Three Up

1.    Markus Roeders: Currently in his 15th season, Roeders has accumulated a 202-80-31 record as head coach of the women’s team. His teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last 11 seasons. In 2005, the Golden Eagles went 19-4-1, including 9-2 in the Big East, and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, their best season under Roeders. He has been awarded Big East Coach of the Year two of the last five seasons.

2.    Maegan Kelly: What else can be said about this standout freshman? Kelly has been named the Big East Rookie of the Week twice this season, is tenth in the conference in points with 18, ninth in goals with seven, and leads Marquette in both of those categories. Kelly will no doubt be an important part on Marquette’s frontline for years to come.

3.    Recent Success: The Marquette women’s soccer program has flourished under Roeders, but the past two seasons have been magical. In 2009, Marquette won their first ever Big East Division Championship with a 7-2-2 conference record. This season, the Golden Eagles finished conference play with an undefeated record of 11-0-0 and will look to carry that over into the Big East Tournament and beyond.

Three Down

4.    Early NCAA Tournament Exits: Despite winning records in each of the last 14 seasons, the Golden Eagles have had very little to show for it in the postseason. Other than 2005, when they advanced to the Sweet 16, Marquette has never gotten past the second round of the tournament.

5.    Poor Seeding: One of the reasons for the early exits could be because of poor placing in the NCAA Tournament. Year in and year out Marquette is overlooked by the NCAA committee and given a poor seeding in the tournament. Last season, they were sent to Dayton to face an undefeated Flyers squad despite being ranked higher. That’s just not right.

6.    Low Attendance: Marquette’s attendance rankings have always been low in comparison to the excellent talent put on the field, which takes away from a home field advantage the team could have. In 2010, Marquette’s home attendance average was 411, which ranked ninth in the Big East. However, that number is an improvement from 2009, when the average attendance was just 322. Valley Fields is one of the smaller Big East soccer venues, but that’s no excuse for the apathetic attendance.