While a Sweet 16 berth and an unblemished Big East conference record is nothing to feel sorry about, it’s easy to wonder what could have been for the No. 12/9 Marquette Golden Eagles after their season ended Saturday.
Marquette (16-5-3 overall) lost to No. 11/15 Florida State (16-5-1 overall), 3-0, in Tallahassee, Fla., ending one of the most successful seasons in program history.
“It’s a difficult moment for us because our season ended,” coach Markus Roeders said Saturday. “We have tremendous pride for our program and our team because we left everything out there today.”
Marquette once again had the advantage in the shot column, 16-12, but was unable to convert on the multitude of opportunities.
It was the 20th time in 24 games that the Golden Eagles outshot their opponent.
Rachel Lim, Ella Stephan and Breezy Hupp each scored for Florida State who move on to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the fifth straight season.
“Give them credit, they are a great team,” junior goalkeeper Natalie Kulla said. “It’s disappointing that our season is over, but we lost to a good team, and we wish them the best.”
Lim scored the first goal of the game in the eighth minute on a give-and-go play with Kassey Kallman. Lim buried a shot to the right corner out of the reach of Kulla.
Marquette had a few chances to tie the score after the goal, with senior forward Ashley Bares hitting the crossbar in the 13th minute, while junior forward Rachael Sloan’s attempt in the 29th minute was denied by goalkeeper Kelsey Wys.
Freshman midfielder Cara Jacobson’s shot late in the first half off a corner kick by senior defender Stephanie Vasos was cleared off the line by a Florida State defender.
“We came out strong in the first half, but they got one early,” Bares said. “It would have been nice to get one back before halftime, but we couldn’t.”
Marquette held a 7-4 advantage in shots in the first half.
Stephan made it 2-0 Florida State in the 55th minute after Toni Pressley’s free-kick found the head of Tori Huster, who directed it towards goal. Stephan followed it up and knocked it in over Kulla for the score.
Marquette continued to work for its first goal and freshman midfielder Kate Reigle almost converted in the 65th minute with a header off a pass from junior forward Lindsey Page. Wys was able to swat the ball with one hand out of play.
Wys finished the day with five saves, while the Seminole defense was credited with two stops, including one late in the second half on a Marquette corner kick.
The loss doesn’t do anything to diminish the Golden Eagles’ outstanding season, and the final score was not indicative of how close the game was, but the casual observer would tend to think otherwise.
“It doesn’t take away anything from what we’ve done, but it would have been nice to keep it closer,” Kulla said. “I’m really proud of our team and we’ll be back stronger and better next year.”
