Equal Time Soccer
  • Home
  • Teams/Topics
    • Gophers (DI)
    • St Thomas (DI)
    • DI MNs
    • NSIC (DII)
    • WPSL/USLW/UPSL
    • Pros
  • SHOWS
    • YouTube
    • iTunes
    • Spotify
    • Soundcloud
  • About Us
  • Support Our Work
  • Home
  • Teams/Topics
    • Gophers (DI)
    • St Thomas (DI)
    • DI MNs
    • NSIC (DII)
    • WPSL/USLW/UPSL
    • Pros
  • SHOWS
    • YouTube
    • iTunes
    • Spotify
    • Soundcloud
  • About Us
  • Support Our Work

PREVIEW: Gophers vs Michigan State in the B1G Tournament

10/28/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
(Photo credit: Jeremy Olson)

​Minnesota has had stumbles along the way, but the Gophers are heading back to the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2018 with hopes of upsetting top seeded Michigan State in the opening round in East Lansing. As they prepare for Sunday’s matchup against one of the best teams in the country, let’s take a look at how the Gophers may matchup against the Spartans – a team, due to scheduling quirks, they have not faced this season. 

More negative take
The on-paper analysis of this game is that it’s a tremendously difficult game for the Gophers. To put it in perspective, Minnesota’s most impressive result this fall may be their dramatic road tie at Rutgers (a top ten team at the time). And while Rutgers is a very strong team that’s tough to break down, their 9 goals allowed in conference play is *triple* that of the Michigan State Spartans. Minnesota has given up 11 goals in conference play. Michigan State has given up 7 *all season*. We’ll get into more detailed analysis later on in the piece but the simple take away is that Michigan State is 11th in RPI, 6th in the coaches poll, and are playing on home turf. If Minnesota pulls off a result in this game Erin Chastain deserves a parade. 

More optimistic take
Minnesota has almost literally nothing to lose in this game. No outsiders would pick them to win. But the Gophers, even during their most brutal seasons during the Equal Time era, have always shown a flicker of ability to take on top teams. In 2019, their *first* victory of the year was against #14 ranked NC State. In that 2018 Big Ten Tournament we mentioned previously, they squeaked in with a five hundred record (sound familiar?) and ran through the field of ranked opponents to win the title. This year, despite not being able to close each game out, they built leads or seriously competed with TCU, Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Rutgers.

When they are playing with confidence, they combine well, they force opponents to feel uncomfortable, and they score some pretty sick goals. It’s not always easy to predict *when* the Gophers will play at their best. But *when* they play at their best, they can run with nearly anyone.
​

GOAL!!!

Dear lord what a hit by @khyahharper_43. Boman and @kennabuisman15 work a quick corner and Khyah settles a deflection and just *rockets* a shot through one defender's legs and over one defender's head. What. A. Finish.@GopherSoccer up 1-0 early in the 2nd Half. pic.twitter.com/dqygIan2WI

— Equal Time Soccer (@EqualTimeSoccer) August 19, 2022

Break it down - Michigan State defense

Ok. We mentioned it earlier and we’ll dive in a bit more here: the Michigan State defense is absurd. Keeper Lauren Kozal is 12th in the country in save percentage (.877) and in conference play she’s been even stingier (.917… good lord). The defense as a whole has the lowest goals allowed average in the country and in conference play that’s translated into only 3 goals scored against the Spartans in 10 games. So…where is the window for success here?

Two things jump out based on their statistical profile. First, they have not given up almost any corner kicks. And while we trust the Spartans to be able to shape many aspects of the run of play on Sunday, it’s hard for us to believe that the Gophers absurd (borderline comical) level of corner kick creation will be entirely stunted. Second, Michigan State had the second most yellow cards in conference play. If the Gophers are even remotely successful defensively and keep this game close, a random errant foul here or corner kick there is about as good a shot as MN may need with such a lethal set piece weapon as Gabbie Cesarone (the team’s leading scorer almost *entirely* off set piece production) in place.

GOAL!!!@GopherSoccer stays focused after the first corner attempt is saved, @alanadressely sends in a perfect back post cross and WHO ELSE but @cesarone13 puts it home to draw MN even 2-2 with Rutgers!

