Marquette women’s soccer came into Sunday afternoon’s game at No. 1 seed Xavier looking to hold their No. 4 seed in the BIG EAST.
However, the Musketeers had other plans as they defeated the Golden Eagles 3-1 in Cincinnati.
Xavier came out of the gates aggressively recording four shots in the first ten minutes.
In the 30th minute, senior forward Sarah Owusu was able to find the back of the net with a header, making that her second goal of the season.
Marquette’s offense struggled to found any ground in the first half, collecting just a pair of shots, both on goal in the half.
It was the third time this week, Marquette went into the halftime break with a deficit.
Xavier’s start to the second half was not much different.
In the 45th minute, Marquette was called for a handball inside its own box giving Xavier a penalty kick opportunity.
Senior midfielder Molly McLaughlin converted on the kick as she was able to put it past Marquette redshirt first-year goalkeeper Mikki Easter.
Despite finding themselves in a two goal deficit, Marquette continued knocking on the door in hopes of finding a goal.
In the 52nd minute, redshirt first-year forward Alexa Maletis got a toe on redshirt sophomore midfielder Hailey Block’s rebound shot and put it in the back of the net for her second goal of the season.
The Musketeers quickly responded.
In the 55th minute, junior forward Emma Marcus crossed one into the six-yard box from the right side and first-year forward Mathilde Rasmussen’s touch on the ball deflected off the crossbar into the back of the net to reclaim a two-goal advantage for Xavier.
Xavier continued to create opportunities to score in the remaining 35 minutes of the second half but none were successful.
Five different Golden Eagles — Block, Alyssa Bombacino, Elaina Eckert, Maletis and Maggie Starker — recorded a shot each on net. Block led the way on the afternoon for Marquette with two total shots.
Xavier outshot Marquette 20-7 this afternoon, including a 10-5 advantage on shots on goal.
Easter finished the game with seven goals while allowing three goals. Meanwhile Xavier senior goalkeeper Olivia Jenkins ended the game with 4 saves, allowing one goal.
With the loss, the Marquette is now tied for fourth place in the BIG EAST with UConn. If the season ended today, the Huskies would win the tiebreaker with the Golden Eagles due to their 3-0 win Oct. 7.
Marquette (8-7, 4-4 BIG EAST) will return to Valley Fields Thursday to host No. 2 Georgetown at 7 p.m CST.
This article was written by Kelly Reilly. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kellyreillyyy.
