University of Minnesota Athletics

There are a lot of games going on this weekend in the Twin Cities including three Gopher contests, a Minnesota Wild game and a Minnesota Vikings game. Here is a status overview of my favorite University of Minnesota Golden Gopher teams and links to buy Gopher tickets to your favorite game. This will be one of my busiest sports weekends of the year! Go Gophers!

Gopher Mens Basketball
Next game: Thursday Nov. 1st vs. Minnesota State Mankato (Williams Arena exhibition) - Gopher Basketball Tickets (less than $20/ea)
Record: 0 wins 0 losses
Regular Season Games Remaining: 30
Outlook: Head Coach Tubby Smith has his work cut out for him, but his tough demeanor could be just what the Gopher basketball team needs. Prediction: Gophers finish season 15-15 and spend the off season recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.

Gopher Mens Hockey
Next game: Friday Nov. 2nd vs. Denver (Mariucci Arena) - Gopher Hockey Tickets (less than $70/ea)
Record: 4 wins 2 losses
Regular Season Games Remaining: 33
Outlook: Head Coach Don Lucia has a talented Gopher hockey team, but is up against a lot of other talented teams as well. Prediction: Gophers finish season 25-10-4 and second in the WCHA.

Gopher Football
Next game: Saturday Nov. 3rd vs. Illinois (Metrodome, Homecoming) - Gopher Football Tickets (less than $50/ea)
Record: 1 win 8 losses
Regular Season Games Remaining: 3
Outlook: Head Coach Tim Brewster will have a lot of work to do to get ready for next season. This could be the worst Gopher Football Season in University history. Prediction: Gophers finish season 2-10 and spend the off season recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.

Hail to the Maroon and Gold! Let's Go Gophers!

Gopher Football Homecoming

It has occurred to Gopher Gal that the next Gopher football game I will be attending will be homecoming on November 3rd. (after the Gophers get killed in Michigan this weekend) There are still Gopher Football Tickets left and it should be a good show just because it’s homecoming. I actually think the Gophers will put up a fight. I will be at the game in my maroon and gold (well, it’s mostly obnoxious yellow, but you get the idea) and cheering my team to a well played game. Gopher Gal wants to give props to a few other Gopher blogs out there that are far better than mine – so here’s a Golden Gopher Homecoming Shout-Out to:

http://www.gopherfootball.blogspot.com/

http://www.gophernation.blogspot.com/

Buy your Gopher Illinois Tickets today! Goooooooo Gophers!

Gopher Hockey Laces Up for Home Games

Minnesota Gophers play their first home games this weekend with three games, hosting Ohio State on Thursday and Friday before taking on the U.S. Under-18 team in an exhibition game on Saturday. Both games against the Buckeyes will be televised regionally on FSN North (although I can't find it on their website). I won’t be able to make it out to Mariucci Arena this week so I will have to rely on the local sports coverage to keep me filled in (that’s always a little disappointing for this Gopher fan)

Fun series facts from the Gopher website:

The Series vs. Ohio State
The Golden Gophers hold a 10-1 all-time record against the Buckeyes in a series dating back to 1968. Minnesota swept Ohio State 7-2 and 6-3 last season in its first-ever visit to Columbus. The Gophers are 5-1 against the Buckeyes at home and have won all three meetings on neutral ice. This weekend’s games mark the first time Ohio State has played a two-game series at Mariucci Arena since Minnesota posted a sweep on Jan. 2-3, 1981. The Gophers have outscored the Buckeyes 68-27 in their 10 meetings. Minnesota’s only loss in the series came in the third-place game of the Dodge Holiday Classic on Dec. 28, 1998 as the Buckeyes scored with seven seconds left in regulation for a 6-5 victory.

Gopher Hockey loses two in a row

I guess Gopher Gal shouldn’t have been so excited for the Gopher hockey season to start because it sure didn’t start that well. The Gophers got swept on the road by Colorado College dropping Friday nights game 3-1 and then losing Saturday night 2-1 in overtime. It was the first time since 2004 that Minnesota was swept in a road series and opened the Western Collegiate Hockey Association season with two losses. It was the first time since 1999 that the Gophers were swept by Colorado.

Saturday night was a tough match for the Gophers. Minnesota fired 21 shots on goal in the third period and had the Tigers on their heels, but Colorado College finally broke through against Gophers’ goaltender Jeff Frazee when Chad Rau (from Eden Prairie - Donny Lu should have recruited him!) launched a shot from the slot over Frazee for the game-winner 2:42 into the extra period. The goal came after a short flurry where Frazee made three solid saves. The junior was strong in net all night long with 25 saves, including several outstanding first period stops.

