After an Oct. 7 loss to Georgetown that one player called "demeaning," the Marquette women's soccer team set out last week to correct its apparent weaknesses. Senior midfielder Michelle Martin said the attitude change was audible at practices.

Players were calling each other out when an assignment was missed or a technique was off, not merely to berate but to demonstrate that even the little things cannot be allowed to slide.

"All week in practice it's been perfection or nothing," Martin said. "Get this right or don't bother doing it."

That mantra paid off Friday against St. John's, a team that entered the match tied with the Golden Eagles in the Big East American Division standings. Marquette claimed a 1-0 win over the Red Storm and—despite a 0-0 draw Sunday with Syracuse—now holds sole possession of third place.

Marquette's performance continued a trend that has lingered for the past three weeks: strong showing on Friday night followed by a disappointing outcome Sunday afternoon. A 2-0 win Sept. 28 over Providence was followed by a 5-0 defeat at Connecticut two days later. The Golden Eagles then responded to a 1-0 victory Oct. 5 over Villanova with a 3-1 loss Oct. 7 to Georgetown.

This time, Marquette capped the weekend with a double-overtime scoreless tie against a Syracuse squad with a 5-6-4 record (1-4-2 Big East). The Golden Eagles outshot the Orange 19-1.

"At the end of the day, we can only blame ourselves," Marquette head coach Markus Roeders said. "We had three or four really good chances. Even at the end, we had a great chance; you just need someone on the other end. It's very disappointing because we wanted a win, and we did everything we had to except score a goal."

After Friday's match, Roeders spoke about the lessons his team had learned in recent weeks. There are some teams out there, he said, who simply are playing a higher level of soccer than the Golden Eagles right now. But he also noted his team had not been as consistent in its foundation of work ethic and defense as it needed to be.

Marquette showed improvement in both areas against St. John's and, consequently, was able to manage the game better after senior forward Christy Zwolski's goal in the 52nd minute.

"We don't want to make it an up-and-down-the-field game at that point," Roeders said. "The last 10 minutes, we killed the game. They couldn't put more pressure on us."

However, that did not mean the Red Storm faded quietly into the night. St. John's defender Tara Mendoza was issued a yellow card in the 69th minute after colliding with freshman forward Ashley Bares near the Red Storm box. Bares suffered a concussion and did not play Sunday.

In the 82nd minute, St. John's defender Courtney Lane also was issued a yellow card for running into freshman midfielder Kelsey Lynch, who was falling to the ground as she was hit. Lynch did play Sunday against Syracuse.

"Everyone wants to pummel you," sophomore midfielder Michelle Compty said of the tight conference standings down the season's homestretch. "You have to take it with a grain of salt, and move on."

Though Roeders said Friday's win "put us in good position moving forward," Sunday's result served as a sobering reminder of the reality surrounding the Golden Eagles at this point in the season.

"We're up against the wall," associate head coach Frank Pelaez said. "We have to keep thinking that."

Tribune staff writer John Borneman contributed to this report.