It’s a busy B1G weekend for many teams
It’s another fall weekend full of sporting events for the Minnesota Gophers. Volleyball kicks off the Big Ten season, while soccer gets their conference home opener. The biggest home event of the cross-country schedule is here in the Roy Griak Invitational, the football team looks to bounce back in Evanston, and yes…we have hockey. An exhibition, but we have action on the ice. Below is a schedule of all the Gopher action over the next few days and how you can check in out in person, or via TV or streaming.
Thursday September 21
Volleyball @ Iowa 6 PM FS1
The Gophers kick off the Big Ten season Thursday night down in Iowa City. Minnesota competed the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 4-4 record facing seven teams ranked in the top 15 of the country. Hopefully that prepared them for what will be a gauntlet of a Big Ten schedule that will really get going on Sunday. Minnesota should be able to take care of the Hawkeyes fairly easily. If not, it will be a true case for concern as the Gophers have defeated Iowa 45 straight times dating back to 1995! The match will begin at 6 PM and will air live on FS1.
Soccer vs Michigan State 6 PM BTN+
The Gophers open the home portion of the Big Ten schedule Thursday night against the Spartans. Minnesota is 0-1 in conference play after dropping a 1-0 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor last Friday. Michigan State won the Big Ten a year ago but have lost lots of players from that team. They come in 0-0-1 after a conference opening tie with Ohio State last weekend. The Spartans are led offensively by freshman Bella Najera, who has scored in the last three matches and four of the last five and is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week. Thursday’s game will break a 14-14-4 deadlock in the historical series between the two teams. It’s also student night with free pizza for students and free t-shirts for the first 150 fans. If you can’t make it out to Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium, the match will stream on BTN+.
Friday September 22nd
Cross Country—Roy Griak Invitational
The Gophers host the marquis event of the cross-country schedule this weekend when the Roy Griak Invitational returns to the Les Bolstad Golf Course cross-country course for the 37th season. The Men’s Collegiate Gold race kicks off at 10 AM running 8K while the women’s Collegiate Gold race begins at 10:45 running 6K. Division II and III and high school races follow through the rest of the day.
Both the men and the women will face their toughest competition of the season from several of the nation’s best. It will be a good showcase for the Gophers to see where they are as a team as they head into the mid-section of their season. Live scoring of the races will be available HERE.
Saturday September 23rd
Women’s Hockey vs Durham West—2PM BTN+
That’s right, it’s September and we have hockey action. The Gopher women will take the ice at Ridder Arena for the first time this season when they face Durham West, a Canadian Junior Team. Face-off is at 2PM, tickets are free, or you can stream the game on BTN+.
The Gophers will face a bit of a rebuilding year after the graduation of some of the program’s top scorers including new PWHL #1 overall draft pick Taylor Heise and her two linemates in Abigail Boreen and Catie Skaja and fellow PWHL Minnesota draftee Grace Zumwinkle. Abby Murphy is the new leader of this program as she enters her junior season and can hopefully pick up some of the scoring that Minnesota will need to account for.
The Gophers were voted #3 in both preseason national polls that came out this week behind WCHA rivals Wisconsin and Ohio State. It’s also where the Gophers were predicted to finish in the WCHA by the conference coaches.
We will have a full season preview of the Gophers team prior to their regular season opening series at RIT on October 6th and 7th.
Football @ Northwestern 6:30 PM BTN
The Gopher football team will look to get back on track and move to 2-0 in the Big Ten at Northwestern on Saturday night. Our full preview of that game is HERE. Kickoff is set for 6:30 PM under the lights at Ryan Field in Evanston. If you are in the Chicago area tickets on the secondary market are literally going for as low as $5 right now, so go check out the Gophers and the Wildcats for less than a hot dog outside the stadium If not, the game will air live on Big Ten Network.
Sunday September 24th
Soccer @ Iowa 1PM BTN+
The Gopher soccer team heads south to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes on Sunday afternoon. The Hawkeyes are receiving votes in the national poll and are still undefeated with a 6-0-2 record. They tied Illinois 1-1 in their Big Ten opener last week. The Gophers defeated the Hawkeyes 1-0 on Senior night a season ago in St. Paul. The match begins at 1PM and will stream live on BTN+.
Volleyball @ #2 Nebraska 6:30 BTN
The Gophers jump right into the tough portion of the conference schedule for their second game as they head to Lincoln to face the #2 ranked Cornhuskers in one of the toughest places to play in NCAA Volleyball. Nebraska is a perfect 9-0 so far this season and is coming off of a pair of ranked wins over Stanford and Kentucky. It will be a tough task for the Gophers, but an opportunity to see how they match up against the top of the conference. First serve is set for 6:30 PM and the match will air live on Big Ten Network.
Monday/Tuesday September 25/26
Men’s Golf @ Windon Memorial
The Men’s Golf team heads to Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield, Illinois for the Windon Memorial Tournament Monday and Tuesday hosted by Northwestern. It will be a 54-hole tournament with 36 holes played Monday and the last 18 on Tuesday. Many of the other Big Ten teams will be there as well, so Minnesota can see how they stack up. Live scoring will be available HERE.