By Max Rogal

Northwestern (7-7-1, 3-4-1 B1G) was dealt a huge blow to its postseason hopes on Sunday, falling 1-0 to Minnesota (8-4-3, 4-4 B1G) at Martin Stadium. It was a frustrating afternoon for the ‘Cats, who failed to score and lost 1-0 for the third consecutive game. 

After a few minutes of back-and-forth play, the Golden Gophers began to take control of the game’s tempo. In the twentieth minute, Wildcat goalkeeper Mackenzie Wood dove to deflect a dangerous cross into the box, but the ball flew loose. Minnesota grad student Makenzie Langdok pounced on it, quickly putting it into the net for the only goal of the game.

Northwestern’s two best chances came at either end of the game. Early on, the ‘Cats had a beautiful volley from senior defender Jules Thron taken off the board due to a foul in the buildup. Later in the second half with just minutes to play, midfielder Ingrid Falls whipped a beautiful cross in toward forward Olivia Stone who couldn’t quite direct the ball on target, effectively ending the ‘Cats’ hopes for a comeback. Northwestern would finish the day with only three official shots on target, all comfortable saves for Golden Gopher goalkeeper Megan Plaschko.

With the win, Minnesota has leapfrogged Northwestern in the standings and now finds itself in a four-way tie for fifth place on 12 points. Northwestern sits just two points behind those four teams, but five places down in a tie for tenth, and in danger of missing out on the Big Ten tournament with only two regular-season games to go.

The ‘Cats penultimate game will be in West Lafayette against Purdue (No. 2 B1G) on Thursday. Then, they will finish the regular season on Sunday back in Evanston against Ohio State.