Minnesota Golden Gopher defender Kylie Kallman was named to the SoccerBuzz Elite Team of the Week Wednesday for her play during the Gophers’ weekend matches with Northwestern (Friday) and Wisconsin (Sunday).

Kallman, a freshman out of Woodbury, Minn., was honored along with her sister, Krystle, a junior defender at West Virginia University. Kylie and Krystle become just the second pair of sisters to be named to the team during the same week and the first in over five years. Tina Frimpong (Washington), currently a member of the U.S. National Team, and her sister Crystal Frimpong (Florida) both made the team during the week of Sept. 2, 2003.

The Kallmans are just the third set of sisters to ever make the SoccerBuzz Elite Team, joining the Frimpongs and Megan and Rachael Rapinoe of Portland.

Click here to view the SoccerBuzz Elite Team. Kallman is the first Gopher to be named to the SoccerBuzz weekly team since Rachel Roth on Sept. 17, 2002.

The Golden Gophers recorded two more shutouts over the weekend in road matches with the Wildcats and Badgers, giving them three straight shutouts in Big Ten play for the first time since 2005 (Minnesota also upset No. 8 Penn State 1-0 in double overtime Oct. 21). The Gophers held the Badgers without a shot on goal Sunday afternoon and have notched seven shutouts this season.

SoccerBuzz.com selects 18 players weekly from the over 5,000 Division I women’s soccer athletes to be represented on the Elite Team. Kallman, one of just four defenders named to this week’s team, was also named the Big Ten’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 22. Kallman has started all 17 matches for head coach Mikki Denney Wright and played every minute of every match for the Golden Gophers so far this season. She has collected one goal and two assists.

Kylie’s older sister Krystle is a 2004 graduate of Woodbury High School and has was named to the SoccerBuzz Elite Team for the second time in 2007. Krystle has started all 18 matches for the 13-4-1 Moutaineers in 2007.

The Gophers (9-7-1, 5-4 Big Ten) return home Friday night for their regular season finale against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Kick-off will be at 7 p.m. at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium on the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus.

Minnesota has also clinched a spot in the 2007 Big Ten Tournament, which will be hosted at ELR Stadium for the first time in program history. Opening round matches will be played on Thursday, Nov. 8 beginning at 11 a.m. Minnesota will be the No. 4, 5 or 6 seed and will play its opening round match at either 5 p.m. or 8 p.m.