unabashedly optimistic and excited for this year’s Gopher Soccer team.
Change can be good One of the reasons I’m optimistic about this fall’s squad is that I’m betting excitement and enthusiasm alone will help the team overcome anywhere from 40-60 percent of the long list of hurdles/challenges/wildcards described above. In the college game, every season can be a grind -- even when you’re winning. Play two games a week - travel a bunch - keep up with classes - keep up with relationships - adjust to living in a new place. So many of these players come into the team having always been the best, or one of the best, players on the field ev-er-y-single-game-they’ve-ever-played. And now their natural standard is the floor of what it takes to succeed. You have to eat better, lift more, and fine tune constantly. So if the team environment can be a little more fun, interesting, and engaging that’s really helpful to lessen the drudge that can be daily incremental improvement. In short, as I’ve said so many times since the Gophers lost Head Coach Stef Golan and brought in Erin Chastain to take the reins, change can be good. So with that in mind, let’s continue our pattern of *not* changing and roll-out our typically way-too-early preview of the Gopher Soccer squad of fall 2021! General wisdom to keep in mind Now, you might be thinking: “Matt, you haven’t seen the team play even a full sided scrimmage yet, why are you doing this?” To which I would reply: “The fans have spoken!” (and punt all responsibility). But I will also add a few disclaimers, both about the assumptions I am making *and* about how fans should value different roles and labels, as we go along.
Largely because there was not a ton of time to institute a beautiful, complex, brand new system of play in all of a few days, the Gophers are likely to roll out a 4-4-2 that helps simplify players’ roles and positioning (we’re going to assume, for now, that this will be sort of a diamond midfield with a dedicated holding mid). As Erin said in her introductory show with us, she doesn’t believe in forcing a system of play no matter the players. But, like Stef, she does still seem to value fitness (and needing to pass the fitness test to be fully cleared to play matches) and consistency on the back line (ideally finding an entire back line unit that can play 90 minutes together). Admittedly, these are things maybe *most* coaches would prefer, but particularly given Erin’s early mentions of wanting to eventually work the outside backs into the attack quite a bit, it may take a real badass in the vein of peak Maddie Gaffney or Nikki Albrecht to fill that role to its fullest potential (#FanThrowback) of two-way, 90 minute do-it-all.
An early guess at where everyone will play
There are a lot of moving pieces in a college soccer team’s rotation. Most teams play anywhere from 16-18 players fairly significant minutes and with that many players to pull from, any change to make has secondary ripple effects. For players Gopher fans are used to seeing play wide on the front line of a 4-3-3, you could shift them back to an outside mid role or into a more pure striker role in a 4-4-2. To cover the whole at center back left by the graduation/departure of Athena Kuehn you could pull Alana Dressely central but then you may have to turn someone into an outside back because there are only so many on the roster. What we do know is that new Head Coach Erin Chastain wants to attack the challenge from a position of strength: start with putting your best players in their best position to succeed and build from there. Alright. We can do that. Your sure thing starters, based on what we’ve seen, would be Megan Plaschko in goal, Alana Dressely and Delaney Stekr on the backline, Lauren Donovan and Sophia Boman in midfield, and likely Izzy Brown and Patricia Ward up top (though the forward line could be *crowded*). The only reason mainstays like Megan Gray, Kenna Buisman, and Makenzie Langdok aren’t locked in is because it’s not as easy to predict where they might play. DEFENSE: Meg has come back fit as hell and Erin has said she really wants an outside back that can go 90 minutes….could we see Meg add ‘defender’ to her lengthy list of positions played on her Gopher Soccer resume?! Early murmurs that we could Kenz slide to outside back as well. For now let’s say that sticks and she uses her veterain guile to stay in good position against the other teams’ shiftiest lefties. We think Dressely might fit well as a center back, which would likely leave veterans Kez Inniss and Eva Bruer battling to claim their first major role as Gophers. Kez had flashes that got coaches excited back in the pre-COVID spring training sessions but Eva has earned praise for her ability to battle through injuries and stay committed. Let’s pencil in Eva there, knowing that multiple players may get a look during the exhibition matches just to see how they do. Eva, Laney, Alana, Kenz: officially projected! MIDFIELD: Donovan is locked in largely because of the positive reviews of her time as an early enrollee last spring AND because she’s a true blue holding midfielder. As we mentioned earlier, we’re assuming the “slightly simpler to play for the first year the team is all together” 4-4-2 Erin has mentioned may play like a diamond -- with one true holding midfielder who’s a wrecking ball in front of the backline defensively and a distributor just inside midfield on offense AND one true attacking midfielder. That attacker seems likely to be Sophia Boman. She started off as more of a box to box midfielder last year who tracked back all the way to the Gopher’s own end line, but game by game she was spending more and more time getting straight downhill toward goal, demanding the ball, and willingly taking chances from distance. You’ll probably never take the “run 10 miles a game because she’s tracking back to her own box” part of her game, but our money is on her playing the 10. We have no idea if Donovan can go 90 minutes, but we do know Boman can (and did, all last year - and, from what we hear, somehow came back even *more* fit) and we’re just going to pretend they both do, for now. Out wide, let’s just be as simple minded as possible and put a couple of lefties (Buisman, and Van Loon) on the left side because we’re basic like that. Both have played serious minutes in their careers, though maybe not in this exact position. But with so many “forwards” on the team, this kind of shift is sort of inevitable (even if these two, specifically, don’t end up being the ones who move). Throw two of our favorites, Meg Gray and Sadie Harper, over on the right where they can pester the hell out of everyone defensively and get into combination offensively. Buisman, Van Loon, Donovan, Boman, Sadie, Meg: officially projected! FORWARDS: Even though there are only two spots in this line of the attack, I bet you could end up seeing 6 or more players on the field here over the course of the season. We haven’t seen Izzy Brown or Khyah Harper suit up for the Gophers before but both come highly regarded and should score a few goals each - if not way more. Patricia Ward seems likely to move back up top where she can scare opposing defenders again and Abi Frandsen showed enough promise that she seemed destined for some good minutes in the rotation. Obviously Buisman *could* play here. Van Loon and Sadie Harper could as well. But it’s hard to see how *all* of them do.
