A dominating win and a disappointing draw highlighted the weekend for Marquette women’s soccer on the East Coast.
The Golden Eagles put the pedal down and didn’t let up in a 5-0 win over Providence on Friday afternoon, before taking an early 1-0 lead against Connecticut, only to concede a goal in the second half and end up tying the Huskies 1-1 on Sunday.
“Friday went really well,” coach Markus Roeders said. “We had a quick start to the match, and it was a good opportunity to try different matchups. Sunday, Connecticut is a really good team and has played a tough schedule already.
“We played very well in stretches against them (Connecticut), but there was a 20 to 25 minute spell in the second half where neither team played great soccer, but they got their goal.”
The draw was the first time Marquette hasn’t earned three points in a Big East game since its first conference match last year against West Virginia.
“It puts the bitter taste of tying a game where we could have come away with a win and we’ve been doing well on the road, but now it will be nice just to focus on playing at home,” Roeders said.
The Golden Eagles scored three times in the first 10 minutes against the Friars Friday, with goals from senior defender Ally Miller, junior forward Maegan Kelly and junior midfielder Vanessa Legault-Cordisco.
It was Kelly’s team-leading sixth goal of the season and Miller’s fourth — a career-high. Miller’s previous goal record was two, which came in the 2010 season.
Kelly also recorded two assists in the game, giving her nine for the season. In two-plus seasons for Marquette, Kelly has 27 goals and 25 assists.
Senior forward Lisa Philbin finally broke into the scoring column, finishing a goal in the 29th minute to give Marquette an insurmountable 4-0 lead.
Sophomore forward Mady Vicker’s second goal of the year finished the scoring for Marquette.
On Sunday, the Golden Eagles saw their seven-match win streak come to an end, despite taking a 1-0 lead on sophomore midfielder Mary Luba’s third goal of the year in the 37th minute.
Connecticut didn’t respond until a goal on a penalty kick in the 62nd minute evened the score at 1-1.
Roeders said Marquette played well in overtime and deserved “maybe three or four goals” but came away empty-handed.
“We played some of our best soccer of the weekend during that overtime period, but it was just one of those things where the ball doesn’t bounce the right way,” Roeders said.
Junior defenders Emily Jacobson and Katie Hishmeh agreed that Marquette got out of its game in the second half against Connecticut and that cost them a chance to win.
“The Connecticut match helped us get better and gave us a push to get better,” Hishmeh said. “There was a lot of back and forth in that game, and that’s not how we play. We need to play more controlled with our possession.”
“Connecticut did a good job of putting us under pressure to disrupt what we did – they were a very direct team, and we got into that,” Jacobson said. “We need to keep composure on the ball and attack our own way when we have opportunities.”
