The 2008-2009 Gopher Women are off to an outstanding 12-1 start and giving the U of M faithful something to follow this fall. MD has them playing some very solid at the back and in the midfield. The attack looks very dynamic at times and consistent goal production has not been a problem They are moving into their tough part of the Big 10 season. Can they make this a dream season by advancing deep into the NCAA tournament?
I think they will! Go Gophers!!
697 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 601 – 697 of 697Check out the MN high school graduation requirements.
Ditto your kid's high school.
You might be surprised.
If memory serves...
Didn't one of MDW recent recruits enter the U "early"?
I keep thinking it was a GK from 2005 or 2006.
But I could be wrong.
P.S. Several Woodbury recruits are showing up on Big Soccer for 2009 / 2010
EMS - goalie for the gophers joined the team early in spring of 06. She was from Rochester,MN
Minnesota. My grandson is finished with HS at EP last friday. Happens all the time for some gifted students. He's going down South after National Signing to work on his golf game and meet the players on his college team.
He'll come back in June to attend the formal graduation to be held at the U.
LOL
Looks like the Gophs picked up another player for 2010? Firming up the backline? Prob will play with the KK's sisters!
there you go...i was right about something! even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
wait for it...
here it comes...
just like mdw in 2008.
a leopard can't changes it's spots!
ems
ems - ???
bad drugs ems
And just what was ems right about?
The new D recruit will have to fight for an appearance on the field against any "KK" player-just the way it is...should be another one on board?
Congrats to Gophers!!!
Soccer Buzz Awards:
2008 All Americans: 2nd Team: Kelsey Hood
2008 All Americans: 4th Team: Jennie Clark
2008 Great Lakes Region: 1st Team: Kelsey Hood
2008 Great Lakes Region: 1st Team: Jennie Clark
2008 Great Lakes Region: 2nd Team: Lindsey Schwartz
2008 Great Lakes Region: 2nd Team: Lindsey Dare
2008 Great lakes Region: 3rd Team: Kaitlin Wagner
2008 Great Lakes Region: All Freshmen: Tamara Strahota
I hear the gophers may do even better on the "soccer hum" website.
For the person who was telling us how many good young players are coming into Big 10: Soccer buzz has 56 players on their freshman all-america teams, total of 4 from the Big 10. 2 from MSU and one from Purdue and PSU. Power conference? Not.
that't because there was so much depth in the sophomore-senior classes.
that't because there was so much depth in the sophomore-senior classes.
And just how will they replace the big impact seniors? Does not bode well for the coming years...somewhat stale sophs?
I think 12:16 was a bit tongue in cheek......
Just as in the Rick Pitino soundbite....."all the negativity in this town sucks.."
Can't we just wish them the best and be proud of these oustanding young female student athletes?
The Gophers will do fine in 2009.
Despite all the arrows slung at them in 2008 they did great.
So tell me now boys, why all the hate?
I just don't understand the need of some people to knock MDW and this program.
Unusual 2009 soccer recruit for the Gophers.
Jes Vork from Cloquet.
Anyone know anything about this one.
looks like gophers picked up another solid 2010 commit.
who is the new 2010 commit?
Here is the link to Big Soccer.
Open the spreadsheet and you can look through the committment list on your own.
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=654675
Gophers Announce Signing Class 2009.
No last minute surprises for MDW.
Olivia Bagnall (Lakeville)
Stephanie Brandt (Rochester)
Allie Phillips (Vadnais Heights)
Marissa Price (Apple Valley)
No mention of the athlete from Cloquet.
Another small group of recruits.
This puts the roster at around 18.
Not a huge bench.
An interesting year ahead.
what no faith socmom???
it isn't like they use more than 16-18 anyways. What teams do?
it is possible they may have committed some of this year's money to the 2010 class.
1:31
Yeah, I have faith.
But those 3 holes in the center mid really have me wondering.
Coming up with the right trio to replace the departing seniors is going to be tricky this year.
Your 16-18 comment is true enough.
Although it is nice to have 22 just for scrimmage purposes.
And I'd bet money you are right on the mark regarding the 2010s!
2009 is wide open for some freshmen and the sophmores to make a real contribution.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the personnel get arranged!
It makes no sense to commit money just for the sake of committing money. If you can't get the players you want it is best to keep the scholarships open for future years. The concern would be that most of the top 2010's have already committed and the Gophers have not signed any of them either. 16-18 is a thin roster, they will need to stay injury free as they did this year.
LB of Inferno verballed today to U of MN for 2010. With CS of Inferno to UW, who's next?
