Marquette Women’s Soccer Falls In Double Overtime

Macey Shock provided a life preserver for Marquette women’s soccer on Friday evening at Valley Fields, but it only lasted so long. Shock’s goal in the 87th minute forced the match against Northern Illinois into overtime, but it was NIU’s Madison Kaufmann that ended it in the 102nd minute. That meant the whole thing ended in a 2-1 loss for the Golden Eagles, giving them a record of 2-6-0 on the season. Three of Marquette’s losses have been in overtime, including each of their last two contests.

This stinks.

It looked like the overtime wasn’t going to happen. Well, no, that’s not true. It looked like the overtime was going to happen, as the match ticked into the 76th minute with nary a goal in sight. The Huskies were awarded a free kick out towards midfield in a “well, if she puts a solid boot on this, it’s a dangerous spot” kind of place. The initial kick was fine, and Haley Hoppe put a head on it, but it was immediately deflected by Addie Shock’s head. MU keeper Maddy Henry rushed out to cover up the lonely bouncing ball, but when she slid, the ball was no longer there. Hoppe had a free and easy look at the net, and she cashed it in. 1-0, Huskies. Bleh.

And so, with just 13 minutes and change left, it seemed like Marquette was going to suffer a loss here. It almost went to 2-0 as Hoppe had another chance on a break, but Henry was able to knock her shot down. Then, in the 87th minute, the referee issued a foul about as close to the box as you can get without actually being inside the box. It was so close, I wondered if it had happened one yard deeper if he would have blown the whistle. Even though it was a yellow card foul on NIU’s Kylee Hermeyer, the contact didn’t seem to justify a penalty kick.

ANYWAY, Katrina Wetherell’s free kick was expertly stopped by Megan Donnally, although she didn’t get a save according to the official PBP. Weird. Anyway, that’s when Macey Shock’s leg was in the right place at the right time, as the deflection by Donnally went straight at her and allowed Shock to level the match.

Then, for the second straight match, Henry almost had the save before an opponent knocked it away from her in double overtime. This time seems much more clear that the paddle along by Isabella Sabo was free and clear from Henry’s grip, and with MU’s keeper flat on the ground to the right side, Kaufmann had all day to tip in the golden goal.

Bleh.

I do have a question about the proceedings, by the way. This is the question: Why did Mel McNamara start the match in net for Marquette, and perhaps more importantly, why did Maddy Henry come on in relief at halftime? This isn’t a dig at either woman, in fact McNamara made two late saves to keep the match scoreless at the break. I’m very curious what took MU’s senior keeper out of the starting lineup when she was clearly healthy to play.

Here’s some highlights for you, courtesy of GoMarquette.com.

Up Next: Marquette will be back in action on Sunday afternoon to wrap up the non-conference portion of the schedule. You’d like to see the Golden Eagles head into Big East play with a win, but they’ll be facing Colorado State. The Rams beat Marquette 2-0 in the season opener for both teams back in August, so it might be a bit of an uphill battle to record a third win on the year.