Marquette Women’s Soccer Gets Shutout By #12 Duke

Marquette women’s soccer dropped to 0-3-1 on the season on Thursday night after taking a 2-0 shutout loss to #12 Duke.

It honestly probably should have been worse.

Both of Duke’s goals came in a five minute span midway through the second half. First it was Mackenzie Pluck beating MU keeper Maddy Henry off a feed from Ella Stevens in the 68th minute, then it was Stevens getting a goal of her own in the 73rd minute. Hey, they’re #12 in the country. It happens.

You have to feel slightly bad for Henry, though. She let two in, but she made seven saves in the match. Six of them came in the first 45 minutes as Duke peppered Marquette with 13 shots. Henry’s saves kept the match scoreless, though, and even though MU was getting outshot 13-1, the fact that MU’s lone shot had been on frame had to at least provide a glimmer of hope.

Things didn’t really get that much better in the second half. There were the goals, of course, and the Blue Devils still outshot MU, even though the margin there was only 9-3. That’s not much of an offensive threat from the Golden Eagles, but again, Duke’s ranked #12. Marquette has shown some difficulty putting it in the net so far this season, so you can’t necessarily be surprised that a quality squad like Duke was able to keep the Golden Eagles contained.

Up Next: Marquette is staying in North Carolina for the weekend. On Sunday, they’ll tangle with #3 North Carolina after the Tar Heels moved to 4-0-1 on the season with a 1-0 shutout of Providence at Duke’s stadium earlier on Thursday night.