30 girls (or more) from MN go D1 this year. Deepest class the state has ever produced. Next two years will be down a little and after that you can expect to see numbers like that every year.
THE top level defensive player on Inferno KK. Other top D signed to Iowa State.
Gophers are becoming too reliant on MN players. Unless you get the very best ones every year, which they have not done in the past and do not seem likely to in the future, this will not bring long term success. They get most of them but that is not good enough without some out of state recruits. On the 2008 team the best forward LS, best mid KH, and best defender JC are all from out of state. Without them that team would not have come near a Big 10 co championship. They are doing well recruiting MN but that is not enough to compete with the best.
now it is about time for the post about MDW we need to "seal the borders"...... not sure i agree with your comment about not getting all the best. you can't go them all, but they have gotten the vast majority (IMO).
what folks all need to understand is that at a D1 there are only 14 full scholarships (that averages 3.5 for each of the 4 college years). how many kids on the roster? do the math.
tough to get ALL the best local kids and SOME fo the best out state talent. the schools that are successful at doing this are the true magnet programs where kids will actually take less to either get into the school or to play in the program.
congrats to all the players who will have the opportunity to continue their careers at the college level.
Instate kids pay alot less if they are getting 50% scholarship. Coach can move the money around real good. 14 Scholarships yes, but move that around any way you would like. MN girl coming in as a freshman on a 50%, what, parents pay about 7K? Then she gets it bummed up to 75% her Soph yr depending on how good and how much she plays. She needs to spend more scholarship on out of state players to get them to come into the tundra. Its true, Coach has done real good the last few yrs getting the best of the best out of Iowa, but the last few yrs she has lost Iowa. WS and CC are either at or will be in the Pac-10, there is no IA players in the 09 class, in the 10 class MF the best in state at Iowa is heading to Ohio State, while MDW pulls MM out of Iowa, not a bad player, is on the Region II ODP team. The next great IA player is 2011 MVD (forward), and from what IM hearing, Iowa, ISU and MN are all in her top 3. If MDW wants to watch her, she is playing at SSM next Sunday with WDMSC.
Instate kids pay alot less if they are getting 50% scholarship. Coach can move the money around real good. 14 Scholarships yes, but move that around any way you would like. MN girl coming in as a freshman on a 50%, what, parents pay about 7K? Then she gets it bummed up to 75% her Soph yr depending on how good and how much she plays. She needs to spend more scholarship on out of state players to get them to come into the tundra. Its true, Coach has done real good the last few yrs getting the best of the best out of Iowa, but the last few yrs she has lost Iowa. WS and CC are either at or will be in the Pac-10, there is no IA players in the 09 class, in the 10 class MF the best in state at Iowa is heading to Ohio State, while MDW pulls MM out of Iowa, not a bad player, is on the Region II ODP team. The next great IA player is 2011 MVD (forward), and from what IM hearing, Iowa, ISU and MN are all in her top 3. If MDW wants to watch her, she is playing at SSM next Sunday with WDMSC.
Anon 10:30...
Is it possible that both Iowa and Iowa State are doing a better job at nabbing local talent?
Both programs are growing under relatively new head coaches.
I wonder too if the SSM program has had any affect on the Iowa to MN pipeline.
Anyone?????
Iowa and Iowa State will give Minnesota a run for their money in many, many years to come as they are growing by leaps and bounds and are attracting high level players, and not just from Iowa. Excellent coaching staffs at both.
SSM players can go anywhere, especially since they're not all from around here either
No stellar 2011's coming out of Minnesota, so the Gophs will be digging in Gopher holes to pull out their stars.
fishing
And as always, hook, line & sinker
Iowa hauled in 5 Iowa players for the 09 class, 5 out of 9 incoming from Iowa. ISU gets a Iowa club player that lives in IL on the other side of the river. I can also tell you that from what I know, MN didnt recruit any SSM players, unlike Iowa, which has one coming from SSM and had CC in for a visit.
were any of the Iowa or ISU players considered better than the gopher recruits? IMO, other than CC who is clearly a cut above, the SSM players are solid, but not stellar.
I looked at the recruiting classes of both Iows and Iowa State. Nice classes for both of them, but the quality of the Gophers class far outweighs the quantity of their classes.
10:12, what do you mean the "quality" of the Gopher class outweights Iowa and ISU's??
Maybe the "quality" of the current Goph class? Cuz once these seniors graduate...they'll be hurtin.
MM is the best player in the state of IOWA and she will be a Gopher. 2years ago the same things were being said about all the little known recruits the Gophers were pulling in from Minnesota who were sophomores this past year. The Gophers without question had the best sophomore class in the Big 10 and they will be great leaders for the next two years. They were a huge part of the big 10 title along with the senior class.
