During a 9-5 victory against Illinois on Saturday that extended the Gophers softball team’s winning streak to nine games, infielder MaKenna Partain broke the all-time program record for career runs scored with her 198th.

This broke Tyler Walker’s previous record of 197. Walker was a First Team All-Big Ten athlete and Minnesota’s first three-time first team all-conference selection. The career runs record is the latest of accolades for Partain, who also holds the Gophers’ single-season runs record with 66 in 2019.

“It felt pretty good once I realized it (the record) was actually a thing,” Partain said. “I didn’t know what everybody was talking about at first. So that was pretty cool. I have a lot of respect for Tyler Walker. For me, being able to break something that she exceeded to do in four years is pretty cool. I’m really grateful.”

Partain has been a consistent force for the Gophers throughout her career, posting a career .375 batting average on the Gophers since she joined the program in 2017. Partain attributes her success to having a solid strike zone awareness and the ability to draw walks because of it.

“It’s definitely the biggest thing that I tried to incorporate in my game because even though it’s a walk, there’s going to be somebody behind me in the two, three or cleanup spot that gets me in it no matter what,” she said.

In addition to Partain’s achievement, the Gophers put together a solid weekend, beating the Fighting Illini in three of four matchups this past weekend. The Gophers currently sit third in the Big Ten behind Michigan and Northwestern with a 12-4 record.

Minnesota will retake the field on Friday for a four-game series against Purdue. It will be the first time since 2019 the Gophers will be back on their home field of Jane Sage Cowles Stadium after last season was called off early amid the pandemic.

The Gophers men’s golf team was the No. 2 seed going into its first tournament of the season at Hammock Beach Resort. The Gophers ended up losing to eventual champion No. 10 Indiana on Feb. 5 and tying No. 3 Purdue and No. 4 Penn State on Feb. 6.

On Feb. 5, the second round of Big Ten Match Play was a giant head-scratcher for the tournament’s top seeds, as all lost to the lower seeds, besides top-seeded Northwestern, which tied Michigan State.

The undisputed star for the Gophers on the weekend was junior Will Grevlos, who went 2-0 over his competition on Feb. 6. Grevlos was the only Gopher on any day of Big Ten Match Play to go undefeated. This was just Grevlos’ seventh time playing with the Gophers in a major tournament.

“Will’s determination and passion was at an all-time high this weekend that I haven’t seen from him before,” Gophers head coach Justin Smith said. “He’s just scratching the surface of his talent, and once he starts believing in himself and bringing his best every day, he can be the piece to our team that can put us over the hump.”

Smith also mentioned the Gophers have four golfers that are standards in their lineup and consistently produce low scores in tournaments. Those players are Angus Flanagan, Thomas Longbella, Connor Glynn and Lincoln Johnson.

If Grevlos, freshman Ben Warian, who finished 1-2 in the tournament and defeated Purdue’s Herman Sekne, or another player can fill the final fifth spot consistently and generate similar production, the sky’s the limit for the Gophers this season. Smith said it will be an extremely competitive race throughout the season.

Flanagan was not present at the tournament due to a Walker Cup commitment for team Great Britain and Ireland. Smith expects Flanagan to be with the team in every tournament moving forward.

Up next, the Gophers compete in the Spartan Collegiate at Sea Island in Sea Island, Georgia, March 8-9.

Buckeyes barrage Pahl with shots in 2-1 victory Friday

After just one period of play, No. 4 Ohio State already held a 17-3 in shots on goal advantage over the Gopher women’s hockey team, completely dominating time of possession and having a stone-cold defense. The Gophers had a couple of point-blank opportunities in their three shots on net, including a wide open shot by Abbey Murphy that missed when she was inches from the net.

In the second period, the Buckeyes finally got in the scoring column with Emma Maltais scoring her third goal of the season. Soon, Paetyn Levis added to that lead, scoring her fourth goal of the year. The Gophers entered the locker room down 2-0 and were burned in shots on goal 30-7 after two periods of play.

The third period featured no scoring until 50 seconds were left in regulation. Emily Brown sniped in her second goal of the season. But Minnesota didn’t have enough time to tie the game late and came up just short on Friday.

In the 2-1 Buckeyes’ victory, Ohio State outshot Minnesota 38-22. In the third, the Gophers did a much better job defending and providing scoring opportunities, attacking the Buckeyes’ defense frequently.

