Coach Markus Roeders likes to acknowledge that he never knows exactly what team he is going to get from year to year, but one thing was certain about this Marquette team: it won and won often.
Although the Golden Eagles’ season ended in the Sweet 16 on penalty kicks, 6-5, against BYU on Nov. 17, this Marquette team accomplished a lot of the goals it set for itself before the season started.
“We wanted to win another division title, of course, but we also wanted to become the first Marquette team to win a conference tournament title, which we also did,” senior defender Ally Miller said. “While it was unfortunate our season ended the way it did, we still had a successful run.”
Marquette beat Georgetown, 1-0, on Nov. 4 to earn its first-ever Big East Tournament title and went unbeaten in Big East play to earn its fourth consecutive Big East American Division title.
Miller added to her already impressive career by being named College Sports Madness’ Defensive Player of the Year and was awarded first team All-America honors in addition to earning Big East Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big East First Team honors.
Miller easily surpassed her career high in goals with seven, and four of those were game-winning goals.
“I had a tremendous four years here and played with four very talented teams,” Miller said. “I’m just so blessed to be a part of Marquette soccer and will support this team for years to come.”
Junior forward Maegan Kelly was once again a critical part of Marquette’s offensive success. Kelly was named to the All-Big East First Team and the Big East All-Tournament Team after being named to the 2012 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List at the beginning of the season.
The MAC Hermann Trophy is college soccer’s equivalent of college football’s Heisman Trophy.
Senior midfielder Rachel Brown also joined Kelly and Miller on the All-Big East First Team, while senior forward Rachael Sloan was named to the All-Big East Second Team and freshman goalkeeper Amanda Engel and junior defender Emily Jacobson were both named to the All-Big East Third Team.
Engel was awarded All-Big East Rookie Team honors for her performance in net this year and joined Kelly and Miller on the Big East All-Tournament Team.
Engel made the transition from All-American goalkeeper Natalie Kulla seamless when she took over for sophomore Sofie Schunk in the loss to North Carolina on Sept. 7.
In Engel’s 19 matches played, including 16 starts, she allowed just seven goals and had a record of 14-0-2 while making 43 saves.
As a team, Marquette won 18 games, third-most in program history, and had a record-setting 17 shut outs.
“We really had one of the more talented teams I’ve had in my 17 years here,” Roeders said. “There were really no weaknesses on this year’s team, and I think that was part of the reason why we were so successful.”
On a personal level, Roeders said his favorite moments of the year were a 4-0 Senior Night win over South Florida and winning the Big East Tournament title for the first time.
The team will lose six seniors, including Miller, Brown, Sloan, defender Megan Jaskowiak, forward Lisa Philbin and midfielder Sam Vicker, but Miller said the program is in great shape moving forward.
“I think we’ve built an extremely consistent team year in and year out, and they will be just fine next year,” Miller said. “We have some of the best coaches in the country, and they will be great again next year.”
Roeders said he’s not sure what next year’s team’s ceiling would be but didn’t want to rule out another trip to the Sweet 16 and beyond.
“I think when you say we can’t do something, that’s not fair because it limits us to a certain point,” Roeders said. “I’m not sure what next year will bring us, but I’m excited to find out.”
