Heading into its third Big East matchup, Marquette women’s soccer was looking for its third road win in program history against Creighton.
The Golden Eagles (5-5-2, 1-1) did exactly that, defeating the Bluejays (2-4-5, 0-3 Big East) 3-1 Thursday night at Morrison Stadium.
This victory also marked Marquette’s third win on the road this season.
Hailey Block causes havoc
Now in her fifth collegiate season, senior defender Hailey Block had never scored more than one goal in a match. Until tonight.
In just the second minute of the game, Block controlled the ball deflected off senior forward Elsi Twombly and fired it into the bottom right corner to put Marquette in front 1-0.
15′ | MU – 1 | CU – 1 | Hailey Block netted her first of the season in the third minute, but the Bluejays responded four minutes later with a long-distance strike to even the score. Kate Gibson also with a quality chance early. pic.twitter.com/xNnS9iJl1v
— MARQUETTE Soccer (@MarquetteWSOC) September 28, 2023
“It’s always great to start out super strong,” Block told FloSports broadcasters Jon Schriner and Connor Happer. “We had a lot of energy coming into this weekend after our last game against Butler. To start off two minutes into the game to score a goal was super great for our team to build momentum into the rest of the game.”
This goal was not only Block’s first of the season, but also her first goal since Oct. 3, 2021.
Later, in the 33rd minute, a free kick was deflected around in the box until Block launched it into the bottom right corner for her second goal of the night, putting the Golden Eagles ahead 3-1 going into the locker room.
“It felt really great,” Block said. “Creighton’s always a really tough game, so it felt great to score here.”
Despite Marquette not recording a shot in the second half, this score would hold as it grabbed its second win in Big East play.
Statistical leaders
Along with Block’s two goals, sophomore forward Josie Bieda scored a goal of her own in the 23rd minute, marking her second goal of the season. Twombly also recorded two assists on the night.
30′ | MU – 2 | CU – 1 | Hailey Block and Josie Bieda with nearly identical goals off the right post and Marquette leads 2-1 at Creighton. pic.twitter.com/g0NUj7aOCd
— MARQUETTE Soccer (@MarquetteWSOC) September 28, 2023
Defensively, senior goalkeeper Mikki Easter matched her career-high with eight saves on the night.
“Mikki played a great game in goal,” Block said. “I have a lot of confidence with her. She’s always going to try for every single ball, no matter if it’s over the goal. A lot of confidence in her, and she (has) a great personality too.”
As a team, Creighton recorded 17 shots on the night with nine of those being on goal. Junior midfielder Azumi Manriki led the Bluejays with four shots and one goal coming in the seventh minute.
Up next
Marquette will travel to Storrs, Connecticut to face UConn (5-2-3, 2-0-1 Big East) Sunday at 12 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at @[email protected] or on Twitter @KaylynnWrightMU.
