Although Marquette’s shutout streak was finally snapped, the women’s soccer team cruised through the 12th annual MKE Cup with victories over the Saint Louis Billikens (5-0) and the Long Beach State 49ers (2-1) this past weekend. The two victories earned Marquette its fourth MKE Cup.
With the victories, Marquette improved its season record to 4-0-0 and sets up a showdown with No. 9/11 Florida State (according to the NSCAA’s rankings and Soccer America’s rankings, respectively) in Tallahassee, Fla., this Friday. The Seminoles ended Marquette’s 2010 season with a 3-0 victory in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
“They took a really important thing away from us last year, and it is definitely going to be redemption for us this year,” said junior forward Lisa Philbin.
Philbin had the game-winning goal in Marquette’s win over Long Beach State Sunday after senior forward Rachael Sloan outran a defender and passed to Philbin, who fired a shot past 49ers senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Gustaves.
The goal was Philbin’s first of the year and fourth of her career.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early lead in the fifth minute on sophomore forward Maegan Kelly’s second goal of the season, after a header from sophomore midfielder Kate Reigle put Kelly in a position where she couldn’t miss.
Kelly, an All-Big East Rookie Team selection in 2010 after leading Marquette in points with 18, blasted a shot past Gustaves and it seemed Marquette would coast to an easy victory.
“I just placed it in the corner, just saw the opening and put it in, basically,” Kelly said.
However, Long Beach State, which was ranked No. 23 by Soccer America, was able to match the Golden Eagles’ trademark physical style of play with a goal of its own in the 40th minute.
Long Beach State junior defender Alex Balcer’s free kick found junior forward Nadia Link, whose header beat a diving Natalie Kulla to even the score.
The teams went to halftime knotted at 1-1, but Marquette broke through with Philbin’s goal in the 68th minute, which proved to be the difference.
In a testament to the game’s physicality, Balcer was sent off after a second yellow card on a hard slide against Kelly knocked the forward to the ground in the 69th minute, just moments after Philbin’s goal.
“(Sunday), we didn’t give up a lot of opportunities, we kind of lost track on our marks,” coach Markus Roeders said. “But I was proud of our efforts and thought we had some really good stretches where we really tried to play.”
On Friday, Marquette scored three first half goals, and coasted to an easy 5-0 victory over Saint Louis.
Sophomore midfielder Taylor Madigan, Sloan, senior forward Lindsey Page, freshman midfielder Mary Luba and sophomore midfielder Cara Jacobson each tallied goals, while junior midfielder Britney Scott added three assists.
With the two wins, Marquette improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2008 and fifth time in program history.
Following Marquette’s trip to Tallahassee, the Golden Eagles return to Valley Fields for their final non-conference home game of the year against North Dakota on Sunday afternoon.
