Talk about a rout for the record books.
The Marquette women’s soccer team returned home to Valley Fields and demolished the North Dakota Fighting Sioux 9-0 on a brisk Sunday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles dominated North Dakota from the opening whistle, scoring a goal just 63 seconds into the match, and adding five more before halftime.
Sophomore forward Maegan Kelly’s four goals and points overall (4 goals, 2 assists) both tied former Marquette forward Christy Zwolski’s marks for most goals and points in a game, and the team’s nine goals set a Valley Fields record for most goals in a game as the Golden Eagles bounced back from a 3-1 setback at Florida State last Friday.
Needless to say, Kelly didn’t expect to score four goals when she stepped onto the pitch.
“My warm-up did not go so well,” Kelly said. “I missed both of my shots that I took at the top, and I just thought hopefully today will go well and we’ll get some scoring chances.”
Outshooting an opponent 39-4 would certainly count as creating opportunities, as would scoring nine times on 20 attempts on goal.
It was the kind of thoroughly dominating performance the team needed following a tough loss to the Seminoles on the road Friday.
The win put the Golden Eagles at 5-1-0 and pushed their unbeaten streak at home to 14 games. The last time Marquette lost at home was Aug. 29, 2010, to New Mexico, 1-0.
One positive to take away from the rout, besides a confidence boost, was the team’s ability to get a good, long look at the substitutes.
Freshman defender Haley Fritzlen led the team in minutes played with 74 and freshman midfielder Isabela Carrasco tallied her first collegiate goal.
“We just have a really talented, deep team,” coach Markus Roeders said. “Everybody that was healthy and could play, did play and that was good to see.”
Sophomore midfielder Kate Reigle tallied her first goal of the season and also had two assists, while junior midfielder Rachel Brown scored her first goal and assist of the 2011 campaign.
“We were just trying to bounce back from Friday, because that was a tough loss,” Reigle said. “We were able to work on things that would be tougher to do in a closer game.”
The team does not have much time to celebrate the victory, however, because a nationally televised game at No. 22/14 Wisconsin-Milwaukee looms on Wednesday followed by a trip to Indiana on Sunday.
Milwaukee pushed its record to 6-0-0 with a victory at Minnesota on Sunday. The Panthers’ senior forward
Sarah Hagen already has seven goals on the season and is one of the most feared goal-scorers in collegiate soccer.
“Sarah is going to go down as a legend, but they are not just a one player team,” Roeders said. “It’s hard to predict because I’m sure they will have a boisterous crowd, and it will be tough.”
For now, though, the Golden Eagles can relish a victory that was unlike any they have experienced in a long time.
“You can’t really drop your level of play that you have to another team, so it was good to see that didn’t happen,” Kelly said.
