The University of Minnesota Duluth soccer program opened its 2021 season in Houghton, Michigan this evening against the Michigan Tech Huskies. Early goals from the Huskies in the third, seventh, and fourteenth minutes of the game would prove too much for the Bulldogs to overcome as the team eventually fell 4-0.

The Huskies pressed early, forcing captain Sophia Grenz to make a save in the first minute of the game. The Huskies opened the scoring in the third minute, slotting the ball into the bottom right corner of the net from a throw in. Michigan Tech would double its lead to 2-0 in the seventh minute, scoring off a corner kick. A third goal from the Huskies would come in the 14th minute from the edge of the box, and a fourth would come in the 25th minute, again from a corner kick.

Freshman Baamlak Haugen would be the first substitution for the Bulldogs tonight, coming in in the 20th minute making her first collegiate start. Freshmen Anna Tobias and Emilia McGiffert and sophomores Jackie Jares, Maddie Felton, Rachel Boelke, and Tori Thorson all made their first collegiate starts in tonight's game as well.

Seven different Bulldogs would record a total of nine total shots in tonight's game. Sarah Stang led the way with three shots, and captain Julia Osborne, Mandy Conkel, Erin Walpole, Holly Kaboord, Emilia McGiffert, and Rachel Boelke would each add a shot as well. Boelke, Walpole, and Stang would all make their shots in the last ten minutes as the Bulldogs pressed the Huskies, but none would find their way to the back of the net.

Goalkeeper Sophia Grenz would record nine saves on the evening.

The Bulldogs will continue their Michigan road trip on Saturday, heading to Marquette to take on the Northern Michigan Wildcats. Kickoff is at 12:00pm CT. See the full season schedule here.