Marquette University Athletics
Golden Eagles Announce 2009 Schedule
6/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
June 23, 2009
MILWAUKEE -
Five teams that competed in the 2008 NCAA Tournament including reigning national champion North Carolina highlight the Marquette women's soccer team's 2009 schedule announced Tuesday by head coach Markus Roeders.
"Our team will face another outstanding schedule this fall," said head coach Markus Roeders. "We are excited about the competition because it should bring the best out of our team. With the depth, experience and talent of our returning squad and the group of incoming players, we are looking forward to some great soccer."
Marquette will play one exhibition contest during the middle of its preseason training camp at Wisconsin on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 7 p.m. The two teams have met each of the last two seasons in exhibition play.
"The match at Wisconsin is always intriguing for the fans and our local players as we will see where we stand during that part of our pre-season training," said Roeders.
Following the conclusion of its preseason training camp, Marquette will open the season on the road for the first time since the 1999 season in Malibu, Calif., at Pepperdine. Last season, the two teams played to a scoreless draw at Valley Fields.
"We had a good battle with them last year and it will be an excellent season opener on the West Coast. They like to possess the ball and we do the same, it should be entertaining," said Roeders.
The Golden Eagles return home to play in the Milwaukee Cup hosting Rice and Michigan at Valley Fields before its battle with UW-Milwaukee at Englemann Field on Thursday, Sept. 3.
"These are two very good teams out of talented conferences as part of the MKE Cup. We have lost out on claiming the title the last couple of years and will definitely be looking to reclaim it this year," said Roeders.
Following its match with UWM, Marquette will head to Notre Dame, Ind., to play North Carolina on neutral ground on Sunday, Sept. 6, before closing out the home portion of its non-conference slate with Green Bay (Sept. 10) and Minnesota (Sept. 13) at Valley Fields. The game against the Golden Gophers will be a rematch of the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament where Marquette lost a heart breaker, 2-1, in St. Paul, Minn.
"To be the best, we will measure ourselves against the defending national champion. We know how consistently good they and that it will be a test for our squad, but we know they will be prepared. We haven't played Green Bay in a couple of years, but we know they have improved and we will be ready for our first Thursday night home match of the year. This year we have Minnesota on our home field and we will be prepared for the rematch of our NCAA tournament battle last fall. It is a new year and the teams will be slightly different, but we should expect another thrilling game," said Roeders.
Marquette opens BIG EAST play at Valley Fields against USF on Thursday, Sept. 17. A week later, the Golden Eagles travel to Morgantown, W. Va., to play three-time American Division Champion and NCAA Tournament participant West Virginia on Thursday, Sept. 24, before opening a five-game BIG EAST Conference homestand on Sunday, Sept. 27 against Pittsburgh.
The Golden Eagles' four additional home BIG EAST games include NCAA Tournament participant Rutgers (Oct. 2), whom MU defeated, 1-0, in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals to punch its ticket to the BIG EAST Championship semifinals, Seton Hall (Oct. 4), Connecticut (Oct. 9) and Providence (Oct. 11).
The Golden Eagles close out the regular BIG EAST season on the road at Cincinnati (Oct. 16), Louisville (Oct. 18), Syracuse (Oct. 23) and St. John's (Oct. 25).
"I don't think we can overstate how tough and the competitive the BIG EAST Conference will be. Every year the games get tougher and more tightly contested. Every match is a battle for points and our road is difficult. Opening at home against South Florida can only be an advantage because teams in the league definitely have a leg up at home. To have South Florida, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, UConn and Providence all at home will be exciting for our team and fans. The last four games on the road, a challenge that hopefully our veteran team embraces," said Roeders.
The BIG EAST Tournament kicks off on Oct. 29 with first round play, followed by quarterfinal action on Sunday, Nov. 1. Connecticut will play host to the semifinals and final at Morrone Stadium Nov. 6-8.
The Golden Eagles welcome back 22 letterwinners and eight starters from a season ago that earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament and finished the season 11-8-3 overall, 6-3-2 in BIG EAST play. Eight newcomers will join the squad in 2009.
Junior forward Ashley Bares is the team's top returning scorer after leading Marquette with 12 points on five goals and two assists followed by junior Julia Victor and sophomore Danielle Martens who each tallied three goals and two assists in 2008. The Golden Eagles also return 12 players who tallied at least a point in 2008.
"If everybody comes back and stays healthy, this should be our most experienced squad in several years. It will be a great balance between the different classes that should allow us to go deep into our bench. To reach our goals, it will be a marathon and every match on our schedule will be a test," said Roeders.
