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By demonizing pleasure, we set ourselves up for unfulfilling sex lives.
Opinion: Let’s talk about sex
Published March 27, 2024

Gophers bounced from Big 10 tourney

Minnesota’s offense stagnated against a tough Penn State squad.

After defeating Wisconsin in a convincing fashion Wednesday night, the Gophers soccer team hoped to keep its momentum rolling against Big Ten regular season champions and nationally ranked Penn State.

Minnesota struggled to find any space throughout the game as the Nittany Lions collapsed around every Gophers player with the ball in the 3-1 loss for Minnesota.

The loss all but officially ends the GophersâÄô season, as they likely would have needed to win the Big Ten tournament to get into the NCAA tournament.

Penn State got the game started with an early goal when Jess Rosenbluth fired a shot from 18 yards out that bounced off the post and Gophers goalkeeper Cat Parkhill into the net in the fifth minute.

âÄúOur game plan was obviously to sit in on them a little bit just because theyâÄôre such a lethal attacking team,âÄù said head coach Mikki Denney Wright. âÄúBut it was tough because we gave up the early goal.âÄù

Minnesota held off the Nittany LionsâÄô offense for the rest of the first half but possession in the first 45 minutes heavily favored Penn State.

After the break, the Nittany Lions scored two more unanswered goals. In the 67th minute, Ali Schaefer controlled a cross and put a shot past a diving Parkhill from 14 yards out. Nine minutes later Maddy Evans took a pass in an odd-man-rush opportunity and put in the easy goal.

âÄúWith about 20 [minutes] left, and it was still 1-0, we tried to open up on them and push numbers forward, and then they stung us a couple times,âÄù Denney Wright said.

Minnesota got on the board in the 86th minute when Big Ten Freshman of the Year Taylor Uhl volleyed a pass into the goal.

The goal was UhlâÄôs 15th of the season, which is fourth highest by any player in the programâÄôs 19-year history.

One positive for Minnesota was that the team held Big TenForward of the Year Maya Hayes off of the scoreboard.

Penn State outplayed Minnesota in almost every statistical category, including shots, shots on goal and corner kicks.

After a slow start to the season, Minnesota won four of its last six games. One of those wins came in a 6-3 victory over Nebraska to cement the teamâÄôs spot in the Big Ten tournament.

âÄúI thought we were an inconsistent group for the majority of the year,âÄù Denney Wright said. âÄúBut thatâÄôs very common with young teams âÄî some days theyâÄôre very good and some days theyâÄôre not so good. I thought we definitely were playing our best soccer at the end of the year.âÄù

For the Gophers, the end of the season was encouraging, as the teamâÄôs seven-person freshman class seemed to grow more confident as the season progressed. With a more experienced team next year, Denney Wright said she would like to see the team get off to a fast start.

âÄúOur goal is always to make the [NCAA] tournament âÄî itâÄôs tough to do, but that is our expectation every year.âÄù

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