WSOC faces rival DePaul on Thursday in Chicago
10/3/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 3, 2017
| 2017 Marquette Women's Soccer - Match 14 | |
| Marquette (8-4-1, 1-2) at DePaul (5-6-1, 1-1-1) | |
| Date | Thursday, Oct. 5 | 3 p.m. CT |
| Location | Wish Field | Chicago |
| Stats/Video | | Watch Live |
| Social Media | Twitter  | Facebook  | Instagram  |
| Notes | Match Notes  | Record Book |
MILWAUKEE - Fresh off its first BIG EAST Conference victory of the season, the Marquette University women's soccer team heads to Chicago on Thursday afternoon to take on DePaul at Wish Field.
The match against MU's longtime league foe is slated to kickoff at 3 p.m. Central time and will feature a free, live video stream on DePaulBlueDemons.com.
The Golden Eagles (8-4-1, 1-2-0 BIG EAST) enter the weekday matinee looking to even its record in conference play after a 1-0 win at St. John's on Sunday afternoon. Sixth-year forward Darian Powell notched the match winner in the 23rd minute and leads the squad with 12 points on four goals and four assists.
Carrie Madden, the team's leading scorer in 2016, returned to the starting lineup against the Red Storm for the first time since Sept. 3, while Allison Jacobson started on defense for the first time since her 2015 freshman campaign.
Goalkeeper Maddy Henry made seven saves against the Red Storm for her fifth clean sheet after the MU defense had surrendered seven goals in its first two BIG EAST matches.
The Blue Demons (5-6-1, 1-1-1 BIG EAST) also picked up their first league win on Sunday at Creighton, 2-0, as junior Franny Cerny posted her sixth and seventh goals of the year. Goalkeeper Lauren Frasca has posted three shutouts in 2017 and DePaul has posted all five of its victories by shutout.
Cerny leads the BIG EAST with seven of the Blue Demons' 17 goals this year and was named to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team with senior midfielders Alexa Ben and Lucy Edwards.
The Golden Eagles own a 14-5-1 edge in the all-time series with DePaul and topped their I-94 rivals in overtime of last season's regular season finale to earn a share of the BIG EAST title and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament.
DePaul built a 2-1 lead just after halftime of last season's meeting and Marquette needed a penalty kick goal from 2016 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Morgan Proffitt in the 79th minute to send the match to extra time. Then-junior Eli Beard scored her only goal of last season less than a minute into overtime at Valley Fields for the win.
Three of MU's five losses in series history have come in Chicago, where it fell in its last trip to Wish Field on Oct. 30, 2015 by a 2-1 margin in overtime.
Following Thursday's match, Marquette returns to Milwaukee for a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday, Oct. 8 against Providence during MU Homecoming and Reunion weekend. The Golden Eagles will honor their alumnae in attendance and the first 200 fans will receive a commemorative t-shirt celebrating 25 years of Marquette women's soccer.
POWELL RETURNS FOR SIXTH SEASON
- Forward Darian Powell led Marquette in both 2014 and 2015 with seven goals after sitting out both 2012 and 2013 with injuries and leads MU in scoring once again as a sixth-year graduate student. Powell posted points in six of the squad's first eight matches and leads the team with 12 points on four goals and a career-best four assists.
- Powell's goal at St. John's on Oct. 1 pushed her into a tie for eighth in program history with 22 goals and was her ninth match winner, tying her for seventh all-time at MU with Meghan Connelly.
MU CAPTURED SIXTH BIG EAST REGULAR SEASON TITLE IN 2016
- Eli Beard scored her first goal of 2016 just 57 seconds into overtime against DePaul on Oct. 28 to lift Marquette to the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST tournament and a share of their sixth regular season title with a 3-2 win over the Blue Demons. Senior midfielder Morgan Proffitt scored a pair of goals to help MU rebound from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits for the win. The regular season title was MU's 10th all-time, counting MU's decade-long stay in Conference USA.
GOLDEN EAGLES AMONG MOST SUCCESSFUL CURRENT BIG EAST TEAMS SINCE 2005
- Since entering the BIG?EAST?Conference in 2005, Marquette has proven to be among the conference's elite women's soccer programs. The Golden Eagles have accumulated an overall record of 179-68-32 since that time and a mark of 93-24-10 in league action, which includes six regular season conference titles and a pair of tournament championships in 2012 and 2013. MU, which has missed the NCAA?tournament just three times since its addition to the league,?went a remarkable 39-1-1 in BIG?EAST play in the four seasons from 2010-13.
BU AND URI WINS SHOW DIFFERENT PATHS TO VICTORY
- The wins at Boston University (Sept. 8) and Rhode Island (Sept. 10) continued Marquette's winning streak but had vastly different looks. The Golden Eagles were outshot 25-1 in the 1-0 win at BU as Kylie Sprecher scored the match winner in the 24th minute on MU's lone shot. Marquette applied greater pressure on its opponent in Sunday's win at URI, outshooting the Rams 18-12 with a 11-6 edge in corner kicks. With Carrie Madden out for both matches and Jamie Kutey still hobbled over the weekend, MU received a goal and an assist from both Sprecher and Darian Powell, plus the first career goal from defender Bri Jaeger at URI. Redshirt junior Heather Handwork also made her first start since 2014 at forward against Rhode Island and played 42 minutes.
SPRECHER EMERGING AT FORWARD
- Kylie Sprecher slid into the starting lineup on Aug. 27 at Louisville and has continued to produce, posting points in four straight matches and earning a pair of BIG EAST Freshman of the Week accolades in the process. Sprecher, a freshman from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, earned offensive MVP honors at the Marquette Invitational for her play against CMU and Mercer and was honored by the BIG EAST on Sept. 4 as the league's freshman of the week. She then posted the match winner at Boston University on Sept. 8 and assisted Darian Powell's winner on Sept. 10 at Rhode Island.
EIGHT MAKE NCAA DEBUTS VS. STANFORD, PAIR WITH FIRST STARTS
- Ten Golden Eagles who did not see the field for Marquette in 2016 played in the season opener against No. 2 Stanford, including eight in their first ever NCAA action. Five of MU's six true freshmen saw the field, led by forward Kylie Sprecher who saw a team-high 44 minutes off the bench. Defensively redshirt freshman Mary Kate Simon started alongside redshirt sophomore Bri Jaeger in their first career starts, while redshirt junior Heather Handwork also returned to the pitch after not playing last year.
MU CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF WOMEN'S SOCCER
- Throughout the season, Marquette will celebrate its 25th anniversary by highlighting the players and accomplishments of the University's most successful women's program. MU has appeared in the NCAA tournament in over half of its years of competition (13 of 24) and has earned 10 conference regular season titles and four league tournament crowns. Entering the program's 25th campaign, Marquette has posted an overall record of 331-150-55, including a mark of 310-123-47 in Markus Roeders' 22 years at the helm.
