There is a reason sports teams have starting lineups. These players are typically the best on the team and therefore warrant the most playing time.
Some coaches see value in having a reserve of starter quality that can step up and lead the second unit.
Marquette women’s soccer coach Markus Roeders, on the other hand, doesn’t care where his goal scorers come from. And his team understands why.
“Every day is different,” senior midfielder Michelle Compty said. “Somebody could be off one day and on the next.”
It is for this reason Roeders believes his team benefits from having scorers who are very different in their approaches. It allows the team to find shots in a variety of situations in a game that is often unyielding to high-scoring affairs.
“College soccer has very few high-scoring games,” Roeders said. “You can have many opportunities, but putting the ball in the net is very different.”
That was the story of last season for the Golden Eagles. They received early offense from then-sophomore forward Ashley Bares off the bench, and when Bares became increasingly effective, Roeders moved her into the starting lineup.
But even as she emerged as a clutch scorer, Bares still only totaled five goals in the season. Midfielder Julia Victor and forward Danielle Martens were right behind her, registering three goals apiece.
This season, the Golden Eagles have found a few new scoring threats. Sophomore forward Lindsey Page currently leads the team with two goals through four games, despite playing a total of just 86 minutes. Fellow sophomore Rachael Sloan netted the team’s other goal while starting all three contests.
“I think as a freshman, you kind of learn from the girls that play on the field,” Page said. “My freshman year was more of a learning year, and this year I’m taking what I learned from the girls that I’ve played with and kind of developing it on the field, which is why I think I’ve had so much success.”
So far this season, Page has taken just two shots, both of which went for goals. Sloan has taken eight, four of which were shots on goal and one of which found its way into the back of the net.
Marquette is going to need that kind of accuracy against its Thursday opponent, Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The team’s 2008 match against the Panthers served as a microcosm of the entire season: great defense, solid goalkeeping, countless opportunities, but no scratch. Despite holding a 15-5 shot advantage and a 6-3 shots on goal advantage, the Golden Eagles found themselves on the losing end of the cross-town match-up once again.
“We are going in as the underdog because we haven’t had the result in the last few years,” Roeders said.
And while the results from years past may not give the match added importance in the eyes of the coach (“UWM is not bigger than another match,” Roeders said), his players, especially a few of the seniors, feel differently.
“The last time we beat them, it was my freshman year,” Compty said. “So I’m really hungry for this one.”