 |
Golden Eagles Defeat Wisconsin in Spring Play
April 13, 2008
MILWAUKEE -
The Marquette women's soccer team played its final home matches of the spring season Sunday in very blustery conditions at Valley Fields. The Golden Eagles defeated Wisconsin, 1-0, but fell to Northwestern, 1-0, to improve to 4-1-2 for the spring season. Rosie Malone-Povolny scored MU's lone goal of the day. The Golden Eagles began the day with a 1-0 loss to Northwestern despite out-shooting the Wildcats 9-3 over the 70-minute match, including a 7-1 shots advantage in the second half. Northwestern capitalized on one of its only opportunities of the match in the 57th minute. After a long free kick was cleared short by the Golden Eagle defense, the ball bounced loose from outside the 18-yard box and one of NU's midfielders sent the ball far post of goalkeeper Chelsey Turner. Even with the extremely windy conditions, Marquette had several chances in the second frame to score. MU's best chance was when Danielle Martens found herself on the end of a ball that had gone behind NU's defense and sent it just wide of the left post. Martens finished the match with a team-high three shots. "We didn't play an all-around solid game, but that's what it takes to beat a good opponent," said head coach Markus Roeders. "We had chances to score but didn't convert and that left us exposed. Northwestern scored on their only chance in the second half, a great strike; we give them credit. It was definitely a good game for us to learn from when it comes to finishing chances and building a lead on our opponents."
Against Wisconsin, Marquette came out with more focus and a sense of urgency and thus dominated the majority of the 80-minute match. The Golden Eagles scored the only goal needed to decide the game in the 25th minute. Stehanie Vasos carried the ball into Wisconsin territory and found Martens on the run behind the Badgers' backline. Martens was ready to dribble around the goal but the ball was knocked loose. Malone-Povolny jumped on the ball and sent it in the empty net for the score. For the game, Marquette out-shot the Badgers, 17-2. Ashley Bares registered a match-high four shots, Katie Miller added three, while Cat Harris, Julia Victor, Martens and Malone-Povolny each added two apiece. "Our game against Wisconsin was a much more solid game. We adjusted to the windy conditions and played the ball to feet and strung passes together. Our build up was good and we had chances to score three or four goals. Again, with close to 30 shots between the two games, we can only blame ourselves for not scoring more. The game winner was excellent as Rosie deserves all the credit for following up and was rewarded with an easy finish. Our goal was to win both games but more importantly, we got better as the day went on and learned in the process," said Roeders. The Golden Eagles will close out spring play in the "Sunshine State" in Boca Raton, Fla., on Saturday, April 19, where they will play NCAA Tournament participant University of Miami, Florida Atlantic and Florida Gulf Coast. |
|
