OK, back on track. The Minnesota womenâÄôs soccer team snapped a four-game winless streak with a 2-1 victory Friday night at Northwestern. It sets up an all-important regular season finale next Friday at Indiana. The Gophers were a near-lock for the NCAA tournament, with wins over No. 16 Illinois and No. 17 South Carolina, before they lost three straight to Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan. They subsequently slipped out of the top 30 in the RPI and head coach Mikki Denney Wright said before playing the Wildcats that her teamâÄôs collective back was against the wall. So there was likewise a collective sigh of relief in the 17th minute Friday when junior Tamara Strahota âÄî playing defense once again even with senior Jennie Clark back in the lineup âÄî came up for a corner kick and zipped a goal past Northwestern goalkeeper Carolyn Edwards. But the truly critical moment, the one that the Gophers lacked against the Nittany Lions and the Buckeyes, was redshirt freshman Steph BrandtâÄôs separation goal in the 70th minute. âÄúThat gives you some breathing room,âÄù Denney Wright said. âÄúBecause Northwestern, it was senior night, they were playing for their lives. It created some distance for us and that was really important.âÄù Important because nine minutes later, the Wildcats cut their deficit to one on Bo PodkopaczâÄôs first career goal. In the final 12 minutes, however, Minnesota clung to its lead and left Evanston with a critical win. âÄúWe know we have to have these to get inâÄù to the NCAA tournament, Denney Wright said of MinnesotaâÄôs matches against Northwestern and Indiana. âÄúWeâÄôre at that point. These games can keep you out. So we really felt like we needed this win âÄî not a tie âÄî we needed a win tonight.âÄù