WSOC opens BIG EAST play Sunday at No. 12 Georgetown

Weekly Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's soccer team kicks off its 15th season of BIG EAST Conference competition at noon Central time Sunday in Washington, D.C. against No. 12 Georgetown.

The BIG EAST Digital Network will handle the broadcast of the league lid-lifter with Monika Moore on the call from Shaw Field. The free live stream can be found on Twitter as well as the BIG EAST's YouTube channel and through Caffeine.tv.

The meeting with the Hoyas is the 12th in program history for Marquette, which is searching for its first win over its Jesuit counterparts since Oct. 13, 2013 in Milwaukee. The Golden Eagles are 3-7-1 all-time in the series and own a single victory against GU in Washington, D.C., a 2-1 triumph in 2010. MU's three series wins came in consecutive meetings in 2010, 2012 and 2013, with the 2012 match coming in the title contest of the BIG EAST tournament.

Following Sunday's tilt, Marquette returns to Milwaukee to host Providence and Creighton on Thursday, Oct. 3 and Sunday, Oct. 6, respectively.

MARQUETTE (3-6-0): The Golden Eagles doubled their scoring output on the year last weekend with a 2-1 double overtime loss to NIU and a 2-1 victory over Colorado State on Sunday afternoon … Prior to that two of MU's three goals had come in 1-0 wins over Michigan and Minnesota … 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 … Freshman Josie Kelderman scored the winner in the 1-0 victory at Minnesota on Sept. 5 but MU was outshot 13-4 … Sophomores Alyssa Bombacino and Macey Shock scored MU's two goals in the Sept. 22 win over Colorado State.

GEORGETOWN (6-2-1): The defending BIG EAST champions cruised to a 7-0 win in their last game against Ohio with two goals from Paula Germino-Watnick ... Amanda Carolan leads the team with five goals through nine matches and Germino-Watnick is the squad's point leader with four goals and six assists ... The Hoyas own a 3-0 victory over then-No. 23 West Virginia on Sept. 15 and fell to then-No. 21 N.C. State, 3-1, on Aug. 25 … Goalkeeper Anna Leat owns decisions in six of GU's nine matches and has made 17 saves on the year … The team has had three BIG EAST players of the week through five weeks of play.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING…
Head coach Markus Roeders: "We get the champs, the 'king of the hill' right from the start. Going back to last year I thought we had a good performance again Georgetown at home but came a bit short. It's a new year. They are off to a great start again, nationally ranked. Won some big games, played some big teams. So, it will be good for us. It is supposed to be hot, in the 90s, so I think that will make a little difference in the game itself. But I think we also go in there with some confidence, coming off the win against Colorado state which was important. And I feel like our team has really responded well to all the good teams we have played."

Sophomore Macey Shock on the Colorado State win: "It gave us a game under our belt where we were able to say that we performed for 90 minutes. We were able to string passes and get shots. We were defending well, and all together for 90 minutes played a complete game. We haven't been able to do that this year so being able to do that going into BIG EAST play is important."

MACEY SHOCK SPARKS THE MU OFFENSE
• Sophomore Macey Shock played her first two matches of the season last weekend 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 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.

GOLDEN EAGLES BEGIN 15TH BIG EAST SEASON
• Marquette played its first season as a BIG EAST member in 2005 and is beginning play in its 15th year of conference action on Sunday. MU is 10-4 all-time in BIG EAST lidlifters, including a mark of 4-3 when those games are played on the road, and won 10-straight BIG EAST openers from 2006-15. Marquette is 5-8-1 in BIG EAST road openers overall. The Golden Eagles have accumulated a record of 97-31-13 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.

STARTING LINEUP ROTATION CONTINUES
• Marquette head coach Markus Roeders has used a different starting lineup for all nine 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, Addie Shock and Katrina Wetherell have started all but one match.

• Marquette rolled out 11 different starting lineups during the 2018 season. Henry, Jaeger and Emily Hess started all 18 matches on the back end and were joined by then-freshman Wetherell, who started every match in the midfield.

TWO WINS OVER BIG TEN TEAMS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2011
• Marquette's back-to-back wins over Michigan and Minnesota marked the first time since the 2011 season that the Golden Eagles have earned victories over two Big Ten squads in the same year. That year MU knocked off Northwestern (1-0, OT) and Indiana (2-1) during a 18-4 season that included a BIG EAST American Division Championship and a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Marquette fell to another Big Ten team, Penn State, 4-1, to end its season.

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).