The Gophers played through two overtime periods in a road match against Michigan on Saturday.
Despite putting four shots on goal after regulation, Minnesota couldn’t concert on any of its chances.
“We knew we still had some energy left in the tank [going into overtime],” sophomore midfielder Emily Heslin said. “We were going to try to continue to press them and find a way to break down all their numbers in the box. We just unfortunately couldn’t do it.”
No. 15 Minnesota (12-3-2, 6-1-2 Big Ten) played to its second draw of the season Sunday in a two-game road finale at No. 25 Michigan (9-3-2, 5-2-2 Big Ten).
The Gophers found it difficult to score on Michigan early on. Sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Jackson made six saves in the first half of regulation to keep Minnesota scoreless going into halftime.
“We could have done a little better with some of the opportunities that we got,” said Minnesota associate head coach Krystle Seidel. “[Jackson] certainly had a good game as well. She was able to prevent things from becoming second chances.”
Jackson continued to keep the game even by grabbing three more saves in the second half. She finished the match with 11 saves.
The Gophers took 10 shots of their 17 total in the first half of regulation.
Senior forward Simone Kolander put five of her seven shots on target against the opposing goalie.
Michigan had 12 shots with three on target, but senior goaltender Tarah Hobbs didn’t let in the few shots Michigan sent at her.
The Gophers threatened with a few chances in both overtime periods, but ultimately tallied their second draw of the season.
Thursday’s game had gone much smoother for Minnesota.
Sophomore midfielder Molly Fiedler played a cross to junior forward Kellie McGahn who tapped it in to give the Gophers an early 1-0 lead and McGahn’s second goal of the season.
Michigan State (5-10-1, 2-7-0 Big Ten) sophomore midfielder Michaela Kovacs finished a chance provided by junior defender Madison Duncan to get the match back at 1-1 before halftime.
Junior forward Sydney Squires only had the goalie to beat after receiving a pass from senior midfielder Josee Stiever. Squires rolled the ball past Michigan State junior goalie Savanna Wojtanowski in the 79th minute to win the game 2-1 for Minnesota.
The Gophers continue to show their depth even without sophomore forward April Bockin in the lineup. The Gophers took 18 shots in the game compared to Michigan State’s seven shots.
Seidel said this was the best the program has done on the road during this weekend since she has been a part of the program.
“We want to get all six points and I think we played well enough to earn those,” Seidel said. “After the game we were disappointed. Certainly I think the girls wanted that to be a win just because we had so many opportunities in this game.”