WILDCARDS: At the top of our wildcard curiosity is Elizabeth Overberg (and not just because we want to tell her about Discussion, a category in high school speech that Minnesota has and Iowa doesnt - we think). She was highly touted as a recruit and coaches were very high on her ability to come in and play early, we just don’t know exactly where that may happen. If she has the juice to play holding mid maybe she spells Donovan at times? If she’s more of an attacker but Boman doesn’t ever really need a sub (she hasn’t yet) then maybe she sees minutes out wide? Our money is on her playing (despite the graphic), we just don’t know where.
For other folks on the roster: Baker is still on the mend and may not see the field early. Josie Wood is also recovering from a leg injury over the summer (as everyone saw in the media day photos). Jaden Peck could factor in up top (we’ve seen freshmen do well in those short stints up there, before). Defenders Aynsley Connor and Cali Carmichael are probably more likely to have a year of learning the system (it is *really hard* to jump in as a freshman defender). And freshman keepers Taryn Reitsma and Alex Isaacs will be given some time to adjust as well, though we’ll note that multiple keepers have seen time in several of our seasons covering the team (injuries, tactics, etc) so hopefully they’re at least ready in the “break in case of emergency” scenario of a surprise knock/illness/whatever to Plaschko -- who is, by a fairly wide margin, one of the least filtered and most fun players to interview, by the way. How will the team play? Obviously the formation and “which players are playing where” is only part of the equation. We’re also hugely curious to see *how* the team plays. Are we suckers for a good high press that forces turnovers and creates high percentage offensive chances? You absolutely know that we are. Are we suckers for fantastic combination play and quick passing that leads to a nice and easy diagonal ball back across the center of the box for a trailing runner to hammer home right past the keeper? Obviously. But that kind of coordination and combination can take some time to create. Here’s what we think the team will/could focus on at first: basic defensive shape and positioning. In the grind of the college season, a lot of the goals teams give up are honestly just silly mistakes. Players get a little tired (either physically or mentally) and just blank on an assignment or a defensive switch or getting back after a turnover etc. If the team locks in fairly well and just stays in front of the player they’re defending, this team should be .500 or better. That may seem so simple and obvious as to almost be stupid, but it’s the truth (especially for the backline and keeper.) If they can do what Stef Golan teams and Erin Chastain teams have traditionally done -- hold opponents to 1 or 0 goals -- then they should be able to play some winning soccer (...as Stef and Erin teams have traditionally done.) And if they actually run a press, even for a few stretches of a few games, I’m going to throw a parade. Offensively, the Gophers climbed out of the drudgery of lack-of-goals hell that was the 2019 season by focusing some very simple improvements last season: they wanted to earn a crap load (see some of many tweets from last spring below) of corner kicks *and* they finally started taking shots from distance. Neither of those things were particularly lucrative in terms of scoring goals, but they were a great first step toward engineering goals even when they weren’t organically being created in the run of play.
Adding even more finishers like Brown and Khyah Harper should hopefully help the Gophs translate more of the corners into goals. And that willingness to take chances from outside the box was never bad, it just needs to continue evolving so that it can translate into more high percentage chances (once you’re willing to shoot from distance, it should force defenders to come out and defend, which should open up some passing lanes that players off-ball can take advantage of, leading to more open chances on goal than, say, shooting from 30 yards with 7 players from Maryland standing in front of you like a wall). The other thing that might help up the goal total is a point we made 2k words ago: excitement and enthusiasm alone can make a huge difference. All last spring, I would talk to coaches about the lack of finishing we were seeing during games and wonder what practices had been like. Time and again I was told: these same players who were missing wide or not putting enough mustard on the shot or just not quite finishing were BURYING shots in practice. Like, firing rockets into the back of the net day in and day out. But during game day, whether because of stress or pressing or whatever, they just weren’t able to translate that same practice performance into games. I have no idea if some, most, or all of that can be solved by a sort of “restart” season and a coaching staff of, like, only strikers. But I don’t think it will hurt. And if any players are reading this (they for sure are not, but parents who are still reading can relay the message for us): just know that I am absolutely psyched for this season and I actually think the Gophs are gonna pile on some goals this year. I’m talking a half dozen players with multiple goals, like a dozen players with at least an assist or a goal, and enough scoring for players to start planning some goofy celebrations. So go out there and make this last paragraph the one prediction I actually get right in this whole piece!
Matt Privratsky
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