A Tough Way To Go: Wisconsin 1, Marquette 0

Someone has been shutout in every single Marquette women’s soccer match this season. Five times, that someone has been the Golden Eagles. That fifth time came up on Sunday afternoon in Madison, as Wisconsin secured a 1-0 victory over Marquette. That drops the Golden Eagles to 2-4-1 on the season.

This was not an offensive powerhouse of a game, we should say that part right out of the gate. 16 total shots in a match isn’t all that much. However, Marquette was already up against it as the game passed the 35 minute mark, as the Badgers were outshooting MU 5-2. Not a crazy margin, but it was a margin.

And then goalkeeper Mikki Easter was redcarded out of the match. With this being on Big Ten Network Plus AND the fact that I was at the Marquette/Tennessee volleyball match at the same time, I have to rely on descriptions and accounts of the game for this recap, so I’ll turn it over to the official Marquette recap:

Marquette played a lot of defense on the afternoon as the Badger controlled possession most of the first half and that only increased after MU netminder Mikki Easter was issued a straight red card at the 36:22 mark. Easter came out of the top of the box after a long service and during her attempt to clear, the ball deflected off her leg before hitting her hand.

Again, no video of the incident, and yes, I realize that this is coming from a pro-Marquette perspective..... but man if that doesn’t sound like Easter and the Golden Eagles got completely hosed on this deal.

In any case, she was sent off and will miss MU’s next match. Chloe Olson subbed in for Kate Gibson for the remainder of the contest, oh, and by the way? This means Marquette will be playing without a backup for Olson next time around.

The second half went like the first half in terms of shots: Six for Wisconsin, two for Marquette. The only difference is that this was one of UW’s six:

Not much Olson could have done about that, and I’m not sure what else MU’s field defenders could really have done either.

Olson did make two saves in her relief appearance, both in the second half and both before Izzy Verdugo scored the winner.

Up Next: Marquette will return to Valley Fields to kick off a four match homestand on Thursday. Next weekend will have the final two contests of non-conference action with Western Michigan coming in on Thursday at 7pm Central and St. Thomas making their way to Milwaukee on Sunday for a 1pm Central start. The Broncos are 4-2-0 on the year after a 3-2 road loss to Michigan on Sunday, while the Tommies are a perfectly balanced 2-2-2 following a 1-1 draw on the road against Drake back on Thursday.