For two seasons, sophomore forward Ashley Bares has led the Marquette women's soccer team in goals scored — eight in her freshman season and five this past fall.

Now completely healthy from a shin injury she suffered during the Big East Championships in November, Bares and the rest of the Golden Eagles begin the process of building toward another NCAA Tournament run.

Bares had started the 2008 fall season just as she had her freshman season — coming off the bench. But strong play late in the year forced coach Markus Roeders to find her a place in the starting lineup, as the sophomore became his only reliable scoring threat.

Then, after defeating Rutgers to advance to the Big East Championship semifinals, Bares injured her shin in practice. The already goal-starved Golden Eagles suddenly found themselves without the leg of their leading scorer just when they were about to take on the toughest team in the nation, No. 1-ranked Notre Dame.

"There was an element where we did miss her," Roeders said. "She's a goal scorer."

Roeders stayed realistic throughout the entire tournament, keeping in mind how dominant Notre Dame had been all season and his team's inability to generate goals. Marquette scored three or more goals only once all season and 16 of its 22 matches were decided by one goal or less.

Nevertheless, neither Roeders nor his players could help but wonder if the season's outcome, including the team's subsequent 2-1 loss to Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament, may have been different with Bares on the pitch.

"There's always a 'What if?' " freshman goalkeeper Natalie Kulla said. Bares is "a strong player, and she's good on the ball…so I think it could have made a difference.

Whether it would have made the difference, it's hard to say."

Following surgery, Bares underwent a six-week rehab that lasted until after the season had ended, and immediately set her sights on the future.

"I worked as hard as I could to get back right away to be ready for spring," Bares said. "But I also had commitment to play over Christmas break.. So I was back in the swing of things right after the injury."

This weekend Bares will get her first opportunity to compete with all of her teammates since her injury. The Golden Eagles will get their spring season underway

Saturday in St. Louis, Mo. The team has matches set against Saint Louis and Kansas – two teams Roeders said will be very competitive with the Golden Eagles.

While the team would love to come out of the weekend 2-0 in its spring season, Roeders said that winning is not necessarily the primary objective of spring soccer.

Perhaps most importantly, the team will have to find out who will fill in for the three departed seniors, Katie Kelly, Shannon Cusick and Kelli DeBarge. All three were starters and all three played back for the Golden Eagles, leaving a big hole in the Marquette defense – something Roeders plans to address as the spring season progresses.

"A lot of it is a little bit more experimental," he said. "That's what the spring's all about, it's about learning and getting better and finding our team for next year.

"The result, in some ways, is secondary."