The losses were tough for sure, but let’s hope the Gopher hockey team can bounce back and not take any lessons from the habitual losing Gopher football team.

Gopher Football Team Loses . . . Again

The Golden Gopher Football team lost to the North Dakota State Bison on Saturday 27-21. It was a disappointing show for Gopher fans for sure. The HHH Metrodome was packed with 63,088 screaming football fans that saw the maroon and gold fall to 1-7 on the season. North Dakota State continued its unbeaten season, improving to 7-0.

Minnesota collected 307 yards of total offense to North Dakota State’s 585. Bison junior running Tyler Roehl was the star of the game, running for a school-record 263 yards on 22 carries. Adam Weber led the Gophers with 162 yards passing and one touchdown. The Golden Gopher defense was basically non existent and is definitely the worst in the league, perhaps the worst in Gopher history.

KEY POINT OF THE SEASON: Tim Brewster has his work cut out for him recruiting next year if he wants to live up to any of his promises that he made to the state of Minnesota and Gopher Nation.

Gopher Hockey Team Starts Season With Victory

The Gopher hockey team ruled the Ice Breaker Invitational and came away with the trophy, but just barely. Gopher Goalie Jeff Frazee was the star of the tourney and made a career-high 44 saves as the Michigan Wolverines outshot Minnesota 47-22 in front of 14,868 at the Xcel Energy Center during Saturday’s championship game. The Gophers squeezed the win out of Michigan with a 4-3 victory. The Gophers seized a 2-0 lead in the first period before weathering a withering Michigan attack that put 38 shots on net over the final 40 minutes.

"A day in the life of a goalie," Frazee said with a smile.

"I think Jeff Frazee earned his scholarship this weekend," Gophers coach Don
Lucia said.

"No doubt, Frazee won the tournament for us," said freshman Gophers forward
Patrick White, who scored the winning goal at 5:27 of the third period.

It's early, of course, but Frazee's play is just one of the good signs for the Gophers. They still have several other issues to work out like building a better defensive line. All in all, the Gopher hockey team looked good back on the ice and I am ready for the season to get rolling! Let’s go Gophers!

Gopher Football Team Loses . . . Again

The Gopher football team had another disappointing loss last weekend vs. Northwestern. This may be the worst loss of the season, at least it is the worst loss emotionally for Gopher Gal because the Gophers had the win in the bag and managed to let it out with just minutes to go. At one point, the Gophers had a 21 point lead - 21 points! The final score was 49-48 after a double overtime.

The Gophers' defense gave up 589 yards, including 470 passing yards and four touchdowns – ouch! Coach Tim Brewster has some definite work ahead of him and he better step up the recruiting. Next up is NDSU at the Metrdome. The North Dakota State Bison are 6-0 and are looking forward to taking on the Gophers. The Bison will draw at least 20,000 of their own fans into the Dome. Last years match-up was a hard fought game that ended with a win for the Gophers, but just barely. This Gopher Gal hates to say it, but I am no longer sure that the Gophers can beat the Bison . . . I will see you at the Gopher game!

Gopher Football Schedule has Win Possibilities

Gopher Gal is rather tired of pondering Minnesota football losses. With the Vikings 1-3 and now the Gopher Football team 1-5 what is happening to our once hearty Minnesota football teams? I still have faith that the Golden Gopher Football Team will win at least two more games. The remaining Gopher Football Schedule looks like this:

Sat. Oct 13 Northwestern - at Evanston, Illinois
Sat. Oct 20 North Dakota State - Metrodome 11:00 AM
Sat. Oct 27 Michigan - at Ann Arbor, Michigan
Sat. Nov 03 Illinois (Homecoming) - Metrodome 7:00 PM
Sat. Nov 10 Iowa - at Iowa City, Iowa
Sat. Nov 17 Wisconsin - Metrodome

I think the Gophers can pull a victory off in the Gophers vs. North Dakota State game at the Metrodome and tickets for this match-up are pretty expensive starting off at $99 per ticket on a Gopher Football Tickets web site. I know a lot of NDSU fans make the trip to the Dome and it should be an exciting game. Let’s hope the Gophers fare better in their border battle than the Vikings did against the Packers two weeks ago.

The second win I think will come in the Gophers vs. Illinois game on Saturday November 3rd. It’s Gopher homecoming and coach Tim Brewster will do whatever is necessary to bring home the victory for his University of Minnesota students and fans. Anyone care to challenge my predictions?

Let’s hear your Gopher Football Comments!