When a baseball player strikes out four times in one game, he usually has a chance to step back in the batter’s box and redeem himself the very next day.
And while it’s not the very next day, the situation for the No. 14/15 Marquette women’s soccer team (8-2-0, 1-1-0 Big East) is very similar.
Coming off a disappointing 3-1 setback at West Virginia on Sunday, the Golden Eagles will host DePaul (2-6-1, 0-1-1 Big East) tonight and No. 20/24 Notre Dame (4-4-1, 1-1-0 Big East) Sunday afternoon.
The team is looking to learn from the loss to the Mountaineers by training harder and making adjustments.
“We learned that nothing is ever given to us, which we never assumed, but I think we were just caught off-guard,” junior midfielder Rachel Brown said. “We had a great training session Monday where we were constantly fighting and battling, and I know we’ll be able to bounce back.”
DePaul has been outscored 15-8 on the season and are just 1-2-1 on the road. Its last win came against Minnesota, 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 11. However, it is on the upswing, going 2-1-1 in its last four games after dropping its first five games, and Marquette cannot afford to look past the Blue Demons ahead of its showdown with the Fighting Irish.
DePaul’s freshman duo of midfielder Amber Paul and sophomore midfielder Ashleigh Goddard is tied for the team lead with two goals apiece.
Should Marquette take care of business tonight, it will set up a showdown with the defending national champion Notre Dame, which comes to Milwaukee having lost three of its last four games .
“Anytime you get to play Notre Dame, it’s motivating because they have been the team to beat in our conference for a long time,” coach Markus Roeders said. “I think we are good enough to beat them, but we have to play better than we did last weekend.”
Before routing Cincinnati, 4-1 on the road last Sunday, the Irish hadn’t won since Sept. 4, a 4-1 victory over Indiana.
A Sept. 16 loss at Louisville snapped a 62-game conference winning streak. The Irish last lost in Big East play on Sept. 30, 2005.
“We are really excited for both matches because I think we’re ready, and it should be a great test for us and a chance to bounce back,” sophomore defender Katie Hishmeh said.
Notre Dame has found it difficult to replace 2010 goalkeeper Nikki Weiss, who graduated. Notre Dames has made do with both junior Maddie Fox and freshman Sarah Voigt. Fox has started the last three games and has allowed just three goals in five games overall, compared to the nine allowed in five matches for Voigt.
The key to stopping the Irish will be slowing the dynamic duo of senior forward Melissa Henderson and sophomore forward Adriana Leon, who have combined for 14 of the team’s 21 goals.
Henderson has scored 10 goals in just nine games and is a leading candidate for the Hermann Trophy, soccer’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
“Melissa is an incredible scorer, but I think she is a product of her team’s success and they have so many other weapons besides her,” Roeders said. “We have to be ready for them and we have to be ready right away.”
