It’s difficult to beat a team twice in the same season. It’s even more difficult when that team is the defending national champions.
That will be Marquette’s (17-2-0, 10-1-0 Big East) task Sunday when it hosts Notre Dame (9-6-3, 6-3-2 Big East) in the quarterfinals of the Big East Championship tournament.
In their last match, Friday, the Fighting Irish downed DePaul (3-14-1, 1-9-1 Big East) 5-1, getting four goals from senior forward Melissa Henderson, who overtook sophomore forward Maegan Kelly (14) for the Big East lead in goals with 17.
Henderson also leads the conference in shots (70), points (41) and is tied for third in assists (seven).
“She (Henderson) is one of the top one or two attackers in the country, but they also have other girls who can score. And I think they’ll be better than they were last time we played them,” coach Markus Roeders said.
Prior to a 1-0 loss to Louisville on Sept. 16, the Irish won 62 straight conference matches, dating back to a 4-1 loss at Marquette on Sept. 30, 2005.
This is not the same team that won the national championship last year, but one that will provide a stern test if Marquette is to advance to its fourth consecutive Big East Championship tournament semifinal.
Marquette has won nine matches in a row after a 3-1 setback at West Virginia (14-4-0, 10-1-0 Big East) on Sept. 18 and has not lost at Valley Fields in 19 straight games.
The Golden Eagles beat Notre Dame 3-2 in overtime on Sept. 25, getting a game-winning goal from sophomore midfielder Taylor Madigan just 18 seconds into the extra frame. It was Marquette’s second win in eight tries against Notre Dame.
For Marquette to win again, the team will have to keep the same mindset it has had all year.
“We go in and we’re ready to win every game, it doesn’t matter who we play,” junior forward Lisa Philbin said. “We’ve come to a point in our season where it’s like ‘who’s next, we’re going to take them.’”
It appears that Notre Dame has finally found its identity in goal, having tried to replace All-American Nikki Weiss with a combination of junior Maddie Fox and freshmen Jennifer Jasper and Sarah Voigt early in the season.
Fox has been the hot hand as of late. She’s allowed just four goals in the past seven games and leads the conference in save percentage (.817) and is second in goals allowed per game (0.79) in the 14 matches she has appeared in.
Notre Dame has allowed 21 goals in 18 games, compared to the 13 it allowed in 25 games last year.
The Irish have had 11 players score at least one goal this year, paling in comparison to Marquette’s 18 players who have scored, but have more weapons than just Henderson.
Freshman forward Lauren Bohaboy and senior defender Jessica Schuveiller each have scored six goals, while sophomore forward Adriana Leon has five tallies on the year.
If the Fighting Irish do not win Sunday, they may not make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992, so the Golden Eagles will face a desperate team.
Junior defender Megan Jaskowiak said the team isn’t worried about Notre Dame’s desperation. The focus is on the chance to beat Notre Dame again.
“It’s just Notre Dame, we just want to play and beat them and it’s a good opportunity to beat them twice in the same season, which has never happened before,” Jaskowiak said.
