Marquette Women's Soccer Preview: vs #12 DePaul

On Sunday night, Marquette women's soccer will honor the careers of their nine seniors - Sofie Schunk, Mady Vicker, Shalese Miller, Alex Heffron, Haley Fritzlen, Mary Luba, Maggie Edlebeck, Elizabeth Bollinger, and Isabela Carrasco - while taking on the #12 team in the country, the DePaul Blue Demons.

In addition to that kind of pomp and circumstance, the Golden Eagles will also have their eye on locking up one of the six spots in the Big East tournament.  With a win or a draw against DePaul, MU will clinch a top six finish in the conference with two matches left to play.  It won't be an easy task, as the Blue Demons are one of two teams in the country (#1 UCLA is the other) that haven't lost a match yet this season.  If Marquette was to pull the upset on Sunday evening, MU would vault over DePaul in the Big East table and, depending on how frisky Providence is earlier in the day, have a chance at moving into a tie for first place with St. John's at 16 points.

Big East Match #7: vs #12 DePaul (12-0-3, 4-0-2 Big East)

When: Sunday, October 19, 2014, at 6pm
Where: Valley Fields
Audio/Visual: Home matches have free video streaming and live stats.
Special Promotions: Bring your ticket from Saturday's mens' soccer match vs Villanova and get in for free!
Twitter Updates: @MUWomensSoccer

As mentioned, DePaul hasn't lost yet this season. Yet, they're not in first place in the Big East, due to ties with Georgetown and, most recently, Butler.  The Blue Demons actually needed an 87th minute goal from Abby Reed in order to force overtime with the Bulldogs back on Thursday night.  Against the Hoyas, it took DePaul just 13 and a half minutes to cough up a 3-1 lead and leave the match tied with 20 minutes to play in regulation.

DePaul leads the Big East in goals scored this season, and that's because of their top two goal scorers.  Reed and Elise Wyatt are 1-2 in the conference in goals with 10 and 9, respectively.  Wyatt is a little handier (footier?) at passing, which leaves them both tied for the team lead in points with 23, although they trail Georgetown's Daphne Corboz for the conference lead.  DePaul's not reliant on Reed and Wyatt, though.  Alexa Ben and Amber Paul have both recorded six goals this season, good enough for eighth best in the league.

Alejandria Godinez was the 2013 Big East Goalkeeper of the Year, and while she hasn't been as sharp as she was last season, she hasn't needed to be with DePaul's improved offense.  Godinez is allowing just under a goal per 90 minutes this season, but she's only stopping 68.3% of shots on net.  This usually isn't a problem for the Blue Demons, as they have taken nearly 100 more shots than their opponents this season.  However, if Marquette is able to dictate the pace of the match, Godinez's inability to stop shots might give MU a chance at three points.