Midway through the second half of Friday's game versus Syracuse, senior defender Heather Goranson saw Orange forward Lauren Jentzen break through the Marquette defense and race into the 18-yard box.
The only defender in position to keep Jentzen from taking a clean shot on goal, Goranson had to act quickly.
Instinct might have urged her to put immediate pressure on the Orange striker. After all, the Golden Eagles had already battled back from a one-goal deficit to a Syracuse squad with only three wins on the season.
Giving up another goal, especially on Senior Night, would have been beyond disappointing.
But Goranson knew better than to let her instincts get the best of her.
"The way our defense is structured, we give away the outside. We play spaces, kind of like a cover zone defense in basketball," Goranson said. "I'm the last one back, so I just have to wait and shadow her until I get some help."
Ah, the wisdom of a senior.
Goranson directed Jentzen off to the right side and stuck near the Orange striker until they reached the endline.
There was nowhere left for Jentzen to go, so she forced an awkward shot that sophomore goalkeeper Laura Boyer easily picked up. Crisis averted.
On Senior Night it was only fitting that Marquette's seniors led the way to victory.
Moments before Goranson's defensive stand, senior midfielder Lindsay Michuda scrambled inside the Syracuse box with her team down 1-0 and set up the equalizer by junior forward Lauren Weber.
"I cut to the left, and I don't know if I took a shot or made a cross," Michuda said. "I'm just lucky Weber was on the other end of it."
Whatever it was, the play got Marquette back on track and allowed the Golden Eagles to head into overtime knowing the momentum had shifted in their favor.
"Going into overtime is great for us," Michuda said. "We know we'll perform well."
With the seniors' confidence flowing throughout the squad, the Golden Eagles completed the comeback victory in the extra period.
In heart-warming fashion, senior midfielder Sarah Uyenishi knocked in the game-winner, and senior midfielder Julie Thompson was credited with an assist.
"The seniors played a huge part in how the game in the second half and in overtime," said head coach Markus Roeders.
They also willingly admit to being responsible for the team's poor showing in the first half a half that became irrelevant as soon as the seniors took control of the match.
"We sure made it hard on ourselves," Goranson said. "But we got the job done."
News and Notes
Sunday's match versus St. John's proved to be another muddy one for the Golden Eagles, with senior midfielder Sarah Uyenishi taking home the coveted Clorox Bleach Award given by the Tribune sports desk to the player with the dirtiest jersey at the end of the game … Sideline quote of the weekend from frustrated Syracuse head coach Patrick Farmer toward a sideline official after the Orange had been called offside midway through the second half: "You evil man!"
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 25, 2005.