The 5th goal of the season for the transfer CB - 4th with her head. Wow. pic.twitter.com/5i2lIYNk7Y

— Equal Time Soccer (@EqualTimeSoccer) October 13, 2022

​Break it down - Michigan State attack

The Spartans pass and possess *super* well. Their floor, in terms of possession, is about 55 percent. Their floor, in terms of passing accuracy, is just above 70 percent. And both of those numbers are regularly more like two thirds and over 80 percent respectively. That disciplined and accurate passing helps them string together build up play that leads to chances close to goal (average chance is from about 16 yards out) and they get into that attacking position a lot (4th most shots in Big Ten play.)

They are going to be a seriously tough test for the Gopher back line. One possible silver lining: they, like MN, are a pretty damn low offside team. This isn’t a perfect metric, but offside calls can sometimes signal the frequency with which a team pushes the line and tries to get behind the opposing defense (an area MN has been vulnerable at times). If that’s not a weapon the Spartans choose to turn to very frequently, it *might* give the Gopher backline more time to establish their shape and focus on the game in front of them rather than consistently worrying about getting beat and drifting back out of fear for the long ball going over the top. 

Gameday Prep
I’ll be in East Lansing to cover the game in person, including a pregame show around noon featuring former pro Dani Foxhoven Young, State News reporter Nick Lundberg, and (hopefully) former Spartan captain Kristelle Yewah! Live tweets will follow, but let me know in the meantime if there is anything else you’d like to see (a specific mom for What Do The Moms Think, etc).

​
0 Comments

Video & Podcast: Emily Bunnell

10/28/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Mark sits down with Emily Bunnell to talk about what it was like to transfer during the COVID shutdown, living in Seattle, navigating the world of Name Image Likeness deals, her post-college soccer goals, and more!

You can watch the recorded LIVE version of the video show below or you can listen ​to it as a podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Show presented by Pentz Homes (pentzhomes.com)

LIVE with @BunnellEmily of @seattleuwsoc, previously of @GopherSoccer and @BaylorFutbol, presented by @pentzhomes https://t.co/kkJvlOHbjj

— Equal Time Soccer (@EqualTimeSoccer) October 28, 2022
0 Comments

Video & Podcast: Jocelyn Tanner

10/27/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture

Mark sits down with Jocelyn Tanner of the South Dakota Jackrabbits (just hours before she was named keeper of the year in the Summit League!) to talk about their undefeated season, her unique keeper share with teammate Hailee Fischer, some of her award winning teammates, the team's mindset heading into tournament play, and more!

You can watch the recorded LIVE version of the video show below or you can listen ​to it as a podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Show presented by Pentz Homes (pentzhomes.com)

LIVE with @JocelynTanner15 of @GoJacksSoccer ahead of their @thesummitleague Tournament. Presented by @pentzhomes https://t.co/z1xMzK0D4K

— Equal Time Soccer (@EqualTimeSoccer) October 25, 2022
0 Comments
<<Previous

    ​Supporters giving $10/month and up
    ​​

    ​Jean Privratsky
    ​Samantha Privratsky
    ​Jeremy Olson
    ​Scott Privratsky
    ​David Olson
    Jim & Kristen Gray
    Bernhard Kuehn
    Michelle Chmielewski
    Heather Buisman
    Nate Pentz
    ​Brett Harper
    ​Josh Forsythe
    Elisa Vicuna
    Travis Gallipo
    Beth Dahlman
    John Wegner
    ​Richard Heichert
    John Wegner
    ​Brian Decker
    Jay Jansen
    David Martin
    ​Tanner Curl
    Bryn Shank
    ​Brynn Kirsling
    ​Marc Abboud
    Josh Velasquez
    ​Ryan Kennedy
    ​William Bunnell
    ​Andrea Privratsky
    Joey Nguyen
    Andréa Carroll-Franck
    Dan Wade
    ​Eric Christensen
    ​Adam Paulson
    Katie Brink
    Neville Eclov
    ​Lizzie Breyer Boman

    Join them in supporting our work!

    ​Full Archive

    January 2025
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018