“Tough result here tonight, in particular in the second period, just not moving our feet and not playing as aggressive as we needed to play and Ohio State took advantage of that,” Gophers head coach Brad Frost told Gopher Sports. “We made a push in the third but at this point in the season, if you only play one period, it’s just not going to work. Back to the drawing board, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

The star of the game was Makayla Pahl, handling a Buckeye barrage of 38 shots, while only letting up two scores.

“Both goalies are playing well which is a great sign,” Frost said. “Lauren [Bench] will get the nod tomorrow as we continue to rotate.”

Ohio State completes sweep on senior day

The Gophers on senior day celebrated the last regular season home game for the team’s seniors – Brown, Bench, Olivia Knowles, Grace Zumwinkle and Taylor Wente — and got off to a hot start.

Early in the first period, Abigail Boreen scored her eighth goal of the season, followed shortly by Zumwinkle’s team-leading 12th goal of the season. Going into the intermission the Gophers were on fire, up 2-0.

The second period did not carry over that Minnesota momentum as the Buckeyes scored three goals in the period en route to the team’s 3-2 victory. Liz Schepers started out the comeback with her fifth goal of the season and third against the Gophers. That was followed by goals by Jennifer Gardiner and Levis; Levis’ goal was her second of the series.

“We just started getting casual with the things we do to have success up to this point,” Zumwinkle said. “I wouldn’t classify it as a lack of effort but more as a lack of awareness more so.”

Without any goals by either team in the third period, the Gophers had a rough finish to a back-and-forth season series versus Ohio State. It was not the way the senior class had hoped to finish their careers playing at Ridder Arena.

“Terrible second period to give up three and had some glorious chances to get on the board in the third,” Frost said. “Disappointing result, but we will have to regroup for next weekend against Bemidji.”

The Gophers play at Bemidji State next Friday at 6:07 p.m. and next Saturday at 3:07 p.m. That will be the last series of the regular season for the Gophers before the WCHA Final Face-Off and a possible NCAA tournament appearance.

The Minnesota Gophers men’s golf team returns five of its top scorers and eight letterwinners from the 2019 fall season – the last time the team competed in NCAA play. More than a year removed from their last official season, Angus Flanagan and Justin Smith are more than ready to get back to business and recently discussed their familiarity and experience, or lack thereof, playing at each of the courses on the schedule.

Here are their thoughts on each course they’ll play on this season’s schedule.

Feb. 5-6: Big Ten Match Play at Hammock Beach Resort (Palm Coast, Florida)

Flanagan: It gets pretty windy down there in Palm Coast. Last year it was pretty brutal the first two days having a wind that caused three or four putts. It can get really cold since it is right on the ocean of North Florida. We obviously didn’t have COVID testing last year so it will definitely be a different experience.

Smith: Familiarity is a big and important thing. Ultimately one of my goals is to build a schedule that brings more familiarity at all times. Hammock, luckily, is very familiar, yet later in our schedule we have to find some new golf courses that suit our team’s strengths. All the teams competing at Hammock are close with the course so it comes down to who is playing sharp to start off the year. The golf course in general, there’s not many secrets to it. If the weather is great you see a lot of birdies and if it isn’t then you don’t see any because it is right on the coast and the mixture of winds and cooler temps are hard to prepare for. The great thing about our team though is that we have an abundance of players that have been competing in those tough elements down south during COVID-19 so I think as a whole our team will be well prepared.

March 8-9: Spartan Collegiate at Sea Island Resort (Sea Island, Georgia)

Flanagan: I’ve never played Sea Island. There’s a course just north of it called Ocean Forest where the Jones Cup is. I played that last year and it’s very different to what I think Sea Island is. Sea Island is a Georgia-South Carolina coastal course which is built on a marsh with some greens built right on the marsh, so it goes from straight greens to marshland. I love playing those kinds of courses. It’s a great challenge.

Smith: I don’t know a ton about Sea Island yet … At the core of our schedule, we want to play in championship courses that are going to test our guys. There are two courses in the Sea Island Resort, Seaside and Plantation. Seaside is the one that hosts PGA tour events and it is the facility we are going to and playing at. We always motivate our guys to not fluke their game around and be sharp on all areas and we test that by playing on PGA tour courses. Driving the golf ball on professional courses like Seaside is so imperative. Making great decisions coming into the green complexes and getting your ball in the right spots is also crucial. Normally, the greens are pristine, not too unforgiving, so you can build confidence by nailing a ton of puts. This tournament will be a ball striking test no doubt.

