It might not have been the home debut he was hoping for, but first-year head coach Chris Allen was still grateful.
Despite drawing with Kansas City 1-1 Sunday afternoon, the Marquette women’s soccer team was showered with cheers and support from the Marquette faithful.
“The Marquette community and the way that they wrap people up, I’ve never experienced anything like it,” Allen said in a postgame interview Sunday. “It’s pretty cool.”
Before the game, Marquette paid tribute to former president Michael Lovell who passed away after a three-year battle with Sarcoma in June. Afterward, Allen said he thought the way his team kept fighting was a fitting tribute to Lovell.
“On a day we were honoring Dr. Lovell, it’s pretty cool that we just kept running,” Allen said. “And to score a goal with 12 seconds left, even though it’s not for a win is a nice tribute to him and what he went through. Keep battling, keep going forward and we did that today.”
Among those present for the former Saint Louis coach’s debut was Marquette men’s basketball head coach Shaka Smart.
“Coach Smart has been so welcoming. He’s been a shoulder that I’ve been able to lean on,” Allen said. “He (even) reached out to me after the Colorado loss.”
Marquette goes 0-1-1 to open up the season
Through two contests, Allen is still searching for his first win at the helm of the Golden Eagles. Although his squad remains winless, they have shown fight in the early stages of the season.
After losing 3-0 to Colorado Thursday in its season opener, Marquette was hoping to turn the page heading into Sunday. But, 45 shaky minutes later, Allen knew something needed to change.
“The momentum we had coming out of that Colorado game became nonexistent,” Allen said. “We really challenged them (his team), made some tactical adjustments at halftime and played absolutely on the front foot.”
Despite coming out swinging on offense in the second half, the Golden Eagles trailed 1-0 with just one minute left in regulation, seemingly headed for their second consecutive loss.
However, after receiving a corner kick late in the game, Marquette was finally able get the monkey off its back — scoring its first goal of the season with just seconds remaining thanks to a miraculous header by senior forward Kate Gibson.
“Big players make big plays in big moments,” Allen said. “Her (Gibson) going up and winning that header back post with phenomenal service from Alexa (Maletis), it was just a great goal.”
Having scored only 11 goals last season, the Golden Eagles will need to see an uptick in offensive production if they want to see that win total rise from a year ago. However, if there is anything they hope to take with them after the Sunday’s draw, it’s momentum.
“We have a lot of heart,” Allen said. “We have a lot of spirit and we need to figure out a way to funnel it in the correct directions.
“We need to find a way to manufacture and produce goals within the run of play, and (it’s) going to be a big challenge for us moving forward.”
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.