University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, October 30
Urbana-Champaign, IL
6:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Illinois
Photo by: Brady Paitrick
10/28/2026 11:17:00 AM | Soccer
The Golden Gopher wrap up their regular season on Friday at Illinois
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota women's soccer team will close out the regular season at Illinois on Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at Demirjian Park.
Minnesota (8-6-3, 4-5-2 Big Ten) vs. Illinois (5-5-7, 2-5-4 Big Ten)
Date: Friday, Oct. 30, 2026
Stream: B1G+
Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Urbana-Champaign, Ill.
Last Time Out
Minnesota picked up four points last weekend with a 1-1 tie against No. 21 Washington (one point) and a 4-0 victory over Oregon (three points). Across the two games, the Golden Gophers had four goal scorers: Ava Westlund, Caroline Birdsell, Keegan Schmeiser and Ellen Neuharth. In addition, Katie Krohn, Kate Childers and Emily Filbrun each tallied at least one assist. Goalkeeper Sarah Martin made 13 saves between both games and collected her fourth shutout of the season on Sunday over the Ducks.
Notes to Know
Minnesota (8-6-3, 4-5-2 Big Ten) vs. Illinois (5-5-7, 2-5-4 Big Ten)
Date: Friday, Oct. 30, 2026
Stream: B1G+
Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Urbana-Champaign, Ill.
Last Time Out
Minnesota picked up four points last weekend with a 1-1 tie against No. 21 Washington (one point) and a 4-0 victory over Oregon (three points). Across the two games, the Golden Gophers had four goal scorers: Ava Westlund, Caroline Birdsell, Keegan Schmeiser and Ellen Neuharth. In addition, Katie Krohn, Kate Childers and Emily Filbrun each tallied at least one assist. Goalkeeper Sarah Martin made 13 saves between both games and collected her fourth shutout of the season on Sunday over the Ducks.
Notes to Know
- Head coach Erin Chastain captured her 50th win at Minnesota against Maryland. Now in her sixth season leading the Maroon and Gold and 20th as a head coach, Chastain has a career record of 170-152-53 and is 51-39-19 at Minnesota.
- The Gophers defenend their home turf well this season, ending it with an impressive 6-1-3 record. Minnesota's only home loss came against No. 3 Ohio State. The Maroon and Gold grabbed big results at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium with a win over Iowa and ties with Georgia and Washington.
- Ava Westlund recorded her fourth game collecting three or more individual points this season on Sunday against Oregon, scoring her third brace of the season. Westlund leads the team with 14 points and eight goals on the year.
- Sunday's game marked the fourth time this season that Minnesota had three or more goal scorers. The Gophers had three scorers against North Dakota, Colorado College, and Oregon and had four against Maryland.
- Production is spread across the roster, with 10 players scoring at least one goal (Ava Westlund, Davy Mokelke, Katie Krohn, Kate Childers, Ellen Neuharth, Caroline Birdsell, Tenley Senden, Keegan Schmeiser, Matigann Vixayvong and Katelyn Rigg).
- The win over the Ducks also featured three different Gophers dishing out assists, with Krohn assisting two of Minnesota's goals.
- Freshman Ellen Neuharth scored her fourth goal of the season against the Huskies on Thursday night. The Savage, Minnesota, native has played 740 minutes this season. Neuharth has logged three 75-plus-minute matches (Iowa, Northwestern, Indiana), playing a season-high 90 minutes against the Wildcats.
- Goalkeeper Sarah Martin has made 79 saves this season and 231 career saves. Martin ranks 38th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten in saves made this season.
- Friday's game marks the 30th meeting between Minnesota and Illinois, with the series tied all-time at 12-12-5. The Gophers last faced the Fighting Illini on Sept. 12, 2024 on the road and currently hold a two-game winstreak.
Players Mentioned
Forward
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Midfielder
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Midfielder
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Forward
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Goalkeeper
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Forward
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Midfielder
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Forward
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Defender
/ Soccer
Forward
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Midfielder
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Forward
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