The Minnesota soccer team will have one last opportunity to redeem itself after a rough Big Ten season.

The Gophers are headed to Columbus to take on Ohio State for their final game of the season tonight at 7. Minnesota (8-8-2 overall, 1-7-1 Big Ten) did not earn a bid to any postseason tournaments.

Although the game doesn’t mean much statistically, coach Mikki Denney Wright said as far as the program goes, the game still means a lot.

“We want our program and our team to continue to grow and improve,” she said. “This game is still important, every game for us is important.”

Ohio State (9-7-1, 4-5-0) does, however, have a stake in the game. It’s currently seventh in the Big Ten and with a win against Minnesota and losses by Michigan and Northwestern this weekend, it could move up to the fifth seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

The Buckeyes seem to have the upper hand as well. The Gophers’ two conference goals this season puts them tied for last in goals in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, four Ohio State players have at least three goals apiece, including seven from junior midfielder Lara Dickenmann and a conference-leading nine from sophomore midfielder Lisa Collison.

Minnesota sophomore midfielder Kaitlin Wagner said the team is looking to gain back a little pride this weekend and the Gophers will be ready for the tough offense the Buckeyes will be bringing.

“They’ve got a couple of really good attackers,” she said. “I think we’re going to be ready for them and hopefully we can take care of business.”

Holding off the attack hasn’t been Minnesota’s biggest problem this year. Defensively, with the exception of a four-goal shellacking by Wisconsin, the Gophers have been solid, giving less than two goals per game on avearge in Big Ten play.

But offensively, with its inability to score, Minnesota has never gotten into a groove.

Denney Wright said her team will need to play its best and be fundamentally sound to score goals.

“We have to be really, really dangerous on our set pieces,” she said. “We also have to be able to go one (versus) one and find ways to combine and hopefully that will help us to score some goals.”

If the Gophers can’t manage to score three goals against Ohio State, they will finish with the fewest total goals in conference play since Denney Wright began coaching the team in 2004.

However, that isn’t Minnesota’s main focus this weekend. According to sophomore goalkeeper Lindsey Dare, all the Gophers want to do is come away with a win and end a season filled with negatives on a positive note.

“There really isn’t much pressure on us right now and it’s not like we’re looking to go to the tournament or anything,” she said. “Hopefully we can come out prepared, with a good attitude and play some good, solid soccer.”