All they wanted to do was enter the Big East as unknown underdogs so that they would have a psychological edge over their opponents.

Then the Golden Eagles beat Illinois and Northwestern in their non-conference schedule before knocking off defending national champion Notre Dame on Sept. 30.

So much for that strategy.

The No. 9 women's soccer team is now expected to win almost every time it steps on the field, even at places like the home field of No. 22 West Virginia, where the Mountaineers had not lost a game all year. West Virginia (8-3-3, 5-1-1) seized the chance to defeat a top-10 team Friday when it beat Marquette 2-0 in Morgantown. The Golden Eagles (12-2-1, 5-2-0) rebounded Sunday with a 2-0 victory at Pittsburgh (2-8-3, 1-4-2).

"Being ranked in the top 10 in the country will put a target on your back," said senior midfielder Sarah Uyenishi. "It does add a little bit of pressure."

West Virginia broke the deadlock early in the second half Friday night after sophomore goalkeeper Laura Boyer was whistled for a foul in her own penalty box. Boyer had leaped for a ball in the air and had knocked down a Mountaineer forward while batting it away. But there was no whistle until what followed, Boyer said.

"We (Boyer and another forward) tripped over the first girl (the one whom Boyer inadvertently knocked down) going for the ball," Boyer said. "And the referee thought I had knocked her (the second forward) over."

Marisa Kanela converted the penalty kick, which deflated Marquette's spirits.

"The PK took a lot of air out of us," Uyenishi said. "After that we kind of fell apart. And that can't happen."

Head coach Markus Roeders credited the opposition, as well.

"(West Virginia) really picked up the intensity and momentum," he said. "We couldn't find any sort of rhythm."

West Virginia netted a second in the 78th minute when Ashley Banks headed in a cross from Kanela.

Lana Bannerman recorded the shutout for the Mountaineers. The game marked only the second time this season that Marquette had failed to score a goal.

To state the obvious, two losses in 15 matches isn't so bad.

However, the two teams that defeated the Golden Eagles this season (Connecticut beat them 2-1 on Sept. 23) now reside ahead of them in the Big East Division A standings, which could influence Marquette's seeding in the Big East tournament.

"We want to earn a home game in the conference tournament," Roeders said. "Every game we play has implications on how far we can go."

"We really don't like to look ahead too much," Uyenishi said. "We're taking it game by game."

The plan worked Sunday against Pittsburgh when Uyenishi scored in the first half and sophomore forward Christy Zwolski added another goal in the final 45 minutes.

The first goal came in the 19th minute after junior forward Lauren Weber beat a defender on the right side and crossed the ball. Junior forward Meghan Connelly dummied the ball, which fell to a wide-open Uyenishi at the back post for a simple finish.

Marquette doubled its lead five minutes into the second half. Weber again created the goal with a diagonal through ball to Zwolski, who raced behind the defense and beat a stranded Pittsburgh goalkeeper.

"Christy has a knack of scoring goals," Roeders said. "We lost (junior forward) Alison Loughrin, so someone else has to step into that scoring role."

The strike was Zwolski's team-leading seventh of the season, one more than the six goals Loughrin tallied before a knee injury in Marquette's victory over DePaul on Oct. 2 sidelined her for the season.

Boyer stopped six Panther shots for her sixth shutout of the season. She has also teamed up with sophomore goalkeeper Christy Smith in two additional shutouts.

"The defensive effort from our entire team was excellent," Roeders said. "We played at a really high level."

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 11, 2005.