Last November, Carrie Madden had a game-winning, video game-esque bicycle kick in overtime to edge St. John’s in the BIG EAST semifinals.
Almost a year later, with long-term BIG EAST title aspirations once again in jeopardy, Madden did not have a SportsCenter-worthy bicycle kick, but her return to the starting lineup helped Marquette take down St. John’s, 1-0.
Madden missed or played less than 35 minutes in six consecutive games after injuring her quad Sept. 3 against Mercer. During her minimized role, Marquette had a shot advantage in only one match. Sunday, the team had a 20-14 shot advantage, the most shots since the Mercer game.
“Getting Carrie back, she provides offense, but she also provides defense and creativity,” Roeders told Jay Alter of BIG EAST Digital Network. “She’s somebody people focus in on, which subsequently opens up some of the other players.”
Graduate senior Darian Powell took advantage of her fellow forward’s return, rifling five shots including the team’s only offense. The lone goal of the game came in the 23rd minute after a giveaway from St. John’s, senior Caroline Fink passed a well-played ball and Powell raced past the Red Storm defenders to place it into the back of the net.
After surrendering seven goals in the team’s first two BIG EAST matches, the defense had its first in-conference clean sheet since Oct. 20 last year against Villanova.
“I think we all kind of knew that it could be one of those 1-0 games,” Roeders told Alter. “We’re fortunate because we scored that one in the first half.”
The win comes off the team’s worst two-match start to BIG EAST play in program history. It was also the first time that Roeders’ squad went over two weeks without a win since last September.
“We’ve been fighting some adversity and it’s been a little bit tough for us the last few weeks,” Roeders told Alter. “I don’t think we maybe played the way we can.”
Marquette will not have much time to dwell on its first conference win, visiting DePaul Thursday. The Blue Demons finished second in the BIG EAST preseason poll and received one first place vote. In order to match its BIG EAST-winning record from last year, Marquette would have to win its next six games.
