Eli Beard picked a great time to score her first goal of the season. 57 seconds into overtime the junior midfielder scored Marquette’s biggest goal of the season, earning the win, and a share of the BIG EAST title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
“We beat a great team,” head coach Markus Roeders said. “We’re champions.”
DePaul was the aggressor in the match, forcing Marquette to come from behind twice on their senior night.
“We had to scratch and claw to get ourselves back into the game,” Roeders said. “Tonight just showed how resilient they are.”
Taylor Schissler put the Blue Demons ahead in the 38th minute when a short corner was cleared back to Franny Cerny. She put the ball back into the box and Schissler snuck the ball over Maddy Henry.
Less than four minutes later the Golden Eagles equalized through senior midfielder Morgan Proffitt. She sprinted in to a loose ball 25 yards from goal and blasted it home. Proffitt’s goal made it 1-1 at the half.
67 seconds into the second half Abby Reed pounced on a loose ball in the Marquette box and gave DePaul their second lead of the night.
It wasn’t until the 79th minute that Marquette leveled things again. A hand ball in the box gave Morgan Proffitt a chance to tie things up from the penalty spot. The BIG EAST’s preseason defensive player of the year put it away calmly, scoring a career high fifth goal this year.
The Golden Eagles wasted no time in sudden death overtime, scoring less than a minute in. Senior Liz Bartels took on two defenders in the corner and the ball popped out to Hess, who was streaking down the left sideline. She sprinted past the two defenders, who ran into each other, and cut to the middle along the goal line.
The freshman played it into the middle and junior Molly Pfeiffer shielded off her defender, clearing a direct path to Beard. The ball skipped toward her and she redirected into the back of the net with her left food, sending Valley Fields into frenzy.
Fans stormed the field and the team sprinted from the bench to celebrate.
“It was awesome,” Beard said. “Great time to finally get out there and get a goal.”
“It means the world,” Proffitt said. “We talked and we’re not done yet. You know it’s awesome, we’re going to celebrate tonight and enjoy it, but we’ve got to look forward to the next game and keep it going.”
Both Beard and Proffitt said this was the most exciting game of their careers.
DePaul outshot Marquette 17-10, including nine shots on goal. Freshman goalkeeper Maddy Henry was the unsung hero of the night, coming up with seven saves in the victory.
This is Markus Roeders’ sixth BIG EAST title since joining the conference in 2005. The Golden Eagles and DePaul split the crown with 21 points each, but Marquette earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament via this head-to-head victory.
The Golden Eagles earned themselves some well-deserved rest with a bye in the BIG EAST tournament quarterfinals. They will take on the winner of Tuesday’s match between Providence and St. John’s on Friday afternoon in Washington D.C.
