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On a crisp fall day, it was anything but crisp passing that led to Marquette's 1-0 win.
In the 37th minute, Haley Fritzlen sent a long free kick towards the general direction of Katie Markesbery and the Xavier net. Jacie Jermier's attempt at a header came inches short and the ball bounded towards Mary Luba. At that particular moment, Luba's back was to the net, but the ball was in front of her. So she did the only thing that made sense: she swung her leg high and flipped the ball over her head towards the net.
Well, she tried that, at least. Luba's footing wasn't perfect, and she slipped to the ground as she made her strike, sending it north-south instead of east-west. But that was okay. Darian Powell was aware, alert, and on the run in space, and her right-footed strike went plowing past Markesbery for her third goal of the season.
It was one of 10 shots in the first half for Marquette, and one of 17 in the game. The Musketeers only mustered seven shots in the game, but did put three on frame to make Amanda Engel make three saves for her fifth clean sheet of 2014.
The win, partnered with wins by Georgetown, DePaul, and St. John's on Sunday, keeps Marquette in a four-way tie for first place in the Big East with 10 points through four matches. Destiny still lays in the hands (at the feet?) of the Golden Eagles, as they still have matches against both the Blue Demons and the Hoyas yet to come.
How about some video of Powell's goal, along with comments from her?
Up Next: Speaking of those two matches against their fellow first place teams, Marquette is off until Sunday when they'll travel to Washington, D.C., to face Georgetown. The Hoyas are 8-2-3 this season and on a seven match undefeated streak. The game will be broadcast on the Big East Digital Network, because they know an important match when they see one.