Marquette Women’s Soccer Nearly Upsets #4 Georgetown in a 2 OT Thriller

The Marquette Golden Eagles played brilliantly and almost knocked off the #4 ranked Georgetown Hoyas in what would have been the second miracle game of the season. After scoring first, the Golden Eagles fell in double overtime by a 2-1 margin. This win would have meant so much to coach Roeders’ side and would have been up there with the Marquette men’s basketball upset over then #1 Villanova in 2017 in terms of significance to the program. Sadly, it was too good to be true.

But my oh my what an effort by Marquette to take the Hoyas the distance. Kylie Sprecher’s goal in the 62nd minute was the first goal Georgetown had allowed in 222 minutes, just their 6th goal conceded this season, and just the fourth let in by keeper Arielle Schechtman. Special shoutout to Sprecher for netting her first goal this year, by the way. She had four total shots in the match so one was bound to go in! Check it out for yourself as she latched onto the ball with a well-placed right-footed lob that arched over Schechtman and into the net.

This beauty was the first MU goal since their September 30th 1-0 victory over St. John’s. With the assist, freshmen Katrina Wetherell now has 6 points this season which is good enough for a tie for first with Alyssa Bombacino for the team lead.

Marquette’s Maddy Henry had an incredible performance (even better than her normally terrific outings) with 10 saves including a PK stop in the 70th minute that momentarily kept the Hoyas off the board.

She just has a knack for stopping these and as I recall, it was her second penalty kick save of the year. As a former goalkeeper, I love to see this. She has clearly proved to be Marquette’s best player and is making a strong case for the All-Big East Team. Here’s what she had to say after the game:

The Hoyas eventually broke through in the 72nd minute when Kyra Carusa, presumably upset about getting stuffed on the PK, dribbled past the MU defense and netted one from close range. At that point Roeders was probably thinking about holding on for a draw as they had zero shots in overtime. Georgetown is just too good to be held down forever and Big East scoring leader Caitlin Farrell scored her 15th of the year in the 102 minute to end the game. She has now scored in 10 consecutive games and is top 3 in the nation in goals scored. Farrell simply cannot be stopped.

What a valiant effort by the Golden Eagles. I’ve never felt so proud after a loss. I don’t think anyone gave Marquette chance in this game and they came out with a clever strategy and great energy to give the Hoyas all they could handle and then some. The Golden Eagles packed it in tight and played for the counter attack. And they almost pulled it off.

This all but ends Marquette’s seas...whoah hold on a minute! Let’s take a peak at the Big East standings...

Villanova and Creighton are tied for the final spot in the Big East Tournament with 9 points. Followed by Providence and DePaul with 8. Marquette sits at 4 points with two games left and their next game is against Creighton. Below is one scenario that puts YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles in the Big East Tournament as the #6 seed.

1. Win out
2. Creighton loses to Marquette and ties Providence
3. Providence loses to Seton Hall and ties Creighton
4. Villanova loses to DePaul and St. Johns
5. IF Villanova draws or beats DePaul THEN DePaul must draw or lose to St. John’s in their final game of the season (depending on their outcome against ‘Nova)

Essentially only one of these four teams listed above (Villanova, Creighton, Providence, DePaul) can accumulate more than 10 points. If Marquette beats Creighton that’s the only team they’ll own the tiebreaker over. Thus if any team finishes with 10 points, no other team can surpass that or else Marquette would be knocked out via tiebreaker. This is based off my scenario where Creighton only gets to 9 points. Whewww. That’s a lot of math but it’s the easiest scenario I came up with for the Golden Eagles to make the Big East Tournament. If you have a less complicated one please feel free to share it!

So you’re saying there’s a chance?! Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Never count a team out until they are mathematically eliminated my friends.