March 25-27: The Goodwin at Stanford Golf Course (Palo Alto, California)

Flanagan: I played The Goodwin my freshman year. Stanford, during that time, was re-doing their course, so we golfed at TPC-Harding Park. It was the site of the 2020 PGA Championship, the one that Collin Morikawa won. I’ve only heard good things about that golf course and I have a buddy that actually played at Stanford and he says that place is really pure. It’ll be fun to go out there and see some familiar faces with a talented field as well. Stanford gets a lot of schools to play at The Goodwin from the west coast that are quite good. Stanford on its own has a tremendous team with Karl Vilips and Michael Thorbjornsen, two freshmen that are already ranked like top-50 in the world.

Smith: Stanford has hosted NCAA regionals in the past and it is another championship course, which is a common theme in our schedule. The course is good enough to even host the NCAA Finals, since it presents such a great challenge. Team building is important when focusing on these kinds of courses since we have to spread our wings a little bit playing against a non-Big Ten focused field. We are very familiar with this course and it’ll suit us well since we know it like the back of our hands. So, all we have to do on our end is execute.

April 3-4: Hoosier Invitational at Phau Golf Course (Bloomington, Indiana)

Smith: This tournament is where our schedule jumpstarts a big part of our schedule. Phau is almost a brand new golf course. It’s a place that, after talking to Indiana’s head coach, they can host any event in the world there, even PGA major championships. We’ve got the best player in the Big Ten, we’ve got a sophomore coming off of a second team All-Big Ten [season], and most of our players are returning. Our team is ready for a course like this and once again it’ll be a challenge for them to develop into the next level of player that they want to be after playing in the Maroon and Gold. This event will bring a strong Big Ten field and a lot of local Division I teams around Indiana.

April 10-11: Boilermaker Invitational at Kampen Golf Course (West Lafayette, Indiana)

Flanagan: A lot of the guys loved it when they went down at one point to play some Indiana courses on the campuses of Bloomington and Purdue. In courses like Kampen, you have to be a ball-striker to get around it easily, and that’s what I pride myself in. I like playing tee-to-green, and in those situations I can compete with anyone. For example, at the 2019 Big Ten Championships at Philly Cricket, you have to be good off the tee, good into greens and good on the greens. I love being mentally tough on those courses.

Smith: I played a regional at Kampen my senior year in college. It’s a course filled with fescue and heather grass and is pretty open. At this time of the year, it can get windy or cold, which means it can be an unbelievable test. Very similar situation with the Hoosier Invitational with a lot of midwestern, Big Ten schools with a few teams from down south or out east. This course, when I scheduled it, I knew it would favor our team’s playstyle for long drives instead of playing a short and rinky-dink approach. Our team is primed to hit long drives and hitting mid-irons really well, and a shorter course that goes driver then wedges don’t really suit us.

April 17-18: Git R Done Husker Invitational at Firethorn Golf Course (Lincoln, Nebraska)

Smith: I’ve never been to Firethorn, some of our players have. This is a brand new event for us since it is taking the place of the Hawkeye Invitational, a tournament where we have regularly never performed our best at. Iowa sets their field and course up for us that made me think it was the right time for a change. I think Firethorn is something that models the Kampen Golf Course look, which is similar to Wynnsong Farms in Minnesota. Out of all courses, this is the one I know the least about, but as soon as we get close to playing in Nebraska as a team we will have a better grasp of it.

April 30-May 2: Big Ten Championships at Crooked Stick Golf Course (Carmel, Indiana)

Flanagan: My story about first playing at Crooked Stick was pretty interesting. I wasn’t, at first, supposed to be playing in the Western Amateur, the tournament where Crooked Stick was hosting. I was supposed to be returning home after the 3M Open. But, unfortunately due to COVID-19, I could not go back. Crooked Stick was a course that had held some PGA events and even some majors … Playing there, you have a lot of instances of hitting long-mid irons into greens that are par-4s and par-5s, which plays into my game well. After arriving in Carmel, I really saw how unbelievable the course was. The greens are firm and fast which benefits my style of putting … Immediately after the 3M Open tournament, I felt way more comfortable and played some of the best golf I’ve ever played. The reason for that was because I had much more confidence. It was a blessing in disguise that I played in the 3M Open at TPC-Twin Cities before Crooked Stick because playing in an amateur tournament right after a professional one, I had the clear mindset of: “I deserve to be here.”

