In the last two matchups between Marquette women’s soccer and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, it was a fight to the finish in the crosstown rivalry.
Two years ago, the Panthers won 1-0. Last season, the Golden Eagles came out on top 1-0, marking their first win at Milwaukee since 2013.
However, this year, neither team was able to claim the Milwaukee Cup as Marquette (2-5-2) earned a 1-1 tie against Milwaukee (1-6-1) Sunday night at Valley Fields.
“I’m learning about the rivalry,” Marquette head coach Chris Allen said. “I’m starting to understand how it important it is to the city of Milwaukee, which makes a tie pretty disappointing. I hate tying.
“From a statistical standpoint, to be outshot and all the different things that went with it, it was pretty disappointing.”
The overall series between the Golden Eagles and the Panthers now stands at 11-11-9.
Back-and-forth first half
The first 45 minutes of the game were action-packed as each side settled into the match.
The Golden Eagles struck first in the 18th minute when sophomore defender Emily Fix received the ball from sophomore midfielder Adrianna Alberts on the right side of the field.
Fix dribbled the ball down the line and crossed it into the box, finding sophomore forward Ella McAleenan, who then headed it into the left side netting to give her team a 1-0 lead. It marked the Lindenwood transfer’s first career goal.
35′ | MU – 1 | UWM – 0 | Ella McAleenan’s first goal of the year gives Marquette the early lead. pic.twitter.com/de0xrkiJma
— MARQUETTE Soccer (@MarquetteWSOC) September 15, 2024
“It was fantastic,” Allen said. “We’ve been working through that. We’ve been asking our kids to drive endline, get service, get runners in the box, and Ella McAleenan is really starting play very well. That’s why she was brought here is to score goals like that.”
However, Milwaukee responded 10 minutes later with a goal of their own when senior forward Kayla Rollins tapped in a shot attempt that went off the crossbar.
Despite several opportunities for both sides, neither team would find the back of the net for the rest of the game. The Panthers outshot the Golden Eagles 15-8 overall.
“The first 15 minutes, we were flying,” Allen said. “We just couldn’t sustain that momentum. Milwaukee started to get back into the game. The second goal really motivated them and we just shrunk a little bit. We’re just going to have to deal with a little bit of that adversity.
“I liked our effort. It’s not necessarily an effort thing. It’s just the execution, the decision making, and they’re (Milwaukee) just a bit more seasoned than we are at this point.”
Physicality and defense defines Allen’s first Milwaukee Cup game
The match was nothing short of a brawl as both teams combined for 30 fouls with three yellow cards. Allen said he was not happy with how his team responded to the physicality of the game.
“We should not be fouling as much as we do,” Allen said. “A lot of our fouls are really undisciplined… We need to teach our kids a little better about how not to foul. It’s always going to be a physical game within a rivalry, but we need to clean that up.”
Despite those mistakes, Allen also said he liked how his defense played in the last 15 minutes.
“Our backline is fantastic, particularly, Mia Haertle and Dre (Adrianna) Alberts,” Allen said. “Our two center backs, the absolute rock and foundation of what we’re doing. I wish we just had that spirit throughout the entire team at this point.
“They’re willing to take the hits for their team, and it shows a lot of good leadership.”
Haertle and Alberts are two of the five players who have started all nine matches this season.
Up next
Marquette will play host to St. Thomas (4-3-1) Thursday at 6 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/x @KaylynnWrightMU.
