In their final home game of the season, Minnesota women’s soccer was able to take Iowa to overtime but lost after the Hawkeyes scored with just 26 seconds left on the clock to win 2-1.
After a few early chances for both teams, the game remained scoreless until there were just eight minutes left in the first half, when Iowa’s Skylar Alward scored with assists from Samantha Tawharu and Emma Tokuyama to put the Hawkeyes up 1-0. Minnesota had to contend with in-game injuries, with Megan Gray and Cachet Lue both taking Iowa shots to the head. Both would return to the game, but head coach Stefanie Golan said while the injuries were unfortunate, it gave substitute players a chance to get more minutes in the game.
One of those players was senior Catherine Billings, who had season-high playing time at 69 minutes. Billings said that she felt confident in the job she did on the field but said that the game’s end result was disappointing.
“We always talk about if you can look yourself in the eye in the mirror after a game, you know you did your job,” she said. “Today was a pretty big let down for us.”
In the second half, the Gophers came back to get the equalizer, and they got it early. Like in their game against Nebraska, Minnesota scored just twelve minutes into the second half. Paige Elliott scored her first career goal off a cross from Alana Dressely to tie the game 1-1.
The game remained tied through 90 minutes and into the second overtime. The game appeared destined for a tie, until Tawharu found the back of the net with only 26 seconds remaining in the game.
The Gophers now stand at 2-11-4, with two games remaining against Northwestern and Illinois. The team’s season-long struggles could cost Minnesota the chance to play in the Big Ten Tournament.
Billings said that in post-game team conversations, the message was that the team’s performance wasn’t good enough, and a major focus in the day leading up to their next game would be cleaning up the little details and getting back to basics.
“It was 26 seconds left in that game, and a little detain, a little lapse in judgment, a little lapse in attention to detail can cost you your games,” Billings said.
Minnesota will travel to Evanston, Illinois to play Northwestern on Thursday at 6 p.m.
