Thursday night in St. Paul sees the University of Minnesota open their 34th season of Golden Gopher soccer with a home clash against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Minnesota comes into 2026 off a disappointing 2025 season that saw the Gophers finish 6-3-8 (W-D-L) and ultimately miss the NCAA tournament. Head coach Erin Chastain enters her sixth season in charge of the Golden Gophers and has goal of getting her team back into the NCAA tournament.
For those who followed our USL W League coverage this summer a few names will pop out for the Gophers. Caroline Birdsell, Jacqueline Gabbert, and Mya Nugent all spent the summer with River Light FC in Aurora, IL. RLFC fell twice over the summer to Minnesota Aurora during Aurora's 12-0 undefeated regular season.
Minnesota are the heavy favourites over the Fighting Hawks, who are predicted to finish 7th in the 8 team Summit League. Under first year head coach Henrik Sohn, North Dakota finished the 2025 season at 8-3-7 (W-D-L) failing to get into the Summit League tournament. UND is 5-3-10 in season openers since moving to the Division I in 2008.
Kickoff at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium in St. Paul is set for 7pm tonight. We will not be at the ground in person tonight but will be there on Saturday for the Gophers vs Georgia. All Gopher soccer matches can be watched on Big Ten Plus.
