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Marquette Enjoys Success at Tournament of Friends
March 10, 2008
MILWAUKEE - The Marquette women's soccer team opened up the 2008 Spring Season with its fifth annual Tournament of Friends Saturday at the Marquette Gym. The Tournament of Friends featured two Marquette teams of current players: a Marquette Blue Team and Marquette Gold Team, an alumni team, Wis.-Whitewater and Wis.-Oshkosh. The tournament games were small-sided; four field players and a goalkeeper. "It was a great day of play for our team," said head coach Markus Roeders. "Our team got better today and you could see the improvement in every match. We have much to work on but the girls are seeing a reward of their hard work. It was an all-around successful day and a good way to wrap-up the indoor portion of the spring." The Marquette Blue Team captured the championship with a 4-3 win over the Marquette Gold Team marking the fifth consecutive year a team of current Marquette players has won the title. The championship was a rematch of the first game of the morning in which MU Gold won, 7-3. In the title game, MU Blue came out on fire with quick shots by Stephanie Vasos and Brittany Bares. Lauren Thut also had an early opportunity for MU Gold, but MU Blue got on the scoreboard first just over two minutes into the contest thanks to a goal from Bares on a feed from Danielle Martens. The two teams kept things very competitive and physical as both teams limited each other's chances during the first eight minutes of play. Michelle Compty tied the game, 1-1, at 21:06 and MU Gold quickly jumped ahead, 2-1, with a second goal 30 seconds later as Julia Victor served a nice ball across and Thut finished it for the lead.
The action heated up as the match progressed and Lauren Acree's goal for MU Blue tied the match at two apiece. Martens gave MU Blue a 3-2 lead off an assist from Anna Sawicki. MU Gold wasn't going to be denied as Katie Miller tied the match 3-3 at 13:02 off an assist by Thut. During the subsequent ten minutes shots by Vasos, Bares, Acree, Shannon Cusick and Kelli DeBarge could not provide MU Blue with an advantage. MU Gold almost took the lead with 2:30 left to play as Ashley Bares was denied a one vs one opportunity by MU Blue keeper and Kristi Laurenzi's rebound was saved by the defense. The match would come down to the last two minutes as Martens picked up the game-winner with 1:20 left in the game. A pass by Acree down the middle of the field was collected by Martens and her half-turn shot found the back of the net to take the title, 4-3. The game-winning goal was Martens' seventh tally of the day. "Although the Blue team gained the last victory, our entire team should be proud on how we competed and played. It was great to welcome two very competitive programs in UW Whitewater and UW Oshkosh, we thank them for their play throughout," said Roeders. Not only was Roeders delighted with the play of the Golden Eagles, but also with the 33 alumni who participated in the all-day tournament. "We can never say enough about our alumni and they presented better than ever. Although not all of them could play, we had over 30 Alumni in town and we hope they know how much we appreciate them and that they are still an integrated part of our `Marquette Family'. Some of them haven't worn a uniform for nearly ten years but they are still passionate to play the game," said Roeders. The Golden Eagles will be back in action on March 29 when they move outdoors to host Wis.-Milwaukee, Green Bay and NCAA Tournament participant Loyola (Ill.) at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 3 p.m., respectively at Valley Fields. Complete Results - Round Robin Format
Championship
Final Standings Goal scorers Marquette Gold Marquette Blue
Marquette Alumni
Christy Zwolski - 4 Alumni (last season played) |
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