Marquette begins homestand Friday against BYU

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's soccer team begins a stretch in which it will play five of six matches at Valley Fields when the squad hosts BYU on Friday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.

The Golden Eagles (1-5-1) will also host Milwaukee on Monday, Sept. 17 in a make-up game from Aug. 26 before beginning BIG EAST Conference play against Butler on Sept. 23.

Both the BYU and UWM matches will air live on GoMarquette.com/watch, courtesy of the Marquette Wire, MU's student-run media organization. Single match tickets are available for $5 on GoMarquette.com and at the Valley Fields gate, while admission is free for young fans wearing youth soccer jerseys. Fans can also call the Marquette Ticket Office at 414-288-GOMU (4668).

Marquette picked up its first victory of the season on Sunday in a 2-1 win at Drake, paced by goals from senior midfielder Leah Celarek and the match winner from freshman Alyssa Bombacino. Celarek scored her first goal this year and second of her career in the 31st minute, while Bombacino tallied her first career goal in the 77th. The Golden Eagles held a shot advantage over their opponent for the first time this season, 18-3, and Maddy Henry's lone conceded goal came on a penalty kick right after halftime.

MU's leading scorer Carrie Madden (two goals) returned to the starting lineup against Colorado on Sept. 6 and was the lone player to record a goal this season until this past weekend. Jamie Kutey's 47th minute tally against Colorado on Thursday snapped a scoreless stretch of 266:24 for Marquette, which spanned back to Madden's second goal at Michigan on Aug. 23.

BYU (3-2-1) enters the match following a 3-2 win at rival Utah on Sept. 7 in which Maddie Gates posted the winner in the 85th minute, just 53 seconds after the Utes tied the match at 2-2. The Cougars also defeated Idaho State, 10-0, on Sept. 1 after a pair of 2-0 defeats to then-No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 1 Stanford on Aug. 24 and Aug. 30, respectively.

Mikayla Colohan leads BYU with eight points on three goals and a pair of assists, while Gates and Elise Flake also have posted three goals this campaign. The Cougars are led by 24th-year head coach Jennifer Rockwood, who has led BYU to 18 NCAA tournaments and is third among active NCAA head coaches in career winning percentage.

BYU's highest national seed in the NCAA tournament came in 2012, which was also the last time MU and the Cougars have met. BYU advanced to the NCAA regional final by penalty kicks, 6-5, after the two sides played to a scoreless draw in Provo, Utah on Nov. 17, 2012. Then-freshman goalkeeper Amanda Engel made nine saves for the Golden Eagles, who ended the season 18-2-3 in their third appearance in an NCAA regional semifinal.

All-time, Marquette is 2-1-1 against the Cougars and owns victories in the two previous meetings at Valley Fields, a 2-1 win on Sept. 22, 2000 and a 1-0 overtime triumph on Sept. 6, 2008. Current assistant coach Ashley Bares started at forward in the 2008 match, which was won on a 99th minute goal from Rosie Malone-Povolny.

The Golden Eagles will face Milwaukee on Monday in the longest running series in program history as MU will meet the Panthers for the 27th time.

The Panthers (6-0), who are receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, own a 2-1 win over DePaul on Sept. 2 and defeated Iowa State, 3-2, in overtime on Sept. 9 in their last match. They are one of six schools in the country without a loss or tie and it is the first time since 2011 that they have recorded wins in each of their first six contests.

Haley Johnson has posted 11 points (three goals, five assists) to lead UWM, which is coming off a 2017 campaign in which it went 16-0-4 and fell in the championship match of the Horizon League Tournament to IUPUI on penalty kicks, 4-3.
Marquette dropped last season's matchup 2-1 against the Panthers at Engelmann Stadium as then-junior Jamie Kutey posted the lone goal for MU in the 86th minute. That tally snapped a 917:25 scoreless streak for UWM keeper Mallory Geurts, which ranks as the ninth-best mark in NCAA Division I history.

MARQUETTE EARNS FIRST WIN AT DRAKE
• Leah Celarek and Alyssa Bombacino each scored their first goals of the year on Sept. 9 as Marquette picked up its first victory of the season at Drake, 2-1. The win snapped a six-match winless stretch to start the year for the Golden Eagles, their longest stretch to begin a season without a win in program history. MU posted an 18-3 advantage in shots against the Bulldogs and Bombacino's match winner was the first point of her career.

MILWAUKEE SERIES IS LONGEST IN MU HISTORY
• Due to severe weather in the Milwaukee area, the annual match against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was postponed from Sunday, Aug. 26 and will now be contested on Monday, Sept. 17 at Valley Fields at 7 p.m. Central time. Marquette has met local foe Milwaukee 26 times in program history, more than any other opponent over the squad's first 25 seasons of competition. The two teams have meet in each of the last 25 years during the regular season, while Marquette claimed the lone NCAA tournament matchup, 1-0, in 2005 at Valley Fields. MU is 0-2-2 in the last four meetings after going 4-0-1 in the five meetings from 2009-13. Marquette's last victory in the series was a 5-0 win at Milwaukee on Sept. 23, 2013 and the Golden Eagles and Panthers have each won nine matches and played to a total of eight draws. The two teams are also an even 5-5-3 all-time at Marquette.

HENRY STEPS UP IN RECENT MATCHES
• Junior goalkeeper Maddy Henry has picked up her play in recent matches, recording a total of 26 saves against then-No. 12 Duke, No. 3 North Carolina and an undefeated Colorado squad. She posted a season-best 11 saves against the Buffalos on Sept. 6 and the lone goal she allowed on Sept. 9 at Drake came on a penalty kick.

• Entering 2018, Henry ranked eighth all-time at Marquette in saves (186), minutes played (3,934:55) and goals against (1.17). She also sat second in saves per match (4.33), fifth in save percentage (.785) and sixth in career victories (25)

KUTEY BREAKS THROUGH AGAINST COLORADO
• Senior Jamie Kutey scored her first goal since Sept. 17 of last season on Sept. 6 against Colorado and nearly added a second two minutes later on a blast that hit the crossbar. The Overland Park, Kansas native has played both at forward and in the midfield this season and has come off the bench in each of the last two matches against CU and UNC. She was an All-BIG EAST Freshman Team selection in 2015 who has fought through injuries and illness during her time in Blue & Gold.

LINEUP CHANGE IN COLORADO MATCH
• Head coach Markus Roeders made a significant adjustment to the starting lineup against Colorado, sliding Ryley Bugay back from her holding midfield spot to center back alongside Bri Jaeger. Bugay, who played on the backline with the Philippines Women's National Team during the spring, was joined in the back by Jaeger, Emily Hess and Katie Koker at right back. Koker was one of three freshmen in the starting lineup, along with midfielders Katrina Wetherell, who has started every match this season, and Madison Burrier, who took Bugay's midfield spot. Roeders also moved Carrie Madden into the midfield, while Kylie Sprecher and Abby Hess started at forward.