The Marquette women’s soccer team’s season ended on a sour note last Friday, as it was booted by Western Michigan in the first round of the College Cup. The loss, however, does not take away from what the Golden Eagles accomplished up until that point. Below is their season in review, briefly recapping each game:

Non-conference

Coach Markus Roeders’ players hit the ground hard with three demanding matches against No. 15 Portland, Portland State, and No. 2 UCLA, all away from Valley Fields. Marquette fell to Portland and UCLA, but these early tests would benefit the team’s readiness for the games yet to come.

Marquette would win its next three games by a combined score of 10-2. Its most challenging win came against Colgate and its stingy defense (one goal through five games). Morgan Proffitt earned her first career goal with a header in the 7th minute to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 victory.

The next match at Illinois State would find Marquette in unfamiliar territory. The Redbirds moved ahead quickly, scoring three goals in the first 28 minutes, pinning Marquette against the wall.

Senior defender Emily Jacobson scored twice, once just before halftime and in the 78th minute, but the hole was too deep for the Golden Eagles to climb out, and they succumbed 3-2.

The team’s response to the loss was magnificent, as Marquette won its next 13 matches, beginning with a double-overtime victory against Louisville. Senior midfielder Maegan Kelly hit the game-winner on a penalty kick in the 104th minute after Louisville tied the game in the 86th to force extra time.

An easy 5-0 win at UW-Milwaukee would close out the non-conference slate as a new-look Big East awaited the Golden Eagles.

Big East

Freshman midfielder and Omaha, Neb., native Liz Bartels scored the game-winner against her hometown school Creighton to kick off the conference schedule. Sophomore goalkeeper Amanda Engel quite literally saved the team’s next match at Villanova when she caught a penalty kick late in game to preserve Marquette’s perfect Big East record.

St. John’s proved to be the next victim in Marquette’s onslaught of the Big East despite taking the lead 1-0 early in the second half. Kelly tied the match in the 57th minute and Bartels scored her second game-winner in three games with her goal in the 72nd.

Marquette would take the next match at Xavier 3-0. Senior defender Katie Hishmeh and sophomore forward Shalese Miller each notched their first goals of the season, giving the Golden Eagles a remarkable 14 different scorers.

Marquette embarrassed nationally ranked Georgetown the following match 4-0, solidifying the Golden Eagles as the fall’s elite Big East program. The squad kept its momentum well, winning 1-0 in arduous fashion at DePaul and humiliating Providence 6-0, its most lopsided win of the year.

The eight seniors were not disappointed on their Senior Night against Butler, as Kelly and freshman Ashley Handwork both found the back of the net in the 2-1 triumph. The lone Butler goal ended a streak of shutouts that spanned nearly a full month.

Postseason

St. John’s and the hot foot of Rachel Daly, who entered the match with 22 goals for the fall, advanced to face Marquette in the Big East Championship semifinals after defeating Butler. The Golden Eagles tightened their defense and the back line earned yet another clean sheet in the 1-0 victory.

After DePaul upset Georgetown in the semifinals, it appeared the road to Marquette’s second consecutive Big East Championship became less stressful. Senior midfielder Taylor Madigan put the Golden Eagles on the board in the 59th minute and sophomore midfielder Ann Marie Lynch tallied her first career goal in the 68th minute en route to another tournament title.

Paired with Western Michigan in the first round of the College Cup, No. 2 Marquette was flustered on offense much of the match at Valley Fields. After denying entries into the box and several heads-up saves by the goalkeeper, the Broncos struck in the 84th minute for the lead. The Golden Eagles, slightly panicked with such short time remaining, could not get off a clean shot to tie the game.

The team will take time off until March when it will participate in several exhibition matches across the region. For now, the Golden Eagles will unfortunately need to be spectators for the remainder of the College Cup and address mistakes in time for the spring.