She was out-paced and out-muscled in last spring's exhibition matches when the former midfielder first played in central defense. But if last weekend's opening games of the women's soccer regular season are a sign of things to come, Marquette junior Michelle Pitzl has found her niche at the back.

She broke up attack after attack in Friday's 1-0 upset of No. 13 Illinois and looked just as comfortable during Sunday's 2-1 win over Northwestern at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Engelmann Field, which clinched the Milwaukee Cup for the Golden Eagles. It also marked the first time since 2000 that Marquette had won both games of the opening weekend tournament.

"We put her in a different position this year," said Marquette coach Markus Roeders. "She played as a center back for us a little last spring, and I think it's paying off for her now."

Pitzl acknowledged the help of one of her teammates.

"I've been practicing there a lot lately, and last spring I practiced there a lot, too," Pitzl said. "I'm getting more used to it. It helps with Heather (Goranson) telling me what to do."

Goranson, a senior, also changed positions since last season — from midfielder to sweeper.

"We couldn't ask any more out of Pitzl," Goranson said. "She's listening, she's directing and she's making huge tackles."

Northwestern threatened to spoil Marquette's weekend with an early goal Sunday. Wildcat midfielder Amanda Hoffman won a header at the top of the box, and the ball fell nicely to forward Tabitha Lowey, who found the bottom corner after five minutes.

"As soon as we got scored on, a lot of times you're down," said senior midfielder Julie Thompson. "But we got the ball, put it right back at half-field, and we went right at them again."

Literally.

Thompson's 18-yard, left-footed strike tied the game three minutes later after freshman defender Katie Kelly's corner kick was not properly cleared.

Then Kelly scored a fabulous winner — her first collegiate goal — in the 18th minute. She spotted the Northwestern goalkeeper off her line and fired it in from 40 yards.

Marquette goalkeeper Laura Boyer kept her team in front when she charged a Wildcat breakaway led by Kelsey Hans and smothered the shot attempt.

Marquette held on comfortably in the second half, the same of which cannot be said of Friday's tension-packed finish.

If Kelly was a most unlikely offensive hero Sunday, Christy Zwolski would at least qualify as a pleasantly surprising hero Friday. The sophomore forward who scored one goal as a freshman in 12 games and struggled to settle in with the team due to an injury, scored the game's only goal midway through the first half.

"I win back a lot of respect that I didn't have before," Zwolski said. "It boosted my confidence a lot."

Illinois, which advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals last year, had looked certain to take an early lead if not for Courtney Sinsky's sacrificial goal-line slide tackle. The senior defender left the game injured and also missed Sunday's game.

Thompson set up Zwolski's goal in the 25th minute with a diagonal pass to the left side. Illinois gave Zwolski too much space, and she lofted a well-placed 20-yard shot over the Illinois goalkeeper.

The pace of Illinois forward Ella Masar often troubled Marquette. Three minutes after the goal, her cross needed a vital tip from Boyer to deny a back-post tap-in. In the 53rd minute, Masar broke free on the right, and this time her cross evaded Boyer. But Kelly intervened at the back post just in time to knock the ball out for a corner.

Illinois defender Emily Zurrer, at 5-foot-10, was the target on corner kicks late in the match, but her attempts never troubled Boyer.

"We told them tonight that if you wanna be successful, you gotta give everything you can, and they did that," Roeders said. "I am extremely proud of their efforts."

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on August 29, 2005.