There isn’t a Marie listed on the Gophers women’s soccer roster, but she is an important part of the team. Marie doesn’t play a position, but she goes everywhere with the squad, which is convenient because she is the size of a carry-on roller bag and can be safely stowed in an airplane’s overhead bin. Marie is the name given to U captain defender Elizabeth Overberg’s black JBL PartyBox speaker. Marie is in Chapel Hill, N.C., for the Gophers’ game against South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tournament at 1 p.m. Friday. Minnesota is making its first national tournament appearance since 2018, but Marie’s inclusion shows that the Gophers aren’t taking themselves too seriously. Near the start of the season, forward Khyah Harper choreographed a dance to Michel Jackson’s “Beat It” for a handful of teammates to perform before road matches. The ensemble includes Overberg, Sophia Boman, Avery Petty, Alex Isaacs, Aaryn Gabriel, Sophia Romine and Evelyn Calhoon. The Gophers finished the regular season at home, hosted the start of the Big Ten tournament and began the NCAA run with a 2-0 win over South Dakota State last week, so they haven’t done the dance more than a month. The routine — superstition? — is to do the performance the day before the game, which they did Thursday. “They were a little rusty,” Harper reported. “They got a redo because first one did not go very well. But the second one, they definitely brought the energy.” Did head coach Erin Chastain join in? She is, after all, coming off her first career NCAA tournament win. “That would be a miracle to get her to do it,” Harper shared. But the tradition has brought the players together and their on-field success is due, in part, to their chemistry, said Harper, the Big Ten forward of the year with 17 goals in 20 matches. “Our team is super close, so it’s really easy to play well together when we’re on the field,” Harper said. “And I think that we just all have the same end goal … just winning.” The sixth-seeded Gophers (13-4-3) will be tested by No. 3 seed South Carolina (11-3-7) on Friday. While Minnesota is in the tournament for the first time in six years, the Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference are making their 12th straight appearance. “They seem like they’re a really good team, but we know that we are, too,” Harper said. “So we kind of just focus on ourselves and know that we can bring a lot to the table, and we’re a really good team. We’re in the round of 32 for a reason. We can match up against any competition, but we also know that anyone can win on any given day, so I think just bringing our best effort versus them and we can get a result that we want.” If the U wins again and reaches the Sweet Sixteen, there will be another dance recital in the Gophers’ near future. Related Articles College Sports | Gophers soccer: Sophia Boman carves out a time-tested legacy at the U