There may not be any football this weekend for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any activity on campus. Five different Gophers programs will host home games between Friday
and Saturday including a visit from a #1 ranked team in the nation. Here s the full Gophers weekend calendar and how you can keep up with all the action.
Friday November 7th:
Swimming and Diving vs Wisconsin 5 PM B1G+
The Gopher swimming and diving teams return home to the Jean K Freeman Natatorium for their version of the Border Battle when the Wisconsin Badgers hop over from Madison. The Gopher men and women are both ranked #24 in the nation headed into the meet, while Wisconsin’s women are ranked #15 and the men #22.
The Gopher women enter the meet with a 5-1 record on the season—their only blemish coming in a team competition with the men against #20 Auburn in The Duel Meet. Last weekend the women went into Iowa City with 13 first place finishes out of 16 total events to pick up a Halloween victory on the road against Iowa, 190-109.
The men are 3-1 on the season with the loss to Auburn their only drawback. They most recently are coming off the The Duel Meet where after the opening loss to Auburn, the Gophers bounced back to take 5th place with wins over George Washington and host Georgia Tech.
The meet against the Badgers is set for a 5 PM start and will be streamed live on B1G+. Admission is free and free t-shirts are being given away as supplies last.
Men’s Hockey vs Notre Dame 7 PM Fox9+/B1G+
The Gopher men’s hockey team returns home after their dismal weekend in Madison last week to face Notre Dame in a Big Ten series. The Gophers will look to get back on the right side of things after being swept handily by the Badgers last weekend. Minnesota has struggled out of the gate so far this year recording just a 2-7-1 record to start the season.
Minnesota has been battling through some injuries and illnesses and is still expected to be missing Omaha transfer center Tanner Ludke with a viral illness for the third consecutive weekend.
Minnesota dropped out of the national polls this week for the first time since 2020. Coincidentally the last time this happened Feb. 15, 2020, when they defeated Notre Dame before returning to the polls at No. 18 the following week. Minnesota’s current four-game losing streak matches its longest winless stretch since the 1997-98 season, when the program dropped nine straight games from Nov. 8 to Dec. 20.
Minnesota’s biggest weakness is on offense at the moment. The Gophers are averaging just 2.2 goals per game which puts them 49th in the nation. That won’t do it in the Big Ten. Minnesota’s special teams have been terrible ranking in the bottom 20 percent of the nation in both.
The good news is that Notre Dame has not been great this season either. They opened Big Ten play last weekend hosting the Michigan Wolverines and earning just one point with a 5-3 loss in Friday’s opener before falling 2-1 in overtime Saturday. The Gophers will need to stay out of the box as the Irish have been good at certain things. Notre Dame is averaging 3.5 goals per game, aided by the nation’s fourth-best faceoff percentage and a strong power play converting at 32 percent (9-for-28). Discipline has been an issue as the Irish rank fourth nationally with 145 total penalty minutes (18.1 per game) and have surrendered five goals while shorthanded. RPI transfer Sutter Muzzatti leads the team with six goals and nine points, while four teammates have tallied seven points apiece. In goal, Nicholas Kempf has started all eight contests, recording a 3.22 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage.
Face off is set for 7 PM Friday with the game airing locally on Fox9+ and streaming on B1G+.
Women’s Basketball vs Manhattan 7 Pm B1G+
The Gopher women’s basketball team is back on the Williams Arena court for their second game of the season after beginning the year with a 91-47 win over North Dakota. it was a debut to remember for freshman Makenna Christian who led all scorers with 25 points. Minnesota dominated in the paint with Sophie Hart adding 16 points and San Jose State transfer Finau Tonga adding 14. The Gophers only got a combined ten points from Mara Braun, Grace Grocholski and Amaya Battle, but they didn’t need to. Battle contributed in other ways leading the Gophers with 10 rebounds and adding seven assists. Braun left eh game with cramping issues but is expected to be fine to play on Friday.
Manhattan comes in 0-1 after a season opening 56-38 home loss to Rhode Island. The Jaspers were led by 5’8″ senior guard Brianna Davis with 18 points. The Jaspers were predicted to finish 7th in the MAAC. It’s the 10th season under head coach Heather Vulin who was a basketball and volleyball player at Minnesota-Morris.
