Gophers women’s soccer ends season with loss to Illinois

The Gophers women’s soccer team took a big step back in 2019.

After winning the Big Ten tournament and advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2018, Minnesota’s season ended Sunday in a 4-1 loss to Illinois that will keep them out of postseason play.

Minnesota (3-12-4, 2-7-2 Big Ten) finished 13th out of 14 teams in the league, with the top eight programs qualifying for the conference tournament.

According to the preseason coaches poll, Minnesota was picked to finish sixth and received votes in the national preseason coaches poll.

“It’s hard and it’s disappointing for things to finish this way after battling our way back into this game and back into the postseason race,” coach Stef Golan said in a news release.

The Gophers seniors class, led by Nikki Albrecht, won 42 games, including the 2016 Big Ten regular-season title.