Marquette women's soccer coach Markus Roeders has never really liked goals.

Not goals, as in the pair of first-half scores his team tallied in a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh Sunday. Those are the kind of goals he likes.

It's team aspirations—even those that are self-imposed—that he doesn't put much stock in.

"You can have goals before the season starts, but I'm personally not a big goal setter because if things don't fall into place you have to adjust, you have to have flexibility," Roeders said. "The focus has to be game-to-game."

Marquette's goals have changed greatly in the past two weeks as the Golden Eagles went from leading the American Division of the Big East Conference to the brink of falling to the No. 3 seed in the Big East Tournament in a matter of three games.

Marquette turned a four-point lead over West Virginia in the American Division into a quick one-point deficit by going 0-2-1 in its three games before facing Pittsburgh.

However, the win over the Panthers allowed the Golden Eagles to lock up a No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament. The perks of that high seed include a first round bye, and a home game against Rutgers at Valley Fields on Sunday afternoon.

"For us to rebound after last weekend when we didn't play particularly well, and then having another opportunity (against West Virginia) on Friday night slip away from us . the team responded" against Pittsburgh, Roeders said. "We're pleased."

For the first time all year, the Golden Eagles scored twice in the first half. Marquette's first goal came just 6:20 into the game, when sophomore forward Ashley Bares found a loose ball in the right side of the box and fired a shot that caromed off the crossbar and into the back of the net.

"I don't really know how I got down" by the goal, Bares said. "I just took advantage of it and played one right through, and that's what worked. I just took one touch and hit it."

The Golden Eagles found themselves in an unfamiliar position after Bares played a through ball on the ground ahead of freshman forward Danielle Martens who faked a Pittsburgh defender and fired a shot just under a diving Panthers goalkeeper. The score came in the 26th minute and gave Marquette a 2-0 lead.

"Even before I came to college, that's a typical ball I like to score on, playing one-on-one with the goalie," Martens said. "Today was really important for us…I think we're finally to the point where the hardest is behind us. We're finally on the uprise."

If that's the case, the momentum shift couldn't have come at a better time for the Golden Eagles, who likely need to advance deep into the Big East Tournament to warrant NCAA Tournament consideration.

But the real value from Sunday's regular season closing win was that it allowed Marquette to reach a few of those modified goals.

"For us, it was important to rebound from (Friday's 2-0 loss to West Virginia) I think mentally and physically it took a toll on us," Roeders said. "It was a real positive step in the right direction…that's real important this time of year.

"We have to be satisfied with the result. We're hosting a quarterfinal match next Sunday and that was the goal at this point in time."