Gophers Earn First NCAA Tournament Berth Since 2018

The Gophers will host South Dakota State in an Round of 64 match Friday

The Minnesota Golden Gophers soccer team thought they had done plenty to earn a NCAA Tournament berth when the field of 64 teams was announced Monday afternoon. And they were correct. Not only are the Gophers in the field, but they were awarded the #6 seed in the lower-left quadrant of the bracket and will host their first NCAA Tournament game at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium since 2016 when Summit League Champion South Dakota State comes to St. Paul on Friday night.

Minnesota earned their first NCAA berth since 2018 after finishing the regular season with a 12-4-3 record and a 6-3-2 B1G record good enough for 7th place in the conference. The Gophers were the only team this season to blemish #1 seed USC in conference play earning a tie in Los Angeles. Add that to Top-15 wins on the road at Ohio State and over #11 Iowa to close out the regular season and the Gophers were sitting pretty.

Minnesota earns a spot in it’s 12th NCAA Tournament. In 11 previous appearances the Gophers have an all-time record of 9-10-1 in tournament play. This will be the 12th time the Gophers have hosted an NCAA Tournament match at home. Minnesota has advanced to the Sweet 16 two times in program history in 2008 and 2010.

If the Gophers can get past the Jackrabbits on Friday, they would likely be looking at a matchup against #3 seed and SEC Tournament runner-up South Carolina in the Round of 32. All Round of 64 games are held this weekend before the highest seed hosts a four team pod for the Round of 32 and 16 the following weekend. If seedings hold through the initial matches, the Gophers would be headed to Chapel Hill along with #3 South Carolina, #7 BYU, and the host #2 North Carolina.

The Gophers opponent on Friday, South Dakota State, earned their way into the tournament by winning the Summit League automatic bid. The Jackrabbits finished in third place in the regular season and then defeated #6 South Dakota, #2 Denver and #5 Oral Roberts on three straight days in Fargo to take home the crown. SDSU has faced one other team in the field this season and lost to Kansas 2-1. Minnesota holds an 8-1-1 record all-time over SDSU. However, the Jackrabbits defeated the Gophers, 1-0, in Minneapolis the last time the two sides met in September of 2019.

The new look Big Ten is a soccer powerhouse as the conference earned ten berths into the tournament of a possible 64. Joining the Gophers in the field are #1 seed USC, #2 UCLA, #3 Ohio State, #3 Iowa, #4 Penn State, #5 Michigan State, #5 Wisconsin, #6 Rutgers and unseeded Washington. Minnesota went 3-4-1 against NCAA tournament teams this season getting wins against Milwaukee, Ohio State and Iowa, losses to Wisconsin, UCLA and Penn State twice, and a tie against USC.

Friday’s match will kick off at 6PM. The full bracket is below.