The teams have met once before in the semifinals of the WBI Tournament in 2012. Second seeded Minnesota defeated the eighth seeded Jaspers, 67-54. Then freshman Rachel Banham scoring 14 points in the win.
Tip is set for 7 PM and will stream live on B1G+
Saturday November 8th:
Men’s Basketball vs Alcorn State 11 AM Peacock
The Gopher men’s basketball team goes back to work in the second game of the season after an opening 87-60 win over Gardner-Webb on Monday night. Cade Tyson led the way for Minnesota with 30 points as Colorado State transfer Jaylen Crocker-Johnson added a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Our full preview of the game is HERE. Tip is set for 11 AM and will stream on Peacock.
Volleyball vs #1 Nebraska 2:30 PM Peacock
The Gopher volleyball team returns home to face the #1 ranked team in the nation in the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday afternoon. #22 Minnesota will look to bounce back from a loss in Madison on Wednesday night 3-1 to the #11 ranked Badgers. It won’t be easy against the undefeated Cornhuskers. How dominant is Nebraska? They are 23-0 and have lost SIX sets all season. They are 13-0 in Big Ten play and have yet to drop a set. Just steamrolling through the rest of the conference. First serve is set for 2:30 PM and will be a Peacock doubleheader after the men’s basketball game.
Women’s Hockey USA vs Canada 5 PM NHL Network
The Gopher women are off this week but several of their players are playing internationally. The biggest group of those is the USA vs Canada Rivalry series which faces off again for game two on Saturday night in Buffalo, NY. The USA won 4-1 on Thursday, or more appropriately the Gophers defeated Canada 4-1 on Thursday. All four goals were scored by Gophers with Taylor Heise scoring the first one and Abbey Murphy recoding a natural hat trick to end the game with a 4-1 USA win. Faceoff for Game 2 is set for 5 PM and will air live on NHL Network.
Men’s Hockey vs Notre Dame 7 PM Fox9+/B1g+
Game two of the series between the Gophers and Fighting Irish is set for a 7 PM faceoff.
Sunday November 9th:
Wresting @ Bison Open, Fargo ND 10 AM
The Gopher wrestling team hits the mats for the second time this season as they head to the Bison Open hosted by North Dakota State on Sunday morning. Along with North Dakota State, the Bison Open field is expected to include wrestlers from Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota State and other regional 4-year and 2-year programs.
Minnesota stated off the season last week at the Southeast Open hosted by Virginia Tech with four event victories. World Champion Max McNelly took the weekend off, but Minnesota got great performances from redshirt heavyweight Koy Hopke at Heavyweight, Vance VomBaur at 141, Wyoming transfer Jore Volk at 125, and Charlie Millard at 157.
Hopke was the most impressive knocking off three ranked opponents to win the heavyweight title. He missed last season due to injury and dominated from the start of his career by pinning Presbyterian’s George Hopkins at the 1:39 mark. He then shut out No. 30 Stephan Monchery of Appalachian State, 8-0, before another major decision in the semifinals, this time over No. 14 Jimmy Mullen of Virginia Tech, 12-1. In the finals, Hopke had to go up against Gophers teammate and 25th-ranked Bennett Tabor. Both could only register escapes in regulation, but Hopke got the winning takedown in overtime for the 4-1 victory and tournament title. For his efforts he was named both the Big ten Wrestler of the Week and the Big Ten freshman of the Week.
Two-time All-American Vance VomBaur went 5-0 with three bonus-point wins to capture the 141-pound title. Volk made a statement in his first competition with the Maroon and Gold as he won the 125-pound title. Redshirt freshman Charlie Millard looked great at 157 pounds as he went 5-0 and outscored opponents 59-8 to claim the title.
Live stats will be available for Sunday’s action HERE.
Rowing @ Riviana Romp, Charlottesville, VA 11 AM
The Gopher rowing team finishes the 2025 portion of their season with the Riviana Romp hosted by the University of Virginia. Minnesota will see teams from Virginia, North Carolina and Navy.