Smith: If anyone’s got the best opportunity to go into Crooked Stick and win it’s definitely Angus, considering his success there this past summer. The spring does bring colder weather and less forgiving conditions than playing in late July. On courses like this, you have to be firing on all cylinders as a golfer and if any part of your game is off, you will get exposed. It’ll be the culmination of what we set our sites on, and that is any year of winning a Big Ten championship. Crooked Stick is a long course and the hole locations are brutal where you can’t get away with anything, if you are a tad off you are a lot off. It really separates the men from the boys.

The Minnesota Gophers women’s hockey team enters the shortened 2020-21 season ranked No. 4 in the nation.

The Gophers will play four two-game series versus the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers, the No. 8 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, and the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes. The Gophers will play Ohio both home and away.

Head coach Brad Frost spoke to the team’s challenging schedule in the 2020-21 season.

“Obviously these are some of the three best teams in the country that we are playing so it’ll be a great challenge,” he said. “Quite frankly, as a team, we could care less about who we play, we just want to play. We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to step out on the ice this year due to unique circumstances.”

What is especially daunting about the Gophers’ opponents is every team they face has at least one player in the All-WCHA preseason team. For the team’s opening series against Ohio State, the Buckeyes return leading point scorer in Emma Maltais and goaltender Andrea Braendli who are both featured on the All-WCHA preseason squad.

The Gophers are returning their starting blue line from a season ago in Olivia Knowles and Emily Brown. Brown was the sole Gopher representing Minnesota on the All-WCHA squad. The team also returns its top-three goal scorers from a season ago in Grace Zumwinkle, Taylor Heise and Amy Potomak. Frost also is welcoming a big freshman class with open arms.

“We’re really excited about our class; there’s seven of them, which is a bigger one compared to other years. We have some dynamic players in Abbey Murphy, Anne Cherkowski, Maggie Nicholson, and more which will provide needed depth,” Frost said. “As coaches we expect them to receive a lot of experience and playing time this year.”

Frost also thinks Murphy is the most dynamic freshman in the country, noting she has “great speed, has a knack for scoring and plays with a chip on her shoulder.”

“She’s a special player and will continue to be electrifying. People will definitely see why she was voted WCHA preseason rookie of the year,” he said.

If Murphy does win WCHA rookie of the year at the season’s conclusion she will be the second straight Gopher to do so, following Madeline Wethington in 2019-20.

The Gophers open their season against Ohio State at Ridder Arena this weekend on Saturday at 3:07 p.m. and Sunday at 2:07 p.m. The team is prepared for a tough opponent.

“They are a fast, uber-talented and hardworking team, yet we have a lot of quick skaters, so in practice we’ve been trying to to have a raised tempo in preparation for this weekend,” Knowles said. “And regardless if we are playing a speedy team like the Buckeyes, we want to get back to playing and practicing like we are competing in crucial games because it has been a while since we all have been in pressurizing, win-loss situations on the ice due to COVID-19.”

Knowles also added the Gophers are adding a lot of “interchangeability” to their lines this season due to unknown circumstances with the pandemic. Players could be forced to miss time if they were to test positive. The expected starting forward line of Heise, Zumwinkle, Potomak with Knowles and Brown anchoring the blue line, could shift at any point this season.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated which teams the Gophers would play home and away games against.

The Minnesota Gophers have had their struggles defensively, but one constant has been their high-octane passing attack with a 62% completion rate, averaging 8.2 yards per passing attempt.

Tanner Morgan and his receiving corps had an opportunity to torch an Iowa Hawkeyes secondary with three starters from last season having graduated. That was not the case Friday night.

The Gophers defense without their best linebacker, Mariano Sori-Marin, held the Hawkeyes to 14 points through three quarters, yet unlike any of their past games this season, not much was working on offense. Aside from Mohamed Ibrahim, who averaged four yards per carry, the rest of the offense – particularly the passing attack – was non-existent.

The Hawkeyes also underperformed, with only 111 passing yards on Friday, but that isn’t their bread and butter. With Morgan, who was on on the Davey O’Brien award watchlist in the preseason, and a projected first round NFL draft pick in Rashod Bateman at wide receiver, the Gophers were expected to move the ball and put points on the board.

Yet, they didn’t score until with 14 seconds left in regulation to Bateman.

The second half was a slightly better representation of what occurred in the first half. Bateman accumulated most of the receiving yards with Morgan nearly every play glancing towards his way as his primary read. Besides Bateman, nobody else in the receiving core stepped up with Iowa defensive backs in Jack Koerner and Riley Moss flying around the gridiron and making two key interceptions. Chris Autman-Bell, a regular staple in the Gophers passing attack, was ghosted most of the contest showing a meager three receptions for 24 yards.

