Women's Soccer Preview: vs UW-Milwaukee

After last weekend's 1-0-1 trip to Colorado, Marquette women's soccer sits at 2-3-0 on the season.  It's a disappointing start to say the least.  But there are some positives.  First, MU picked up a win on Friday after falling into an early hole against New Mexico. Then, after the early goal against the Lobos, goalkeeper Amanda Engel didn't allow the opponent to score for the next 190 minutes, including both sessions of overtime against Colorado College.

That kind of effort by Engel (and her back line, as well) is the kind of play we're used to seeing from a Markus Roeders coached side.  After Thursday's game against UWM, MU has two games against teams that are currently ranked and a combined 10-1-1 this season right now, plus a third against an SEC side that's 3-2-1.  The last two of those three will be at home, so Marquette has a bevy of opportunities to burnish their record heading into Big East action, as long as they have all of their parts moving in the right direction.

Match #7: vs UW-Milwaukee (1-5-0)

When: Thursday, September 11, 2014, at 7pm.  The Birdcage will start their march at the AMU at 6:15.
Where: Valley Fields
Audio/Visual: No video streaming, as this one will be on Time Warner Cable Sports 32!  Live stats will be over here.
Special Promotions: FREE Qdoba at halftime for students, and students who attend this match & the men's match vs UWM get a free mini-megaphone.  If you're a family type, call the ticket office and get a Family Pack of 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 bags of chips for just $25.  There's still time!
Twitter Updates: @MUWomensSoccer

So far this year, Milwaukee has suffered through two goal scoring droughts of longer than 190 minutes.  It took them over 215 minutes to score their first goal of the season, which came in a 4-2 win over the College of Charleston, then they went scoreless for another 192 minutes before taking a 2-0 lead on DePaul in the first 18 minutes of that game.  The Blue Demons would go on to win 3-2.

So yeah.  Interesting times for UWM, especially when you consider that the Panthers are the favorite to win a 15th consecutive Horizon League title and a seventh consecutive HL tournament.  Even more interesting: third year head coach Greg Henschel has a career mark of 18-23-2.

With the two goals in the DePaul match, Morgan LaPlant tied Kelly Lewers for the team lead in goals at two each.  LaPlant has the advantage of two assists to just a lone helper for Lewers to take the team lead in points at six.  Lewers is the focal point of the Panther offense, though, as she's taken 15 shots this season.  Sophomore Paige Lincicum has taken every minute in net, which has left her with a goals-against average of 2.67 and a save percentage of just .619.

Fun Facts: MU is 4-0-1 in their last five against the Panthers, out scoring UWM 13-1 in that stretch.  Henschel's teams have yet to record a goal against Marquette, losing 5-0 and 4-0 in the last two seasons.