Marquette Women’s Soccer Finishes Scoreless Against DePaul after Two Overtimes

The Marquette Golden Eagles played to a stalemate against the DePaul Blue Demons on a windy Thursday night at Valley Fields. It’s not the worst thing in the world to get a draw because they do pick up a point and remain in a 4-way tie for 5th place in the Big East at 1-2-1 in league and 3-8-2 overall. It would have been nice to beat DePaul since they hold the 4th place spot but there’s still 5 games to left and plenty to play for.

The two MVP’s of the game were Marquette junior stud keeper Maddy Henry and the woodwork behind DePaul goalkeeper Mollie Eriksson that saved her on two occasions. Henry finished with seven saves and kept the Golden Eagles in the game after the Blue Demons barraged them with 13 first half shots. It was a tale of two halves as Marquette picked it up in the second half with six shots plus three in the two overtimes. They were extremely unlucky as both Alyssa Bombacino and Carrie Madden’s shots agonizingly careened off the post late in the game.

Bombacino’s chance came on Marquette’s 4th corner kick of the match in the 86th minute. She did a great job of getting her head to the ball and was inches away from scoring the winner. Madden’s came late in the second overtime period when a defender’s deflection landed the ball at her feet. She hit a powerful right-footed shot from the top of the box that nailed the right post. Eriksson was probably shaken to her core with mini-earthquake the shot caused when it hit the post and had no chance at the ball.

Freshmen Katrina Wetherell earned her paycheck (oh wait...we’re still not paying these players never mind) with five shots and three on target. Kylie Sprecher and Bri Jaeger each had a shot on frame to round out the opportunities for Marquette. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before the Golden Eagles would net the deciding goal but the soccer gods were not listening. MU had an unconvincing first half that probably gave them a reason to doubt the Golden Eagles and resist tipping the scales in their favor.

Marquette definitely came into this game wanting more but will have to settle for a point. Some highlights are that Maddy Henry now has three clean sheets this season, including each of the last two matches, and Marquette’s offense has been more dangerous the last few games. Six shots on target usually leads to a goal in FIFA so it should have against DePaul. Oh well.

Like I mentioned above they are in a 4-way tie for 5th place and the top 6 make it to the Big East Tournament. With five games left there’s still a lot that will shake itself out. What Marquette needs to focus on is getting points in each game down the stretch. This may be difficult as Georgetown looms large later this month. But let’s take this one game at a time. Up next they tangle with Providence on the road Sunday afternoon.