Overall, Morgan had his most dismal performance donning the maroon and gold. He posted a 88.9 quarterback rating with a 48.5% completion percentage throwing for 167 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Before Friday, his lowest quarterback rating as a starter was against No. 22 Northwestern in 2018 with a 108.9.

Head coach P.J. Fleck spoke to the offense’s struggles on Friday.

“[Iowa] did a really good job mixing their coverages up and getting pressure on Tanner. We also dropped way too many balls, with a lot of our drives ending with dropping catchable passes,” Fleck said.

Morgan similarly acknowledged Iowa’s defensive pressure and took much of the blame for Friday’s loss.

“Iowa does a great job defensively with their scheme,” Morgan said. “They played an incredible game and we need to execute as players and that starts with me.”

The Gophers will look to get back on track on Nov. 20 when they host Purdue.

This weekend the Gophers’ men’s golf team made a gigantic splash with eight players earning top-25 finishes in three amateur tournaments.

In the GCAA South Bend Amateur, Thomas Longbella finished tied for 10th. In the Hoosier Amateur, Will Grevlos finished T-25, Harry Plowman-Ollington T-22, Harrison Arnold T-19, Evan Long T-17, Lincoln Johnson T-8 and sophomore Connor Glynn secured fifth place.

On the conditions of the Hoosier Amateur, played near the campus of Indiana University, Glynn said, “It was cold, the last day was pretty windy and the setup was super hard … On Sunday, the wind was oddly blowing in a different direction than the first three days, which made tee shots visually tougher because some fairways were harder to hit.”

Glynn entered the final day in second place and due to the tough conditions placed fifth. Overall, Glynn was very positive about his putting performance. Meanwhile for Johnson, even with the unfavorable weather, he was still able to shoot the third-lowest score of the day. According to Glynn, Johnson shot +3.

Yet, the star of the weekend was senior Angus Flanagan. Flanagan finished first in the Minnesota Golf Champions tournament, shooting -12.

The tournament field takes all the past Minnesota State PGA Open champions and high place finishers in other major Minnesota golf tournaments and pits the talented golfers head to head.

“I was pretty scrappy the first two rounds, but [Sunday] was the best I’ve hit it in awhile,” Flanagan said.

Flanagan scored a 7-under-par 66 on the day and said he thought he even could have scored lower.

“I don’t mean to sound like a brat, but everyone was telling me that I should be excited that I shot seven under, but I knew deep down I could’ve had a much better round. I missed two key eagle putts and could’ve had more birdies with better chips,” Flanagan said. “It’s amazing to win this tournament at a challenging course in Golden Valley Country Club.”

Head coach Justin Smith was pleased with the performance of his team in these amateur events, particularly while they’re playing in a stretch without NCAA events and much competitive play against collegiate golfers. Smith said he can’t wait for the spring.

“I absolutely think this is the team most prepared to go deep into May and compete in the 2021 NCAA finals. As a team, we have an incredibly strong feeling that we can compete with the best of the best,” Smith said.

On Sept. 10, Minnesota athletics director Mark Coyle announced plans to cut three men’s sports, including indoor and outdoor track and field, tennis and gymnastics, starting in the 2021 academic year. On Oct. 9, the Board of Regents will vote on this decision, either pushing it through or starting from square one.

The department cited financial and Title IX concerns in making its decision. The department projected a $75 million loss in revenue if no sports were played this fall. The University has also seen growth among women in its undergraduate enrollment, forcing the department to cut men’s roster spots to meet Title IX compliance. However, after cutting three men’s sports, the department expects to cut 41 spots in women’s sports to fall back into compliance. The U expects to cut 57 men’s roster spots with the elimination of the three sports.

Cutting three men’s programs put the roster spots at 59% women and 41% men. The University needs 54% women and 46% men to respect current gender percentages who attend the University to allow equal opportunities and meet Title IX compliance.

The cuts on the women’s side include cross country losing 14 members, rowing losing 15, swimming and diving losing eight and the track teams losing 18. Other sports like softball, golf, and gymnastics will also lose a few roster spots as well.

One of the coaches affected by this proposal was Mike Burns of the men’s gymnastics team. Burns has had a long successful career as the head coach of the program, including a tremendous season last year, where the Gophers finished second at the NCAA championships for the fourth time in program history, and the best team finish since 1990. He’s been in favor of rethinking this plan. If there has to be cuts for sports, don’t kill the entire program, cut roster spots to reduce scholarship money given out to student-athletes.

