Women’s soccer holds Senior Night Thursday against Xavier

Weekly Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's soccer team closes out its regular season home schedule on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Xavier at Valley Fields on Senior Night.

The Golden Eagles will honor Maddy Henry, Emily Hess, Bri Jaeger, Erin Johnston, Mary Kate Simon and Natalie Yass in a post-match ceremony and the first 120 students will also receive free pizza, courtesy of Ian's Pizza.

The match will air live on the BIG EAST Digital Network, which can be accessed on the BIG EAST's YouTube channel, on Twitter and Caffeine TV. Patrick Reed will handle the call from the Menomonee River Valley.

Marquette continues BIG EAST action at noon on Sunday in Indianapolis against Butler at the Sellick Bowl in another BEDN broadcast.

The Golden Eagles are 7-1 all-time against Xavier, with the lone loss coming last season in Cincinnati, 3-0, on Oct. 14. Entering last year's matchup, Marquette had outscored the Musketeers 12-1 in the previous seven meetings.

MU has lost its last two contests against Butler and is 3-4-1 in the all-time series, which dates to Marquette's third season of competition in 1995.

Following the weekend, the Golden Eagles have just one regular season match remaining at long-time rival DePaul on Halloween in Chicago.

MARQUETTE (6-8-1): The Golden Eagles have won each of their last three matches and are undefeated in their last four following Sunday's 3-0 win over Villanova … They are tied for fourth in the BIG EAST standings with four other squads at 10 points … Marquette has outscored VU, SJU and SHU 11-1 since Zsani Kajan's second score for St. John's on Oct. 10 in Queens … Alyssa Bombacino recorded MU's first hat trick since 2012 against Seton Hall and added another in the next match against Villanova (Oct. 20) … MU doubled its season scoring output (eight goals) in the final 130:20 against St. John's (Oct. 10) and Seton Hall (Oct. 13) following Alex Campana's 61th minute goal at SJU … MU has scored in seven of its last eight matches after beginning the season with just three goals in its first seven games … Five of its first seven games overall were decided 1-0 … MU earned its first win of the season on Sept. 1, courtesy of Kylie Sprecher's 108th minute goal in double overtime … Sprecher's score was MU's first goal of the year, ending a stretch of 379:36 to start the year without a tally.

XAVIER (11-3-2): The Musketeers sit alone in second place in the BIG EAST with 12 points and a 4-2 record … XU has beaten St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall and Creighton in league action and has dropped matches at Georgetown and Villanova … The Musketeers also own a 3-2 double overtime loss at Missouri on Sept. 1 … BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Samantha Dewey leads the conference in goals (13), shots (63) and points (29) ... Xavier's 11 wins are its most since the 2003 campaign.

BUTLER (8-4-3): The Bulldogs enter Thursday's matches third in the BIG EAST with 11 points and a 3-1-2 record … Katie Soderstrom and Anja Savich have each scored seven goals to lead the Bulldogs in 2019, while Soderstrom has a team-high 21 points … Butler has topped Creighton and St. John's by 1-0 margins and owns a 3-0 win at Seton Hall in its league opener … The Bulldogs play Thursday night at Providence before returning to Indianapolis to host the Golden Eagles.

BOMBACINO WITH MU'S FIRST HAT TRICK SINCE 2012
• Sophomore Alyssa Bombacino entered the Oct. 13 match at Seton Hall with four career goals and left with her first career hat trick. The Naperville, Illinois native then added her second hat trick in MU's next game against Villanova on Oct. 20. Bombacino's hat trick at Seton Hall was the first for a MU player since M Club Hall of Famer Maegan Kelly did so on Sept. 30, 2012 in a 5-0 win over Cincinnati.

GOLDEN EAGLES CLAIM 100TH BIG EAST VICTORY
• Marquette played its first season as a BIG EAST member in 2005 and earned its 100th league win on Oct. 20 against Villanova in its 15th year of conference action. The Golden Eagles have accumulated a record of 100-33-14 in BIG EAST action, which includes six regular season conference titles and a pair of tournament championships in 2012 and 2013. MU went a remarkable 39-1-1 in BIG EAST play in the four seasons from 2010-13.

MARQUETTE AIMS AT BIG EAST TOURNAMENT RETURN
• The Golden Eagles did not compete in a conference postseason tournament in 2018 for the first time since their inaugural season in 1993 but sit fourth in the current BIG EAST standings with three matches remaining. Undefeated in its last four matches and winners of its last three, MU has secured 10 points and sits in a tie with Providence, Villanova and DePaul. Marquette owns a victory over VU, a loss to PC and will play DePaul on the last day of the regular season in Chicago. The league's top six teams make the conference tournament with the top two receiving byes into the semifinals, which will be held this season at Creighton.

BOMBACINO AND HENRY EARN BIG EAST WEEKLY RECOGNITION
• Alyssa Bombacino and Maddy Henry were each honored by the league for their roles in MU's 3-1 win over Villanova on Oct. 20 with weekly accolades. Bombacino, who recorded her second consecutive hat trick, became the first MU player to earn BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week since Darian Powell was honored on Oct. 16, 2017. Henry made nine saves in the win and was named to the weekly honor roll.

GOLDEN EAGLES DOUBLE GOAL OUTPUT ON EAST COAST
• Marquette entered its East Coast trip to New York and New Jersey on Oct. 10-13 with eight goals in 12 matches and exited the match at Seton Hall with 16 goals on the season. MU was held scoreless for the first 60 minutes against the Red Storm and trailed 2-0 before an Alex Campana goal at the 60:18 mark launched a MU comeback. The Golden Eagles rallied for a 3-2 double overtime victory in Queens and followed it up with an impressive 5-0 victory at Seton Hall on Sunday afternoon.

GOLDEN EAGLES EARN UNITED SOCCER COACHES TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD
• The Marquette women's soccer team earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the 2018-19 academic year, marking the 11th consecutive year and 22nd season overall that the squad has been honored. The Golden Eagles recorded a team cumulative grade-point average of 3.496 last year.

WETHERELL RETURNS AFTER ALL-BIG EAST CAMPAIGN
• Sophomore Katrina Wetherell, who was a BIG EAST All-Preseason Team selection in August, notched her first goal of the year, the equalizer, against Creighton on Oct. 6 and added a second at Seton Hall on Oct. 13. Wetherell led the team as a freshman in 2018 with four assists while starting every match in the midfield. She earned All-BIG EAST Second Team honors as a rookie in addition to all-freshman accolades.

SHOCK SPARKS THE MU OFFENSE
• Sophomore Macey Shock played her first two matches of the season on the weekend of Sept. 20 and provided a needed offensive spark for the Golden Eagles. MU had scored just three goals entering the match against NIU and Shock scored two of MU's three goals on the weekend against the Huskies and Colorado State. Shock's first career goal in the 87th minute pushed the match against NIU to overtime and she provided the equalizer in the eventual win over the Rams in the 77th minute. The sophomore also scored the golden goal in the 101st minute at St. John's on Oct. 10.

CONTINUAL CHANGES IN STARTING LINEUP
• Marquette head coach Markus Roeders has used a different starting lineup for 11 of the 15 matches so far in 2019. Senior defender Bri Jaeger is the only player to have started every contest, while Kylie Sprecher, Maddy Henry, Emily Hess and Katrina Wetherell have started all but one match. The Sept. 29 game at Georgetown was the first time this season that MU used a lineup it had used previously.

Keep up with the Marquette University women's soccer program through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteWSOC) and Instagram (@MarquetteWSOC) and 'liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteWSOC).