Marquette University Athletics
Women's Soccer Meets #1 Santa Clara
10/5/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 5, 1999
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -
THE WEEK AHEAD In the midst of a season-high six-game road swing, Markus Roeders? Marquette women?s soccer team (6-4-2, 4-1-1) looks to extend its current four-game winning streak against a pair of high-profile nonconference foes this week. The Golden Eagles have a midweek contest at Northwestern on Wed., Oct. 6, at 3 p.m. (CT). Marquette then goes to California to play its highest-ranked opponent ever on Sun., Oct. 10, when #1 Santa Clara hosts the Golden Eagles in an 3 p.m. contest.
LAST WEEK Marquette jumped back into the Conference USA race with a pair of league road wins last weekend. The victories over Louisville and Cincinnati also extended the Golden Eagles? winning streak to four games, its longest streak of the season. Marquette got goals from four different players, including Kate Gordon?s (Sioux City, Iowa / North) game-winner, in downing Louisville on Fri., Oct. 1. The Golden Eagles came back on Sun., Oct. 3, with a 2-1 win at Cincinnati. C-USA Offensive Player of the Week Kelly Roethe (Wauwatosa, Wis. / DSHA) netted her second goal of the weekend for the game-winner, and, with five points in the two games, became the all-time leading scorer in C-USA history. Marquette utilized a strong defensive effort to seal the win at Cincinnati and improve to 4-1-1 in the league.
A LOOK AT NORTHWESTERN After improving their record for four straight seasons and advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament last season, head coach Marcia McDermott?s Wildcats have fallen on hard times this season. After being ranked in several preseason Top 25s, Northwestern is currently 2-8-1 and has not been victorious since Sept. 10. The Wildcats lost to Iowa 3-1 on Fri., Oct. 1, and tied Illinois 2-2 on Sun., Oct. 3, in their most recent outings. Northwestern still features a talented lineup, however, led by senior defender Kristen Palmer, who leads the team with 13 points. Goalie Erin Ekeberg, a 5-7 junior, has been in net for all 1,045 minutes of action this season and has 55 saves, one shutout and a 2.15 goals against average (GAA). The first coach in the program?s history, McDermott is in her sixth year at the Evanston, Ill., school. She has led the Wildcats to a 54-50-4 (.519) mark and two NCAA Tournament appearances in that time. Her 10-year overall mark is 83-85-10 (.494). The all-time series between the regional foes is 1-1-2, with Marquette coming back to tie Northwestern 2-2 in Evanston in last year?s meeting.
A LOOK AT SANTA CLARA Head coach Jerry Smith?s Broncos this week sit atop both the Soccer America and NSCAA Top 25s, a spot they have become accustomed to this season. They are now 11-0-0 after back-to-back 9-0 victories over Evansville and Alabama this past weekend. The high-scoring Broncos feature senior All-Americans Mandy Clemens and Nikki Serlenga, and U-21 National Team member Aly Wagner. Clemens paces Santa Clara with 31 points, while senior striker Jacqui Little has added 21 points. Junior Crystal Gordon and sophomore Alice Gleason have split time in net for the Broncs. Gordon is 8-0-0, but the two have combined to make seven shutouts, 24 saves and a 0.45 GAA. Now in his 13th season, Smith has led Santa Clara to ten straight NCAA Tournament appearances and a 191-50-14 (.776) record. His wife, 1999 Women?s World Cup hero Brandi Chastain, serves as one of his assistants. This will be the first meeting between Marquette and Santa Clara.
HEAD COACH MARKUS ROEDERS Markus Roeders has a 51-17-9 (.721) record in his fourth season as head coach at Marquette. He led the Golden Eagles to back-to-back C-USA regular-season championships in 1996-97 and has guided the Golden Eagles to three consecutive trips to the C-USA Tournament championship game. Effective Sept. 1, he started a three-year term as a member of the NCAA Division I Women?s Soccer Committee. A 1990 graduate of UNC Asheville, Roeders earned the 1996 C-USA Coach of the Year Award. Prior to taking over the reigns of the women?s program, Roeders served for two years as assistant coach for the Marquette men?s team under his collegiate coach Steve Adlard. Roeders played his final two seasons at UNC Asheville and was team captain as a senior. He is assisted by Frank Pelaez and Dan Holcomb.
IN THE POLLS One Marquette opponent was ranked in the national polls this week: Santa Clara is ranked #1 by both Soccer America and the NSCAA.
