Twice in a row it happened.

Forwards Meghan Connelly and Christy Zwolski failed to spot each other's runs on consecutive attacks. Head coach Markus Roeders hollered at Zwolski and instructed her to make the diagonal pass that neither she nor Connelly had played.

Then they got it right.

Connelly played it wide, behind the defense and into the path of Zwolski, who collected the ball and took a shot from a tight angle. South Florida goalkeeper Casey Garrett bobbled the sophomore's shot, and junior forward Lauren Weber tucked home the rebound for the first goal in Marquette's 4-1 victory Friday at Valley Fields.

"We needed to get in behind them," Roeders said. "When we have the ball out on the wing, we're dribbling inside, but then we're looking for the option in the center of the park instead of playing the ball in behind them."

The defense of the No. 23 Golden Eagles has received much of the credit for the undefeated (7-0-1) start to the season, but the three-forward attack of Weber, Zwolski and Connelly dictated the outcome of Friday night's game.

"With three frontrunners you got to have a lot of movement up top," Roeders said. "You got to have a lot of diagonal runs."

The breakthrough in the 29th minute was Weber's first goal of the season.

"Playing with three up top, as opposed to two last year, just gives us a lot more opportunities because you can make those runs to open up space and then have someone else come in behind," Weber said.

Zwolski sealed the victory — Marquette's first win in Big East competition — with a pair of goals during a dominant spell early in the second half. Connelly was again the provider, and Zwolski met her cross at the back post in the 50th minute with a well-controlled volley that caromed into the net off the crossbar.

The sophomore, who leads the team with five goals, headed in senior midfielder Julie Thompson's cross 13 minutes later.

"She's been doing really well this season, and she deserves it," Connelly said of Zwolski. "She's been working hard this summer, and hopefully there's more to come."

Connelly, who led the Golden Eagles with six goals last year as a sophomore, still has not found the net this season.

"It's kind of frustrating just because last year I scored more," she said. "But at this point I'm kind of just creating opportunities … but I'm just going to be patient, and hopefully it will come one game."

Connelly's frustration was apparent when her poor control on two crosses stymied good scoring chances early in the first half. Her two assists that followed will undoubtedly boost her confidence.

South Florida's Katie Reed scored only the fourth goal that Marquette has surrendered in eight games when she side-footed a 66th minute cross from Michelle Buskey into the net.

Junior defender Michelle Pitzl added Marquette's fourth with a last-minute header off a corner kick from freshman midfielder Britni Benage. Roeders, however, was more impressed with Pitzl's efforts at the other end of the field.

"I can't say enough about her," Roeders said. "In the first half I thought there were some spells where she won four or five tackles in a row."

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 20, 2005.