After Thursday’s loss to Georgetown on the road, Marquette needed points to stay in the chase for one of the six postseason spots.
They managed to achieve that goal on Sunday afternoon, pulling out a 1-1 draw against St. John’s in Queens, New York.
Both teams got off to a quiet start as neither recorded a shot in the first 10 minutes of the match.
St. John’s broke the silence in the 13th minute when senior forward Isabella Aviza took a shot from the left side of the box but it trickled off to the right leading to a goal kick for Marquette.
Seven minutes later, the Golden Eagles would record their first from sophomore midfielder Julia O’Neill but it sailed over the crossbar keeping the game scoreless.
Moments later in the 21st minute, after receiving a pass from fifth-year midfielder Melina Couzis, St. John’s junior forward Nicole Gordon fired the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Chloe Olson to put the Red Storm up 1-0.
Despite many set-piece opportunities in the minutes that followed, Marquette was unable to equalize and headed into the second half down 1-0, marking the seventh time this season that the Golden Eagles suffered an early deficit.
Early in the second half, Gordon attempted another shot but Olson made a great sliding save to keep Marquette within reach.
The Red Storm gave away 10 fouls in the second half, opening the door for the Golden Eagles’ offense that couldn’t seem to finish on any set-piece opportunities. Marquette looked on the cusp of their eighth loss.
With seven minutes left in the match, junior forward Elsi Twombly provided Marquette’s offense with a last-minute opportunity.
In the 83rd minute, sophomore midfielder Mia Haertle sailed a corner kick into the box and found the foot of Twombly, who put it past St. John’s senior goalkeeper Gina Muzi. This was Twombly’s fourth goal of the season.
Neither team was able to capitalize on any scoring opportunities in the remaining minutes of the match, leading to a 1-1 draw.
Even with the slow start, Marquette outshot the Red Storm 10-6 on the afternoon, recording eight of those shots in the second half.
First-year midfielder Aislinn Boyle made her first career start for the Golden Eagles, seeing 19 minutes of action.
With the draw, the Golden Eagles remain alive in the chase for a spot in the Big East tournament.
Marquette (7-7-3, 3-4-2 Big East) will return home to face Xavier (12-2-4, 6-0-3 Big East) Thursday at 7:00 p.m. CST in its regular season finale.
This article was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @KaylynnWrightMU.