After a two-week absence, Marquette got back into this week?s NSCAA Great Lakes Region Rankings at #10. Other NSCAA regional rankings: Saint Louis is #10 in the Central, Illinois is #5, Wisconsin #8 and UW-Milwaukee #9 in the Great Lakes, UNC Charlotte is #9 in the Southeast, and Santa Clara is #1 in the West.
RAY OF LIGHT Roethe collected five points over the weekend to become C-USA?s all-time leading scorer with 109 points. The senior midfielder surpassed Cincinnati?s Tina Matlock (1995-98), who held the previous mark with 105 points. She was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week for her performance over the weekend. Roethe is Marquette?s all-time leader with 109 points and 43 goals and is second all-time with 23 assists.
Roethe?s weekend goals were also important. She put the Golden Eagles on the board first at Louisville, netting her sixth goal of the season off a direct free kick. She later added an assist on classmate Erin Morgan?s insurance goal. Roethe then netted the game-winner, her second of the season, at Cincinnati. The 5-5 co-captain knocked in a rebound after Rhegan Hyypio?s header off a corner hit the crossbar. Roethe leads Marquette, and is among the C-USA leaders, with 19 points on seven goals and five assists.
POINT FORWARD Erin Morgan (Stevens Point, Wis. / Stevens Point Area) recorded her fourth goal of the season at Louisville. The 5-1 senior co-captain took a Roethe pass and finished a break-away goal to give Marquette some breathing room at Louisville. She is third on the team in scoring with 11 points this season. The goal also continued to move Morgan up the Marquette all-time scoring charts. She is now third all-time with 20 goals scored, and is in fourth place all-time in both points (56) and assists (16).
FRESHMAN FLASH Gordon continued to make a bid for the C-USA All-Freshmen Team with her fourth goal of the season at Louisville. The score, which came at the 28:58 mark, also was her second game-winning goal of the season. Gordon also collected a game-high seven shots, the most shots in a single game by a Golden Eagle this season. She leads all Marquette freshmen, and is fifth on the team, with nine points.
INSTANT OFFENSE Katherine Ward (Trumbull, Conn. / Trumbull) tallied her third goal of 1999 at Cincinnati, putting Marquette up 1-0 with a header off a corner at the 11:20 mark. After coming off the bench a year ago, she has started ten of the 11 games this year and is second on the team with 12 points on three goals and a team-high six assists. The goal was the 15th of her career, moving her into fifth place among the all-time Marquette leaders.
SPAK FACTS Freshman Ashley Spakowitz (Hartland, Wis. / Arrowhead) tallied the first goal of her collegiate career at Louisville, concluding the game?s scoring at the 87:36 mark. The 5-8 striker worked a nice combination play with classmates Erin Maysent and Kristin Halley before putting the ball into the back of the net. She has three points in her debut season for the Golden Eagles.
ONE-TIMERS Junior midfielder Melissa Moffatt (Waukesha, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) collected a an assist in both weekend games, and now has five points this season ? freshmen Kristin Halley (Overland Park, Kan. / St. Thomas Aquinas) and Erin Maysent (Ames, Iowa / Ames) each collected an assist on Spakowitz?s goal at Louisville ? the assist was Maysent?s first collegiate point ? junior Mo Bothwell (Carmel Ind. / Carmel) made six saves in winning both weekend games, improving her season mark to 6-4-2.
C-USA LEADERS Several Golden Eagles rank among the C-USA statistical leaders this week. Roethe is tied for second with seven goals, tied for third with 19 points, fifth with 30 shots and tied for fifth with five assists. Ward is tied for tenth with 12 points and tied for third with six assists, while Gordon is seventh with 28 shots. Bothwell is tied for sixth with three shutouts, seventh with a 1.48 GAA and eighth with 44 saves.
Among the team leaders, Marquette is third in scoring (75 points), goals (25) and assists (25), and is fourth with 168 shots. Defensively, the Golden Eagles are fifth with a 1.42 GAA, tied for fifth with three shutouts and ninth with 46 saves.
MARQUETTE SOCCER ON THE NET The Marquette women?s soccer website contains all of the most recent information on the Golden Eagles. Weekly media releases, current statistics and results, Conference USA standings and game stories and reviews can be found at: www.gomarquette.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Marquette assistant sports information director Josh Sutter at (414) 288-6980 or at: joshua.sutter@marquette.edu
