Four Big East games, or more fittingly, gut punches, in 10 days.

That’s what killed Marquette women’s soccer’s chances at exorcising postseason demons in 2025, leading to another missed conference tournament. Four gut punches that came quicker than the Golden Eagles knew how to respond.

Marquette hasn’t played in the postseason since 2017 and this year, almost every player on the team said either winning or simply making it was their biggest goal for the season. That desire in early conference play put it on the right path leading towards the postseason. Or at least what it thought was the right path.

The Golden Eagles — who went 7-7-4 on the season — went beguilingly undefeated through its first five matchups (two wins and three ties) and two of those draws came against eventual conference tournament teams.

Amid this, head coach Chris Allen boiled down their run at the tournament to a science. It’s the high school biology teacher in him. He constantly reminded his players of how many points they sat at compared to other teams in the conference.

But combining science and sport — the controllable and the unpredictable — isn’t always possible.

“We started to make it very heavy on the numbers,” Allen portended.

After Marquette’s fifth game, it traveled to Villanova, sitting fourth in the Big East standings tied at nine points with the Wildcats. Before the match, the Golden Eagles were happy to look at Big East points. Though eerily similar to last season, a critical game against Villanova ended with a 3-0 loss for the Golden Eagles. After that, maybe they weren’t so keen.

“Probably too much was put on the Villanova game,” Allen said. “That was a first domino that started to fall.”

Marquette began lagging behind the points standard it set for itself.

Next, it lost to No. 13 Georgetown, Providence and No. 19 Xavier by a -14 total goal differential.

The Golden Eagles’ matchup against the Friars was, realistically, its last chance to get in a contending spot for the Big East tournament. Marquette had won against them last year and Providence had only one conference win at the time, sitting tied for second to last in the Big East alongside DePaul.

The hope and determination were there, but only 12 minutes in, the Friars scored and gave Marquette an uppercut.

“You can just see,” Allen said exhaustingly about the team’s belief. “It just evaporated.”

Another jab followed four minutes later, then a hook eight minutes after that, then two crosses in the second half to put the Golden Eagles to sleep.

During its four-game, 10-day run from Villanova to Xavier, the Golden Eagles were outscored 18-1, outshot 45-23 and dropped to eighth in the Big East — mathematically eliminated the from conference tournament contention.

“It unfortunately really changed the narrative of the season,” Allen said about those 10 trajectory-defining days. “The team’s scouting got better (and they) were able to neutralize our attack.”

Allen likened the team’s mentality during this time to a speed skater. The team played the first half of the season with edge, one of its core values, just as a skater furiously rides the edge of their blade while flying through corners. Once the skater loses their edge, their feet slide out from underneath them and they slam into the boards. When they fly through corners again, they will be thinking about meeting the wall.

The bruises of Marquette’s board slam with Villanova never fully healed and the subsequent worry harmed each game after.

Marquette was playing from behind in the Big East standings, but the same was also true in the four games that condemned the season. The first goal in each of these matchups, which was never scored by the Golden Eagles, came at an average of 11 and a half minutes.

“When you’re constantly playing from behind, you’re going to get found out,” Allen said. “All of a sudden you have to make formational adjustments and whatnot. We put ourselves a little bit in compromised positions. We did not do a very good job of working through the level of adversity that all programs face.”

The points standing, which kept being brought up, turned from a point of pride to a constant reminder of mistakes.

“It’s part of my responsibility to remove those dark clouds,” Allen said. “Not inadvertently insert them into our environment.”

The skies began to clear with Marquette’s final game of the season against Seton Hall, who finished at the bottom of the Big East. The win against the Pirates—its first senior night victory since 2021—gave the Golden Eagles two more conference points than they ended with last year.

But the team won’t forget about the laden 10 days of overcast sky. It’s what will bring back the crew strong and hungry.

“That’s what brings about a team,” Allen admitted. “You have to be there during the tough times.”

As Marquette sat in Milwaukee, it watched the Xavier women hoist the Big East tournament trophy above their ‘Big East Champions’ hats. Countless emotions could have been running through the Golden Eagles’ heads. But one, that ensures a fiery motivation for next season, Allen is certain of.

“We have a team that’s pissed off now.”

This story was written by Benjamin Hanson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.