Gophers women’s soccer coach Sue Montagne had a tough decision made for her when the University of Colorado named Austin Daniels head coach for its inaugural women’s soccer season.
Montagne, who took the helm at Minnesota when it added women’s soccer in 1993, was a finalist for the position at Colorado. But Daniels, who previously coached at the University of Hartford, got the nod.
Montagne said she isn’t sure if she would have accepted the position even if it was offered to her. Montagne’s husband, Kurt Patberg, is commissioner of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, which is headquartered in Golden, Colo.
“It would have been really hard to leave here, primarily because of the team,” she said.
The Gophers, who won the Big Ten title and went to the NCAA tournament last season, now have an established program. Montagne said starting over with another first-year team would have been difficult.
“I would have been starting from scratch without nearly as much of the ground work,” she said.
Don’t put your finger in there
The majority of fans who left Williams Arena immediately after the Gophers defeated Ohio State on Wednesday night missed the real drama.
A little girl got her pinky stuck in a hole in one of the upper deck hand rails. Because the finger swelled up, she could not get it out. As one would expect, the girl was scared and upset.
Several Gophers, including Bobby Jackson, John Thomas and Hosea Crittenden tried to calm the girl down but failed.
Eventually, members of the Williams Arena staff had to call 911 for assistance. Members of the crew cut off part of the railing and tried to shrink the girl’s pinky by cooling it off.
When that didn’t work, another part of the railing was cut off so the girl could at least move away from the edge.
The girl was eventually carried away to University Hospital with her finger still stuck in the bar.
“The University better cover up these holes or else they’re going to get sued,” Gophers guard Bobby Jackson joked.
Gophers assistant coach Larry Davis responded with, “Yeah, and they’re going to take the money out of your scholarship.”
Marc Ryan, the director of men’s sports information, said he could not recall a similar situation ever occurring. The likelihood of it happening again is also slim.
“I hope it doesn’t,” said Sartell senior Russ Archambault, who was in attendance Wednesday night and who verbally committed to play for the Gophers earlier this month.