Soccer

A season that began with one of the best starts in school history ended on Friday as Minnesota's soccer team fell 4-1 to Ohio State, finishing the year with wins in just two of its last 11 games.

The Gophers' season was looking up after the great start to the year, with crucial wins over No. 21 Dartmouth and Missouri Valley Conference regular season champion Drake. But the minute Big Ten play arrived, Minnesota's chances for postseason play departed.

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.

Sophomore midfielder Kelsey Hood is described by her teammates as one of the most aggressive and tough leaders on the team, as well as the best artistic dancer.

Hood has been known as a very vocal player and has never been afraid to let a referee know her opinion. This weekend, she accrued two yellow cards to give her the team lead with four, giving her seven for her career at Minnesota.

Coach Mikki Denney Wright said she loves Hood's competitive spirit and said that she is an important leader on the team.

After another scoreless weekend for the Minnesota soccer team, postseason play is out of the question.

The Gophers battled Michigan to a 0-0 double-overtime tie on Friday while dropping Sunday's game to Michigan State 2-0.

Minnesota needed to win both games this weekend, as well its final game against Ohio State next weekend in order to make a run for the Big Ten or NCAA tournaments.

Coach Mikki Denney Wright talked about her team, which started the season 6-1-1, and then sank to 1-7-1 during Big Ten play. She said her team had a very emotional and tough season.

The Minnesota soccer team finds itself in a do-or-die situation in its final weekend of home games this season.

The Gophers will take on Michigan tonight at 7 p.m. and follow up with Michigan State on Sunday at 1 p.m. A loss this weekend would seriously damage Minnesota's chances of a Big Ten Tournament bid.

Coach Mikki Denney Wright said her team knows where they stand and they are not planning on giving up.

"We know we've had some tough losses this year," she said. "But there is no way these girls are quitting and they are continuing to fight on."

From 34 starts as a freshman and sophomore at Iowa State to one start as a junior at Minnesota, midfielder Renee de St. Aubin has had some adjustments to make.

De St. Aubin, a native of Stillwater, started all 21 of the Cyclones' games last year and was their second leading scorer with six goals and 12 points. Her play was certainly a factor in Iowa State's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005.

Inability to score goals in conference play once again plagued the Minnesota soccer team as it fell to No. 11 Penn State.

The Gophers salvaged a split this weekend after falling 1-0 to the Nittany Lions by bouncing back with a 2-1 win against South Dakota State on Sunday.

The struggling Minnesota attack was once again unable to get much going against a very talented Penn State team. The Gophers managed just four shots, only two of which were on net, and were held scoreless for the fifth time in Big Ten play.

Coming off its first Big Ten win of the season, the Minnesota soccer team has no easy assignment against No. 11 Penn State.

Tonight's game against the Nittany Lions will be the only Big Ten game for the Gophers this weekend, as they will travel to South Dakota State for a nonconference game Sunday.

Minnesota (7-6-1 overall, 1-5-0 Big Ten) could be facing its biggest test of the year against Penn State. The Nittany Lions are a perennial leader in the conference and this year has been no exception.

The Minnesota soccer team has learned a lot of lessons this season, most of them the hard way.

The Gophers started the season on a 6-1-1 tear, before the start of Big Ten games. But conference play has not been kind to Minnesota. The young Gophers' struggles include a 5-1 blowout loss to Wisconsin and a 0-5 start to conference play.

Coach Mikki Denney Wright has attributed much of the struggles this season to the youth of the team.

"I think we knew we were going to struggle this year at some point because of our youth," she said.

After five consecutive losses against Big Ten opponents to open conference play, the Minnesota soccer team has its first victory.

The Gophers lost their fifth straight game on Friday to No. 10 Illinois 3-0, but were able to narrowly put away Iowa on Sunday, 1-0 in overtime.

Three first half goals proved far too much for Minnesota to overcome against the powerful Illini (8-5-0 overall, 4-1-0 Big Ten) team.

Coach Mikki Denney Wright was unavailable for comment, but assistant coach Kate Cortis said Illinois came out "guns blazing."