Tomorrow night at 7pm down at Valley Fields, Marquette's men's soccer team looks to lock up their first Big East Blue Division title with a win against traitorous Pittsburgh. While picking up a win against a Panthers team with a 4-12-1 overall record and a 2-6-0 conference record would seem like a relatively likely result, it is incredibly important that the Golden Eagles buckle down and take care of business. The team in second place in the division, Connecticut, plays the only team without a win in conference play, Seton Hall, in their finale. With only 1 point separating Marquette and Connecticut in the standings, and Connecticut holding the tiebreaker over Marquette, only a win over the Panthers will give Marquette sole possession of the division title and the first place seed in the Big East Tournament.
Sophomore Nico Wrobel leads the Panther attack with 11 points, powered by a team leading 5 goals. Most of the Panthers goalkeeping duties have been taken up by Lee Johnston. The freshman has been Pitt's best option in net, recording a team best 1.32 GAA and .787 save percentage.
After the jump: Women's volleyball begins a 4 game road trip!
This weekend, Marquette takes on both sides of the Backyard Brawl with matches against traitorous Pittsburgh (14-10, 2-5) and apparently traitorous West Virginia (5-15, 3-6). First up is Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers are coming off of a big win over Louisville, a result that left Marquette alone in first place in the Big East. Senior middle blocker Kiesha Leggs was named Big East Player of the Week for her 24 kills in that match and leads Pitt in both kills and blocks. Live stats for the match will be available here.
24 hours after the Pitt match, Marquette will travel 75 miles south on I-79 to take on the Mountaineers. WVU boasts 3 players averaging more than 2 kills per set, led by Michelle Kopecky's 2.62. Kylie Armbruster is the Mountaineers' best two way player, averaging 2.32 kills/set and 2.11 digs/set. As a team, West Virginia ranks 3rd in the Big East with 16.58 digs/set. Live stats for the match will be available here and it looks like WVU will provide free live video streaming here.