Golden Eagles and Panthers meet Sunday on the East Side

Sept. 15, 2017

2017 Marquette Women's Soccer - Match 9
#19 Marquette (7-1-1) at rv Milwaukee (7-0-1)
Date	Sunday, Sept. 17 \| 7 p.m. CT
Location	Engelmann Stadium \| Milwaukee
Stats/Video	Live Stats \| ESPN3
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram
Notes	Match Notes \| Record Book

MILWAUKEE - The No. 19 Marquette University women's soccer team heads across town to resume its annual series against Milwaukee on Sunday evening at Engelmann Stadium.

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. in a match broadcast live on ESPN3, through the WatchESPN application, with Matt Menzl on the call. Marquette leads the all-time series by a narrow 9-8-8 margin, which includes 1-1 draws in each of the last two meetings. The squads have met in all of MU's 24 varsity campaigns and played their lone postseason contest against each other in 2005, a 1-0 MU win at Valley Fields.

The Golden Eagles (7-1-1) have not lost in their last eight games since a season-opening loss to No. 2 Stanford on Aug. 18 and played to a scoreless draw on Thursday evening against Illinois State. Sophomore goalkeeper Maddy Henry continued her stellar play by recording her fourth shutout of the year with a career-high 15 saves, the most for an MU keeper since 2001 and the fifth-highest single match total in program history.

Freshman Kylie Sprecher, the two-time reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, led MU with six shots against the Redbirds and had her potential match winner in the 94th minute strike underneath the crossbar and bounce out from the goalmouth.

The Panthers (7-0-1), who have yet to allow a goal this season, play their Horizon League opener against Detroit Mercy on Friday evening before welcoming MU to Milwaukee's East Side. Through eight matches, senior midfielder Anna Smalley leads the squad with 13 points and her five tallies are tied for the team goal lead with freshman Mackenzie Schill.

Redshirt senior Mallory Geurts has played every minute in net for UWM and leads the nation with eight shutouts, while stopping all 27 shots on frame in 2017.

Marquette outshot Milwaukee, 18-8, in last year's 1-1 draw at Valley Fields, but needed an 89th minute goal from forward Molly Pfeiffer to avoid a defeat.

Following Sunday's match, the Golden Eagles will begin defense of their 2016 BIG EAST Conference regular season crown with the league lid-lifter on Sunday, Sept. 24 at Butler.

GOLDEN EAGLES EARN FIRST NATIONAL RANKING SINCE 2014

MU's 7-1 start pushed it to the No. 19 spot in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, it was revealed on Tuesday, Sept. 12. The Golden Eagles break into the national rankings for the first time this season with 196 points after residing in the 'receiving votes' category each of the last two weeks (26 points last Tuesday). They also rank third in the Midwest region.
The last time MU was ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Poll (then the NSCAA Poll) was the 2014 preseason rankings, when Marquette checked in at No. 15, while coming off consecutive BIG EAST tournament crowns and six straight NCAA Championship appearances.

HENRY CONTINUES LINE OF MULTI-YEAR STARTERS IN NET

Maddy Henry has held strong in net during the early portion of her sophomore campaign and recorded a new career high with 15 saves in Thursday's scoreless draw with Illinois State. That mark is the highest single-match save total for an MU keeper since 2001 and tied for the fifth most in program history. Over the last three matches, Henry has seen 63 opponent shots after seeing 69 total in the first six matches of the year.

She notched a then-career-high nine saves in the 2017 lid-lifter against No. 2 Stanford to earn her fourth career BIG EAST weekly accolade with mention on the league's honor roll on Aug. 21. She was also named the league's goalkeeper of the week on both Aug. 28 and Sept. 4 after helping the Golden Eagles to four-straight shutouts. All told, the shutout streak lasted 541:44 (of which she played 527:43) as Marquette held opponents off the scoreboard from Aug. 20-Sept. 10.

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.

BEARD AND BUGAY STEP UP AT LOUISVILLE

With the departure of last year's large senior class, the 2017 Golden Eagles need contributions from players like midfielders Eli Beard and Ryley Bugay in supporting roles. The pair stepped up in the win at Louisville on Sunday, Aug. 27 with their first goals of the year. Bugay's match winner, the first tally of her career, came on a penalty kick in the 51st minute and the redshirt junior leads MU through its first six matches with 519 minutes played. Beard scored the day's final goal from 40 yards in the 69th minute to mark just her second goal since her 2014 freshman campaign.
The pair continued its success in the Marquette Invitational, earning all-tournament honors against Central Michigan and Mercer. Bugay was awarded the most valuable defensive player honors as MU shutout both teams, while Beard, who scored the match winner against Mercer, also was recognized on the all-tournament team.

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 has posted points in six of the squad's first eight matches and leads the team with 10 points on three goals and a career-best four assists.
Powell's goal at Rhode Island on Sept. 10 pushed her into a tie for sixth in program history with 21 goals and was her eighth match winner, tying her with two others for eighth all-time at MU.

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 330-147-55, including a mark of 309-120-47 in Markus Roeders' 22 years at the helm.