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I think it's safe to say that the 2014 has been a rousing disappointment for the women's soccer team to this point. First, were it not for Loyola-Chicago forgetting that games are 90 minutes long, Marquette might have gone without a goal for the first three games of the season. Once the Golden Eagles snapped a two game long scoreless streak by taking a 2-0 lead on a good Nebraska squad at home, they collapsed in the second half. The Huskers tied the game with two goals in eight minutes, then rammed home the game winner with just more than seven minutes to play.
The 1-3-0 start is the worst for the team since 1999, when they opened with the same record. Now, as I pointed out after the loss to Minnesota, head coach Markus Roeders is still working in a lot of new pieces. That problem got even worse on Sunday, when Mary Luba (knee) and Ashley Handwork (concussion) missed the Nebraska game. For Marquette to put the pieces together and win a sixth straight Big East title, they will definitely need Luba, who was called up to the US U-23 Women's National Team this summer, and having Handwork paired up top with Mady Vicker will provide the Golden Eagles with a potent attack. But there are still questions, and hopefully this weekend provides some answers.
Match #5: vs New Mexico (0-0-0)
When: Friday, September 5, 2014, at 2pm Central
Where: Stewart Field in Colorado Springs, CO
Audio/Visual: It looks like Colorado College is providing free streaming video. Live stats will be available here.
Twitter Updates: @MUWomensSoccer
The last item in any recap that we write on this site always ends with "Up Next," to let the reader know when the team will next be in action. I always include the current record of the team in question, and after Sunday's loss to Nebraska, I was shocked to find out that New Mexico had yet to play a game in either of the season's first two weekends. As it turns out, the reason for this is that they forfeited their first game of the year due to a hazing incident. You can find out details of the incident over this way. Of course, this doesn't really explain why they didn't play a game this past weekend, but what it does mean is that some section of the 21 non-true freshmen on the team will be suspended for the game against the Golden Eagles, as they all have to serve a one game suspension at some point this season.
The Lobos were picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West this season, and have just one senior, midfielder Alexis Leyba, on the roster. They'll be incredibly young this season, but UNM does return their top two players in terms of points from 2013, and three of the four players who recorded more than one goal last year. Junior midfielders Lindsey Guice and Dylann O'Connor both recorded 11 points in 2013, but they got there in different ways: Guice had five goals and one assist, while O'Connor did more facilitating with four goals and three assists. Redshirt junior Cassie Ulrich played every minute in net last year, amassing a 0.85 goals-against average and an .821 save percentage.
Match #6 at Colorado College (1-1-1)
When: Sunday, September 7, 2014, at 2:30pm Central
Where: Stewart Field in Colorado Springs, CO
Audio/Visual: It looks like Colorado College is providing free streaming video. Live stats will be available here.
Twitter Updates: @MUWomensSoccer
First, an aside: Every time I go to CC's website to check on information about this tournament and the Tigers, I keep seeing a banner for new hockey head coach Mike Haviland and it distracts me, because Haviland used to be an assistant for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Last year, Colorado College went 15-4-3 and won both the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles. This year, the Tigers make their debut in the Mountain West Conference, where they were picked to finish second behind San Diego State, but just barely. CC returns six starters, including Jessie Ayers, CUSA's best goal scorer in 2013 and 2014 MAC Hermann Award candidate, and Kaeli Vandersluis, the 2013 CUSA Midfielder of the year, who finished tied with Ayers for the second most points in the conference last season.
The Tigers are probably not excited about how their season has started out. They gave up three goals in the first 27 minutes of the season on their way to a loss in the lidlifter, and went to a scoreless draw with a Colgate squad that was picked to finish third in the Patriot League in their last time out. Junior midfielder Sarah Schweiss has four of CC's five goals on the season, while Ayers and Vandersluis have yet to record a point. Freshman Rowa Atkinson has played every minute in net so far for the Tigers, and OH MY GOD SHE WENT TO THE HARBOR SCHOOL IN NEWPORT BEACH, CA. This has made all of that recapping of The O.C. worth it.