Huskers Rally, but Fall to Gophers

Lincoln - Sophomore forward Mayme Conroy scored her 12th and 13th goals of the season to tie Friday afternoon's game at 2-2 with just over five minutes to play in regulation, but the Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-7-1, 6-4-1 Big Ten) responded with a pair of goals to escape Lincoln with a 4-2 win over the Nebraska soccer team (7-11-1, 4-7-0 Big Ten).  Even with the loss in their regular-season finale, the Huskers season continues when they open play at next week's Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 31, and will play at either 9:30 a.m. (CT) or 3:30 p.m. (CT).

The Huskers now have to wait until the completion of Indiana's 6 p.m. (CT) game with Ohio State to find out where they will be seeded at next week's Big Ten Tournament. With a loss by the Hoosiers, NU will secure the No. 7 seed at the tournament, but will fall to the No. 8 seed following a win or tie by the Hoosiers.

The Gophers struck early in the game with a pair of goals in the first half to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. The Huskers got seven shots off in the first half, but were unable to find a way to get the ball by Gopher goalie Cat Parkhill.

The Huskers continued to fight and finally broke through at 76:18 when Caroline Flynn drew three defenders and passed the ball to Caroline Gray, who sliced the ball to an open Conroy at the top of the box from 40 yards away. Conroy got a step on a Minnesota defender and fired from 15 yards in front of the net to get the Huskers on the board. The Omaha native struck again at 84:54 with a header off a cross from Maritza Hayes.

With the game tied at 2-2 and less than five minutes remaining, the Gophers' Lauren Bauer put in her first goal of the season at 87:55, as she buried a header off a corner kick from Taylor Wodnick. Allie Phillps also scored at 88:44 on an open goal, as NU goalie Emma Stevens was away from the goal trying to help push Nebraska's offense.