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The Marquette Golden Eagles could not retain the lead after being up 2-1 on Michigan in the second half and dropped their second game in a row on Thursday night. Michigan scored in the 61st and 84th minute to take the game 3-2. With the loss, the Golden Eagles drop to 0-2-1 this season.
The Good News?
MU was finally able to score with Carrie Madden netting her first two goals of the year. Hey, just like I predicted in my previous article.
The Bad News?
The Golden Eagles are winless in their first three games of the season. This is the first time in their history that they’ve opened up the season winless in their first three games.
This game was a lot closer than the one against Wisconsin as the final score indicates. The shots favored Michigan 9-7, but both teams had five on target. I know it sounds strange but this game gives me hope that the Golden Eagles are slowly getting things turned around and will begin playing the high quality soccer we were accustomed to seeing last season. Madden got on the scoresheet with goals in the 27th minute to answer an early goal by the Wolverines and again in the 51st minute to give MU their first lead of the season.
Madden’s first goal came from a lofted ball in from sophomore defender Maddie Monticello where she headed in from 12 yards out to tie the game at 1-1. Her second was also assisted by Monticello but this time she used her boot to guide the ball into the net. It’s important that Madden got her first goals because this will hopefully give the rest of the offense a wake-up call. She is the leader of the attack and will continue to be the focus point moving forward this year.
Her two goals weren’t enough in this one as Michigan took advantage of their second-half opportunities with Sarah Stratigakis and Nicki Hernandez stepping up to steal the victory. Hernandez also got an assist in the game and has scored in all three of Michigan’s contests this year. There was hope that the Golden Eagles could go to Ann Arbor and get their first win of the season but the Wolverines held their own.
I said after the Wisconsin game that MU would need to win three of the next five to give them a confidence boost. Well, we may need to slow things down a bit. Let’s focus on one game at a time. Now that Marquette’s scored, it’s time for them to put it all together and get their first win of the season. Next up MU will welcome in-town rivals UWM to Valley on Sunday night. The Panthers have played one game so far and beat Northern Illinois 3-0 last Friday. They will play Eastern Illinois this Friday before their date with Marquette on Sunday. UWM is receiving one vote in the United Soccer Coaches Poll which puts them in the top 50 teams in the nation.