The game that propelled the Golden Eagles to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA women's soccer tournament for the first time in program history was delayed six hours due to high winds.
This must have been an ironic twist on the propensity of college students to procrastinate on papers and projects. Surely the last thing either team — No. 12 Marquette and Wisconsin-Milwaukee — wanted to do was wait around in nervous anticipation.
"I did laundry; I watched football with my brother; I couldn't really do a lot," said senior midfielder Lindsay Michuda. "It was a long day, just trying to get mentally focused. It was hard waiting around for six hours."
Marquette fans waited 89 nerve-racking minutes on a cold Sunday night at Valley Fields for someone to score. And then, with 20 seconds left in the game, junior forward Meghan Connelly's goal added yet another magical moment to a dream season.
The ball "was just kind of bouncing around, and it popped out, and I didn't know if (sophomore forward) Christy Zwolski was gonna go get the ball, or I was gonna go," Connelly said. "So I just went."
She chose wisely.
The 1-0 second-round victory over UWM, which had defeated Purdue in penalty kicks on Friday, capped Marquette's in-state sweep after a 1-0 win over Wisconsin in the first round.
Marquette, the region's fourth seed, will travel to top-seeded UCLA in a third-round match this Saturday.
"We haven't really talked too much about getting to this point or what it takes to get to this point," said Marquette head coach Markus Roeders. "We've always tried to embrace the moments along the way."
The moments started in August with an opening night win over nationally-ranked Illinois. They continued with a jaw-dropping 4-1 upset of Notre Dame and five overtime victories over the course of the season. It all culminated in a rematch of the cross-town rivals' encounter on Sept. 7, which ended 0-0.
Sunday's game against UWM was more of the same.
"We would have some really good build-ups but just couldn't get that final chance," Connelly said.
Scoring chances may have been scarce, but the Golden Eagles had a flurry of them around the 18th minute. Zwolski crossed from the left wing, but Panther defender Nicole Motl intervened to deny Michuda an easy tap-in at the far post.
The senior midfielder returned the favor a minute later when her cross from the right wing found Zwolski in the box, but the sophomore drilled the ball right at UWM goalkeeper Erin Kane.
A top-class save from her net-minding counterpart prevented the best scoring chance of the half. Sophomore goalkeeper Laura Boyer tipped a lobbed 25-yard shot from UWM's Brenda Neigbauer onto the crossbar in the 37th minute, and the ball was cleared.
For the third straight match, Marquette's offense was well contained, which has placed a greater burden on Michuda and junior defender Michelle Pitzl to win tackles and break up the opponent's attack. The most consistent strength of the team has indeed been its defense, which has recorded 11 shutouts this season. Connelly's last-gasp goal gave the Golden Eagles just enough offense on the night. The junior played a role in the build-up, as she played the ball across the field to Pitzl, who had vacated her defensive position to chase the ball down the right wing. Pitzl fed it to Friday's goal-scorer, freshman defender Katie Kelly, who crossed the ball into a crowded UWM box.
Connelly got a toe onto it, and celebration ensued.
"Oh gosh, this is amazing," Michuda said.
"It's a little bit of a wild feeling," Roeders said. "Right now you're just on a high."
Perhaps it was worth the wait.