Gophers soccer: Sophia Boman carves out a time-tested legacy at the U

Sophia Boman has been the iron woman for Gophers soccer.

If Minnesota is playing a match, the Edina native is patrolling somewhere in the midfield. She has amassed 7,451 minutes — oh, and 32 seconds — since 2020. That’s 98% of the Gophers’ game time across that span, including a current streak of 29 consecutive 90-minute shifts since last season.

But for her graduate season this fall, U coach Erin Chastain asked her most indispensable player to somehow give her more. Due to the domino effect of injuries, Chastain needed Boman to move from her role as a creative central/attacking midfielder to the more nitty gritty defensive mid spot. She has traded the shine that comes with goals and assists as a No. 8/10 for the dirty work of aerial duels, tackles and the pass before the pass associated with being a No. 6.

In the eyes of her coach, Boman’s willingness to sacrifice in the name of the team has made her a wonder woman.

“Boman is a Gopher,” Chastain said. “I just love that she chose to stay here and finish her fifth year. It really speaks to the legacy she is going to leave in our program as a captain, as a performer and all-Big Ten player. I can’t speak highly enough about her.”

Boman captains the Gophers into the Big Ten women’s soccer tournament on their home field this week. The seventh-seeded Gophers will play No. 10 Penn State in a first-round match at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.

Forward Khyah Harper has led the front line for the Gophers this season; she is second in the nation with 17 goals scored. But Boman has been a linchpin in front of the back line.

“She is amazing right there in that spot,” Harper said of Boman. “I think she holds it down back there. I don’t think anyone else could do what she does this year.”

Boman went to a Minnesota United game this summer and given her position switch zeroed in on the Loons’ D-mid Wil Trapp. Her game resembles Trapp’s in her desire to connect passes out of the back.

“It’s still being able to find my creativity in the role as a six,” Boman said. “That’s what can make you special. Opponents maybe don’t expect some things, and you’re still able to do that. But I also think that playing higher up in the past has given me a vision of what I like from someone playing the six underneath me. So it’s kind of given me more perspective on the role.”

Boman’s work load is even more impressive when considering midfielders log the most miles covered of any position in matches. In college soccer, that often comes in the form of two games in a week.

“She is able to compete and be the same player from a Thursday to a Sunday,” Chastain said. “Which after playing the load that she plays, I think, speaks to the engine she has.”

Boman has still found the net. She scored the game-winning goal, a penalty kick, in a 2-1 win over No. 11 Iowa on Sunday and was named Big Ten defensive player of the week Tuesday. Boman’s swan song has come with the Gophers on the upswing. The U is 12-3-3 overall and 6-3-2 Big Ten play. They have two top 15 wins this season, were undefeated at home in the regular season and are vying for an NCAA tournament spot.

Boman, a biology major, wants to become a doctor, following in the footsteps of her pediatrician mother and other family members who are physicians. But unsurprisingly she wants to play more soccer once she is done at the U and will try out for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) or USL Super League. That road will start after this season is over.

“It’s been awesome, and luckily, I’ve been blessed to stay healthy all my time here,” Boman said. “I love to play soccer.”

It shows.