For whatever reason, the Marquette women’s soccer team (8-2-0, 1-1-0 Big East) just can’t seem to shake the Morgantown blues.
The Golden Eagles fell to West Virginia (6-3-0, 2-0-0 Big East) 3-1 Sunday for the sixth time in eight all-time matches after knocking out Pittsburgh at home Thursday, 3-0.
The loss snapped Marquette’s 15-game regular season Big East winning streak.
The Mountaineers’ senior forward Blake Miller put West Virginia on the board in the 42nd minute and added two more goals in the second half to put the game out of reach before Golden Eagle freshman midfielder Mary Luba scored her first collegiate goal in the 82nd minute.
The game was the opposite of what Marquette was able to do against Pittsburgh on Thursday when it dominated the match en route to an easy win in its Big East opener.
“I thought our team came out and scored two good goals and then fought to get another in the second half, which is good because 2-0 is always a dangerous score,” sophomore midfielder Ashley Stemmeler said following Thursday’s game.
The team must recover quickly as DePaul (2-6-1, 0-1-1 Big East) and defending national champion Notre Dame (4-4-1, 1-1-0 Big East) come to Milwaukee this weekend.
As for the continued misery in Morgantown, W.V., Marquette must put this game behind them because the Big East Tournament semifinals and finals will be held at West Virginia’s Dick Dlesk Stadium in November.
Against the Panthers, sophomore forward Maegan Kelly continued her stellar season by getting Marquette on the board in the 26th minute, taking a throw-in from junior defender Megan Jaskowiak, weaving through the defense and firing a shot near post that beat Panthers senior goalkeeper Kristina Rioux.
Kelly has nine goals on the season and 16 for her career, which ties her for 10th place on Marquette’s all-time scoring list with Ashley Spakowitz.
The Golden Eagles were able to get 23 players into the match and saw sophomore midfielder Emily Jacobson tally her first point of the season with an assist on senior forward Lindsey Page’s third goal of the season.
“We just wanted to start off strong and get a couple of goals; of course we wanted to get a couple more, but it was nice to get the shutout and get a few goals in,” sophomore midfielder Kate Reigle said following Thursday’s game.
Senior goalkeeper Natalie Kulla continued her historic career by picking up her 36th shutout. She is now tied for third place on the NCAA career shutouts list.
The good news for the Golden Eagles is that the games against DePaul and Notre Dame will be played at Valley Fields, where Marquette has not lost in 14 games.
The bad news is the team faces an uphill climb in its pursuit of getting a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament, where the first two teams in each division automatically advance to the quarterfinals.
The Golden Eagles are tied for second with four other teams in the American Division of the Big East, a division they have won two straight years.
“I do like the way we are playing, but there’s certainly room to improve,” coach Markus Roeders said. “We have to be sharper and crisper, and at the end of the day we have to execute.”