Has anyone actually been to a SSM game lately.....I think the cafeteria food is having an effect.
MM is the best 2010 in Iowa for sure!! And MDW did a good job of recruiting her. After that MVD is the best 2011 in Iowa, and like I posted a few back, she has MN in her top 3, MN, ISU and Iowa. She wants to stay close. She will be playing at SSM this weekend.
who is MVD? Is she on a RII ODP team? If not, then there are at least 5-7 local kids who are probably on the pecking order above her.
Without saying her name on this thread, she is a forward that has a nose for the goal, plays with the WDM Heat. The Current MN team that has played WDM at Regionals know who she is..
so she is a '92 who is a class of 2011 - unless playing up don't see many of those around? don't see her on any ODP roster pools.
Correct...she was on the R2 ODP team, but injuries the last 2 summers cancelled her Regional DeKalb trips. Out is sight, out of thought.
sounds like a solid player, hopefully she'll be a part of the gophers mix.
I'm curious about the player from Cloquet. Is she a walk on or how does that work? She's not showcased with the other 2009 Gopher recruits on their website, yet her name appears on the commitment spreadsheet. Any insight would be helpful.
Anon 6:42
She must have been a recruited walk on.
Otherwise, I'm sure we would have seen or heard of her signing a National Letter of Intent.
Usually, even the non scholarshipped recruits are mentioned in the signing day press release.
Something must have happened.
Most often, programs wait until all their recruits are in order before they put out a media story.
Thanks for the response 4:49. As I look at the Gopher site, they have now included the fifth signee to their website.
Good catch 7:06!!!
They must have added the info after the initial release and without a lot of hoopla.
But it's still nice for the player to finally get mentioned.
I'm not sure anyone predicted this recruit.
Gopher GK is headed to Spain with the U-20 National Team.
Coach Ellis is putting together a roster to qualify for 2010 U-20 Women’s World Cup.
I guess Cat Parkhill just makes the cut off (birthdate).
Congrats to Cat! Will the Goph team be without her during the college soccer season?
No..Unlike this past yrs U20 WC, the 2010 WC will be during non-NCAA season.
The 2010 WC may be during the non-NCAA season, but they still get called up for camps anytime.
5/2/09 11:36 AM
JC best defender? Don't kid yourself. Both backs from MINNESOTA were stronger, lets get real here
JC AND JS tops.
Gopher Spring Season record? Does it matter?
No
Season record may not matter.
But spring season training and scrimmages do give the coaches and players a chance to tinker with or adjust to possible new line ups.
On that note...
USC vs Gophers ends in loss in PKs.
Scoreless to that point.
They play @ Loyola today.
How did the gopher girls end up doing in L.A this past weekend? Anyone know?
2 Losses . . .
Scores?
0-0 vs USC and then lost in a "practice" shootout.
lost 2-1 to Loyola Marymount after leading 1-0. Gave up two late goals.
A recap is available at gophersports.com
Ouch!
a tie and giving up a late lead isn't the end of the world. Both games on the road, first time probably on real grass for the team, two top notch programs. Not trying to be an apologist as I would have liked to have seen at least a tie againtst LMU, but I'm not too concerned at this point.
Gophers playing Mizzou today @ noon.
Trivia: Former MN GK, and Rochester, MN native, is now Asst. Coach at Missouri and was nominated as an Asst. Coach of the Year.
Way to go Molly !!!
How did the Gopher gals do at Mizzou today?
Loss.
Can't score.
Missing lead GK.
What was the score?
They will be missing the lead GK off and on during her entire career at UofM if she remains on the national Team. Call-ups are at any time for training, not just the travel to International matches.
Missing the starting GK, is a big part, however, what has happened to the defense from last year?? It gets thru them before it gets to the keeper.
holes in the midfield as well...
I believe the score was 0-1.
Defense will be the same as last year, good but not great. The season will depend on how well they can fill some big holes in the midfield. In the rare games where the MN midfield was outplayed last season (ND, PSU for example) the defense was exposed and gave up multiple good chances.
I think their defense was better than good last year, they only gave up two goals at home and 12 goals for the year (school record.) They also had 18 shut outs. Sounds like they outplayed Missouri but gave up a goal on a free kick.
Anon 8:15...
I respectfully disagree.
The Gopher defense kept MN in many games last year.
IMHO, the KK transfer was a huge piece of that puzzle.
She will not be easily replaced.
