Marquette women’s soccer has now allowed six goals in its last two games and 27 goals on the year overall.
Disaster was once again spelt for the Golden Eagles (4-9-3, 1-4-1 Big East) as the Villanova Wildcats (5-5-4, 2-1-3 Big East) defeated them 3-0 Thursday night at Valley Fields, serving them their second-straight shutout loss.
“It’s a really tough one,” Marquette head coach Chris Allen said. “We knew that was a game that we needed to keep in contention for the Big East playoffs. Our kids know what that loss meant in the big picture.
“They (Villanova) take advantage of their moments. We just don’t… Too many mistakes on our end tonight.”
With the loss, Marquette now sits in 10th place in the Big East with four games left to play.
Two second-half goals seal Wildcats’ win
Villanova ramped up the intensity in the second half, starting with an early goal.
In the 47th minute, sophomore forward Alex Little found herself on a breakaway, and in one-on-one action with senior goalkeeper Chloe Olson, it was Olson who made the all-out save.
But the rebound came straight to senior midfielder Susanna Soderman’s feet as she slipped the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to extend the Wildcats’ lead, marking her fourth goal in three games and sixth of the year.
47′ | Villanova 2, Marquette 0
SUUUUUUS!!! That’s six goals for her this season! #GoNova pic.twitter.com/PigpArI1Q6
— Villanova Women’s Soccer (@NovaWSoccer) October 18, 2024
“We went all in on a corner kick, it’s my fault,” Allen said. “We got countered on it because we knew we needed three points tonight. We knew we needed two goals in the second half… It’s a bummer.”
19 minutes later, the ball was passed around the box to senior forward Lauren Belcuore, who utilized the opening and fired the ball into the top left corner, sealing the 3-0 win for Villanova.
This marks the first time since 2017 that the Wildcats have won in Milwaukee.
Villanova strikes first
Leading up to the 29th minute, the Wildcats were knocking on the door, having taken four shots that were all on target. It was the fifth one that broke through.
In the 29th minute, a Villanova corner kick was served into the box, which found senior defender Myla McLeod’s right foot after a scramble, and she fired it into the left side of the net, earning her first career goal and putting her team ahead 1-0.
28′ | Villanova 1, Marquette 0
MYLAAAA! First career goal! #GoNova pic.twitter.com/3EjDJo5vMp
— Villanova Women’s Soccer (@NovaWSoccer) October 18, 2024
“We wanted to pride ourselves on our defensive presence and really get our press generated,” Allen said. “Villanova was well prepared and they passed through our press quite a bit. We get scored on way too easily.”
Up next
Marquette will travel to Washington, D.C., Sunday to face No. 22 Georgetown (8-2-4, 4-1-1 Big East) at 12 p.m. CST.
This article was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @KaylynnWrightMU.
