Marquette women’s soccer earned its first win over Xavier since 2017 Thursday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles defeated the Musketeers 3-1 win at Valley Fields.
For the first time since Feb. 21, the Golden Eagles played a game at full strength. In each of MU’s last two games against DePaul and Butler, head coach Frank Pelaez was missing several players due to contact tracing protocols.
Marquette’s first-half woes from its last two games did not continue Thursday afternoon.
In the 21st minute, Marquette senior forward Kylie Sprecher got her foot on the ball and got it past Xavier junior goalkeeper Olivia Jenkins for her third goal of the season. First-year forward Elsi Twombly had the assist off the cross pass.
Seventeen minutes later, redshirt junior midfielder Rachel Johnson sailed one from the top of the 18 to get past Jenkins to expand the lead. It was the Omaha, Nebraska, natives first collegiate career goal.
The goals from Sprecher and Johnson gave MU a lead at halftime for the second time this season.
The second half was no different for Marquette’s attack.
Thirteen minutes into the half, sophomore forward Hailey Block fired a shot on net, but a Xavier defender deflected it away. Block followed up with her own second chance opportunity to place it in the back of the net. It was the Grafton, Wisconsin, natives first goal at MU after transferring from Southeast Missouri over the summer.
Xavier head coach Nate Lie made a change in net in the 61st minute, replacing Jenkins with junior goalkeeper Caroline Welsh.
The change in personnel within the pipes brought some fire out in the Musketeers, scoring three minutes later on a goal from first-year forward Grace Blumfeldt.
Xavier outshot Marquette 10-8 on the afternoon. It is the third straight game, the Golden Eagles were outshot by their opponent. During this stretch, MU has been outshot 47 to 19.
Schill earned her third straight start for MU making four saves while giving up a goal.
Jenkins made two saves and gave up three goals in 60 minutes of action for Xavier while Welsh didn’t record a save in the final 30 minutes of regulation.
Next up for Marquette (4-1, 2-1 BIG EAST) will be a trip out to Omaha, Nebraska for a Sunday matinee against Creighton at 1 p.m. Central Time.
This article was written by John Leuzzi. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JohnLeuzziMU.
