Throughout the 2007 Minnesota Soccer season, gophersports.com will regularly post web "diary" entry from Golden Gophers Sara Johnson and Kaitlin Wagner. Today, Sara gives us her ninth diary entry of the 2007 season, writing in about the Gophers' weekend road sweep over Northwestern and Wisconsin.

Our NCAA Tournament hopes are still alive! This weekend we sweep on the road for the first time in over a year. It was great to get two wins against Northwestern (1-0) and Wisconsin (1-0). Lindsey Schwartz had both the goals this weekend. It was good to see her back in the scoring column. Katie Bethke also had a good weekend offensively adding to her point total as well.

There were so many different people that contributed off the bench. Sara Clancy is one that really sticks out in my mind. She added a lot to our team pressure on the ball this weekend and she held the ball for us up top. She was great in the air and added a lot of energy every time she stepped on the field. She made a huge difference! Katie Shelander and Angie Olson also contributed to the victories giving us an offensive boost every chance they got. Our midfielders owned everything in the air this weekend and our defense played as a tight unit. It was a very rewarding weekend!

Coming into the two games this past weekend we knew how vital it was to win. We went into both games with a post-season mentality. We left everything on the field and played like every game was our last, because in a sense, it could have been if we didn’t perform. We realized that we’re not just playing for a win in the conference; we’re also playing for our seed in the Big Ten Tournament and a birth in the NCAA Tournament. We’re trying to bring Minnesota Soccer somewhere it hasn’t been in years and we’re playing the best soccer we’ve played all year right now there’s a very good chance for success in the post-season. It’s exciting to know that we’re peaking at the right time!

Life is so much better when you’re winning! The team camaraderie is so positive and fun. It’s such a great time to be a part of Minnesota Soccer. Come out and support us Friday as we take on rival Iowa at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. Kick-off is at 7! Every game against Iowa is fight. It’s fun because we have a handful of players on our team that hail from Iowa so the competition lies a little deeper. Hope to see you all there!