“If you have skin cancer on someone’s face, you don’t cut the whole head off altogether,” Burns said.

The Gophers are one of 15 remaining collegiate gymnastics clubs for current and future Olympic athletes to practice and compete for.

Former members of these programs have voiced their opinions and are coming up with mathematical solutions to fix the issue. Don Carper, an alum of the men’s gymnastics program who has a background in data science and business intelligence, has proposed a popular solution. This plan would add eight women’s spots while reducing 38 roster spots for men. This could save 24 roster spots for men’s sports while still letting prestigious programs stay afloat and continue to give kids opportunities to continue their athletic careers at the University and stay on the team if already committed to Minnesota.

“You can always trim the fat. Don’t punish the students, you can always make cuts internally. I know that they did 10% pay cuts/headcount reductions but there is a lot of more frivolous spending if you look into the meat of the U’s financial decisions,” Carper said. “For example, no knock on this team but the football program spent $1 million on just to feed the team last season. I’m not quite sure what they are eating, and that’s much more than 115 of me would consume in a year.”

Another wrinkle in this predicament is the return of the biggest revenue booster for the University’s athletics department. Football is back. So, this announcement by Coyle and a vote in the October Board of Regents meeting before the season starts on Oct. 24 may be premature from a budgetary standpoint. According to former women’s cross country coach Gary Wilson, it’s a “whole new ballgame.”

Michael Hsu, a member of the Minnesota Board of Regents who is in favor of a new plan is also not sure why this decision is happening before the football season commences.

“I feel like this [cutting women’s sports] is part of their original plan, this isn’t a new development. The new development is that football is back. There will be much more money coming into our revenue stream playing nine games [versus] the usual 12 with no fans than not playing at all,” Hsu said.

With football returning after the decision by Coyle was made to cut men’s gymnastics, track and field, and tennis coupled with public backlash of removing roster positions on women’s sports teams should prove a challenge for the Board of Regents. The future of Gophers’ athletics will be decided on Oct. 9.

With the Big Ten bowing out of fall competition, the Gophers’ men’s golf team is facing a fall season without collegiate play.

Two upperclassmen, Angus Flanagan and Thomas Longbella, played well this past summer competing in tournaments not affiliated with the NCAA. Flanagan won the Minnesota State Open and earned a spot as an amateur in the professional 3M Open. Longbella had a special weekend in the Wisconsin State Open, finishing fifth, and won the Lake Wissota Open in his hometown of Chippewa Falls.

Even without fall competition, things are looking up for the men’s golf program, which hasn’t risen to the top of the pack in quite some time. Head coach Justin Smith, who was a key player for the Gophers when they reached the NCAA Finals three times (in 2001, 2002 and 2003) and won back-to-back Big Ten titles in 2002 and 2003, would wholeheartedly agree.

“Specifically for Angus and Thomas, they competed at a high level we haven’t seen out of Gophers for a long time in the summer months. Them finishing high and winning tough tournaments, competing with some of the best players locally and in the world, are priceless opportunities not just for them but the program as a whole,” Smith said.

Aside from the high praise he has for the upperclassmen on the roster, Smith is also excited about newcomers on the team — freshmen Alex Eickhoff and Ben Warian.

“They fit our culture amazingly. They are coming into a team that was prepared to win a Big Ten championship and go deep into the NCAAs last year, and we’ve got just about everybody back from that squad. Alex is someone who hits the ball really far, who could tidy up some scoring opportunity areas, and Ben is someone that plots it along, similar to Connor Glynn, and needs some more precision to his game. These are two guys who are going to be tremendous fixtures for the future of our team,” he said. “Great students that are even greater people. Can’t wait to continue to see what they have in store for us.”

Smith’s overall goal for his team this fall is to provide his players with opportunities to continue improving, which means competing. Student-athletes need to continue playing against top competition during the offseason to prepare for similar situations when it matters.

Making calls to different country clubs around the Twin Cities and trying to find open tournaments is crucial to keep his players ready heading into the spring. For a Gophers’ team brewing with talent, if the team has continued success in noncollegiate play this fall, perhaps that will lead to a spectacular spring.

“Just for our players, seeing their scores next to their names online after playing a round of 18, having that consistent formula of using our indoor and outdoor facilities the best we can at Les Bolstad and playing in tournaments with top competition like our golfers did in the summer will prepare our men for a smooth transition into the spring,” he said.