However, I wholeheartedly agree about the midfield.
KH was so dominate in her position,it may take a year to adjust.
I can't see anyone on the current roster filling those shoes.
MDW and team will have to create an effective midfield.
I'm guessing it's going to have a different look and chemistry than the midfield KH ran.
One thing is certain...
There's an open door for some freshman, especially a goal scorer, to make a mark.
Last year was the dream team season, where a group of players come together with the right talent and will and especially chemistry to make it happen. With the loss of key defender and the midfield, the team will struggle to reproduce that talent and chemistry in the coming years unless they get all the top players in the area and beyond.
4 45 you're right and the top player for 2010 is already gone to UW.
2011 is loaded in the state so hopefully the Gophers can get a few of those players. They have the best 2010 player in Iowa coming, hands down. they have another one of the top 2010's from minnesota coming. Their current sophomore class (juniors next season) is easily just as good as this year's senior class was. They probably won't be as deep next year, but still very strong. But 2010, their team will be LOADED again. And depending on the 2011 commitments, maybe even beyond.
i can tell you 12:39, that there are some MN 11's that are looking out of the state already, even out of the Region. It will be tough when the big fellas come up here to watch and have MDW get the coup. Heck, FSU was down at Shattuck a few weeks ago watching Woodbury 17s play Shattuck 18s. Didnt see MDW there thou...???
I seriously doubt that there are that many 2011's (or any year for that matter) who could go to an out of region team better than MN (as in top 25 in the nation). Also, define out of region. Some may leave for warmer climates, scholarship opportunities, change of pace, etc.... but doubtfully higher ranked programs.
Out of region meaning Region II colleges..
12:56 - I saw MDW there, were you there??? She was with one of the other Gopher coaches. She was not standing hip to hip with the FSU coach. Touche.
Good for Minnesota soccer that coaches from schools like FSU are up here watching Minnesota players.
However, to the person with the 2011 comments. Sure, the kids will look out of region when they are young. But when push comes to shove, many (just like the last 3-4 years of recruits) will decide to stay closer to home because the education, scholarships, travel time and money required for parents to watch games, and connections to careers post graduation. This doesn't necessarily mean the U of M, although I hope so, but there are way more advantages to staying in this area (especially now that the teams are much better - Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin-kind of) Sure, there will be some that will leave, try to play at a FSU or maybe a Big East program, go a millions miles away, be another number on the team, hardly know anyone going in, get homesick, etc. If that's what they choose, more power to them, but for the majority, the advantages of staying closer are so much greater.
so would the MIAC be out of region.......
Looking out of the region and actually going requires two things:
1) the out of region schools also want you (much like all the beautiful girls I aspired for in my youth but was always rebuffed - gracefully done by the girl, but still shot down)
2) to 1:58's point, when the pros & cons are laid out, it is not always an easy decision.
The only thing I wouldn't agree with is the "be another number on the team". There are lots of local kids who are just numbers on the local teams (MN, IA, WI, etc..). The only difference is that we just all knew who they were before they got there.
Anon 1:58
Thanks for such a common sense post.
I hope parents looking "out of region" are listening.
2:07 - Yes, I agree with you, what I meant was that WHEN you are just another number on the team, you have your friends and family close to you for the support you will need when you choose a closer school. Players handle not playing differently, but going 2,000 miles away and riding the pine or suffering an injury can be a very eye-opening experience when loved ones are not around to help out.
Shockingly, some players may even select the school where they feel they can get the best education. Hard to believe I know.
It would be interesting to note how often a local player went to a big time out of the region progam (SSM excluded) on a big time soccer scholarship.
2:36 - no need for defensive sarcasm. No one disagrees with you, choosing a school for the education is a important as about anything. If your daughter gets a paid for education at an IVY league or highly ranked school, than I say congratulations, that is awesome.
But I'll use FSU as an example since they keep getting brought up. Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin are far superior academically.
2:52..Your last para..To some degree that is true, but that isnt a fact for all students at each college. I know of a Univ MN player that is ONLY there to play Soccer. Let us all in on the kids from all mentioned schools that drop out because all they do is party. That happens at EVERY school. Everyone gets what they put into it is what Im trying to say. FSU has alot of great students, programs and the weather down there sure beats MN winters!!
Comical comments by the U16 parent(s). They should have a luncheon with the U17 boys parents and tell each other how wonderful their age group is. And while there they can try to figure out why the teams at their age group are less successful than teams at other age groups.
7:21 - I think it is just one person (12:39 & 12:56). Their DD probably made the state ODP team and is now off to UNC or ND.....
Post a Comment