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MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 11 University of Minnesota women's soccer team heads to Madison, Wis. to take on the Wisconsin Badgers for a 6:00 p.m. border battle match on Fri. Oct. 2.

After defeating Purdue and Indiana last week, the Maroon and Gold are 9-1-2 overall and 4-0-0 in Big Ten play, leading the conference pack.

In the NSCAA rankings this week, Minnesota moved from No. 18 to No. 11.

The last time the Gophers were ranked in the NSCAA Top 25 was 10/24/10 (23rd) and Top 15 10/17/10 (15th).

Minnesota last sat atop the conference in 2008 when they clinched the conference crown.

LAST TIME OUT
Last Friday, Minnesota hosted the Purdue Boilermakers in a nightcap at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium with an end result of a 3-1 victory.

Five minutes into the first half, junior co-captain Simone Kolander scored the first goal of the night to pull Minnesota ahead off a double assist by sophomore Maddie Gaffney and junior Josee Stiever.

Fifteen minutes later, Gaffney scored a goal of her own off an assist from freshman Molly Fiedler, the first of Fiedler's career.

The Boilermakers responded to the 2-0 deficit coming into the second half as Makaela Nellams converted a penalty after the Gophers fouled in the box.

Not wanting to end on an opponent point, sophomore Sydney Squires netted her third goal of the season off an assist from freshman April Bockin.

On Sunday, Minnesota continues their two-game homestand with a match-up against the Indiana Hoosiers. 

The Gophers were the first to get on the board as Bockin netted her second career goal from a shot right of the box.

Indiana's Carolina Dreher scored the second goal of the match and the lone tally for the Hoosiers, leaving the teams knotted at 1-1. Seven minutes later, Kolander scored her seventh goal of the season off a Gaffney assist. 

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Stiever scored the final goal of the game from service by Fiedler, her second assist of the weekend.

The last time the Gophers met the Badgers was last November in West Lafayette, Ind. in a 1-0 loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

THE OPPONENT 
The Badgers are coming off a two-game win streak after defeating the Gophers' weekend match-ups, Purdue and Indiana.

On Friday, Indiana made a stop in Madison before heading to Minnesota and fell 3-0 at the McClimon Soccer Complex. 

All three of the Badgers' goals came in the first half, as Kinley McNicoll was the first to score off a McKenna Meuer assist. 

Four minutes after the first points on the board, Meuer notched one of her own, her fourth goal of the season, off service from Kylie Schwartz.

With one minute to go in the first half, Steph Fabry found the back of the net with an assist from Victoria Pickett for the game-winning and final goal of the match.

In Sunday's match-up against Purdue, the Badgers shutout the Boilermakers, 1-0.

With the lone and game-winning goal of the match, Meuer tallied her 5h goal, making her the team's lead in putting it in the back of the net. 

B1G HONORS - APRIL BOCKIN
On Tuesday, Bockin earned her second Big Ten Freshman of the Week plaudit of her career and of the month (9/8/15).

Her assist and goal last weekend in the 3-1 wins over Indiana and Purdue qualified her for the weekly honors.

LOOKING AHEAD
Next week, Minnesota continues Big Ten play as they take Nebraska for a 7:05 p.m. match against the Cornhuskers on Thurs. Oct. 8, followed by a trip to Iowa City on Sun. Oct. 11 for a noon match-up with the Hawkeyes.

FOLLOW THE GOPHERS
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