Marquette University Athletics
Women's Soccer Faces Key Weekend Tests
10/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 24, 2002
Upcoming Opponents
Oct. 25 at East Carolina; Greenville, N.C.; 2 p.m. EDT
Oct. 27 vs. Wis.-Milwaukee; Valley Fields; 5 p.m.
Following a pivotal C-USA weekend in which Marquette suffered an overtime defeat to Cincinnati and an offensive explosion in a 4-0 win over Louisville, Marquette has no time to rest in its penultimate week of regular season play. The Golden Eagles are in a battle for seeding in Conference USA and could use a win over East Carolina for a higher seed. MU and the Pirates are in the thick of the C-USA race. Marquette and ECU meet on Friday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. (EDT) in Greenville, N.C. The Golden Eagles have little opportunity to recover as they return home to take on Wis.-Milwaukee on Sunday evening at 5 p.m. at Valley Fields.
Scouting East Carolina
East Carolina is tough at home judging by its record, but it hasn't played enough at Bunting Field to justify that assertion. ECU is 4-0 at home, having one match cancelled due to weather. The Pirates and Golden Eagles will be battling for end-of-season seeding as both sit in a tie for third with 4-2-2C-USA records. ECU finishes with C-USA play against DePaul on Oct. 27.
Megan McCallion leads the team in scoring with nine goals, but ECU has a second goal scorer in Amanda Duffy with eight. After that pair, no Pirate has more than two goals. East Carolina, 8-4-3 overall, does its damage with defense. Lately the Pirates have excelled at that aspect of the game, giving up just four goals in the last six matches. Against the top of the league, ECU owns a 1-1-1 record, beating Saint Louis, tying Cincinnati and falling to Charlotte, 1-0.
Scouting Wis.-Milwaukee
Wis.-Milwaukee struggled at the beginning of the year, went on a five-match win streak, and then suffered some setbacks coming into its match with Marquette. UWM started just 1-4-1 before its streak. In its last four, UWM is 1-1-2 and has an overall record of 7-5-3. Undefeated in Horizon League play, UWM is still a candidate for an NCAA Tournament berth.
The Panther's success lies at goalkeeper. Marry Duffy and Molly Schneider split time. Duffy owns more minutes, but by only 17. Both own a below 1.00 goals against average, with a team GAA of 0.82. UWM doesn't score much averaging 1.20 goals per game. Elizabeth Chudy leads the team with four goals.
In The Polls
Marquette is receiving votes in the Soccer Buzz poll, but has slipped out of the NSCAA and Soccer America poll. MU got one vote in the Soccer Times poll. North Carolina and Charlotte, MU's two biggest opponents on the schedule, are second and 12th respectively in the NSCAA poll.
The Golden Eagles remained at fourth in the Soccer Buzz regional rankings, but fell to fifth in the NSCAA poll. Purdue, Michigan and Cincinnati sit at the top spot of both polls. Michigan State is fourth in the NSCAA Great Lakes poll.
Counting on the Masses
In Marquette's 10 victories, nine different players have scored the match winning goal. In all, 13 players in all have netted scores. Senior midfielder Anna Frisk (Rochester, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Laura Culhane (Brookfield, Wis.) each netted their first against UAB. Culhane's match winner made her the ninth different player to score match winners. Senior forward Kate Gordon (Sioux City, Iowa) became the first player to double up on the match-winning goal, earning her second of the year in the win over Louisville.
Gordon's Double
On three occasions this season has senior forward Kate Gordon (Sioux City, Iowa) scored multiple goals or at least one goal and one assist. She scored Marquette's first two goals of the season in a 4-3 win over Ohio. She also had an assist in that match. Two matches later, she scored the match winning goal and added an assist in a 2-0 win over Ohio State. Gordon had another multiple point outing, recording a goal and an assist in MU's 2-1 win over 15th-ranked Duke. She was partially responsible for the Golden Eagles first two goals in a 4-0 win over Louisville, scoring the first and assisting on the second. For her career, Gordon has nine matches with a goal and an assist or multiple goals.
Multiple Goal Michuda
Playing in just her fourth match of the year, sophomore forward Katie Michuda (Brookfield, Wis.) stepped on the field against Louisville without a point. Under 10 minutes later, she had tallied two goals and nearly netted a third. Michuda has taken just the two shots this season, scoring on both tries.
Short Time Between Ties
MU's 0-0 draw at Saint Louis on Oct. 13 came just two matches after a 1-1 tie at South Florida on Oct. 4. In 1997 and 1994, MU tied back-to-back matches. Prior to the tie at USF, MU had a 44 match string without a tie. The last time MU drew before South Florida in a match was Oct. 15, 2000 in a 0-0 standstill at home against Saint Louis.
Doomsday Defense While Marquette has been successful on the offensive end this season, the defense has been equally deserving in Marquette's success. With a veteran back line led by seniors Anne Dalecky (Wauwatosa, Wis.), Diana Detrie (Green Bay, Wis.) and Ashley Koenig (Naperville, Ill.), Marquette has kept its opponents from getting off quality shots. MU has outshot its opponents 263-144 and holds a 136-79 shot on goal advantage this season.
Difficult Schedule
Head coach Markus Roeders has loaded his slate with challenging foes. On the schedule are six teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year, including three which advanced as far as the third round. Currently, the nation's no. 1 ranked team, North Carolina, is on the Marquette schedule.
Roeders Wins 100th
Head coach Markus Roeders won two matches in the Dayton Marriot Flyer Classic to become the first women's soccer coach to win 100 games. He joined nine other MU coaches to reach 100 wins in any sport.
