Anonymous Eagle - The 2019 Marquette Women’s Soccer Season PreviewYour home for coverage of Wisconsin's elite college athletics.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46843/anon-fave.png2019-08-21T10:45:00-05:00http://www.anonymouseagle.com/rss/stream/205649252019-08-21T10:45:00-05:002019-08-21T10:45:00-05:003 Questions For WSOC
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<img alt="Emily Hess" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BvtZFoHzulPxiEt3jHtXaWyYEko=/280x0:1800x1013/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65081213/41942266_10155677317111551_6376447690481336320_o.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Emily Hess and the Golden Eagles have a lot of work in front of them in 2019. | Facebook.com/MarquetteWSOC</figcaption>
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<p>There’s a lot of questions to be asked for the upcoming season, but we’re going to narrow it to three big ones.</p> <h2 id="0CmfSD">Question #1 — Who’s going to score for this team?</h2>
<p id="a7bPBf">14 goals in 18 matches isn’t getting it done. Period. Full stop. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Eight goals in nine Big East matches isn’t any good, either.</p>
<p id="UlTH9x">That was 2018’s offense for <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a>. Seven of those 14 goals left since the end of the 2018 season. Most of them were due to the end of eligibility, and one was due to transfer. </p>
<p id="2Ii7xi">Thus, someone has to step up and change Marquette’s fortunes in 2019.</p>
<p id="kIcgne">It seems that grad transfer Natalie Yass has the potential to provide some pop. It’s hard to take MU’s 5-0 exhibition win over a very overmatched University of Regina squad too seriously, but Yass firing in two goals is a good sign. She was a regular scoring contributor on some not very good Northern Illinois teams, so if she gets more protection from more productive teammates, everyone can benefit.</p>
<p id="vVGT9M">However, that’s going to require said productive teammates. Alyssa Bombacino is MU’s only returning player with multiple goals from a year ago, so you’d like to see her get a big opportunity to prove she can do more with more minutes. Katrina Wetherell led the team in shots and assists in 2018 as a freshman, so hopefully that turns into goals in 2019.</p>
<p id="psaoJ8">Those are the names that jump out at you when you look at the roster and the stats from last season. But last season was also not very good. Is there a hidden goal scorer somewhere on the roster that we can’t identify yet? Will one of the freshmen explode into a white hot greasefire of pure goal scoring entertainment? It would be very useful if it happened, if we’re being honest about it.</p>
<h2 id="XSDBzt">#2 — Can Marquette tip the pitch in their direction?</h2>
<p id="wgkv2l">We’ve talked repeatedly in these spaces about the impact of shot percentage on a team’s fortunes. <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2014/9/16/6154053/marquette-womens-soccer-advanced-metrics-and-you">I first made reference to it back in 2014 </a>to talk about the struggles of that year’s women’s soccer squad. If you’re wondering how Marquette ended up with the first losing record in Markus Roeders’ tenure as head coach, look no further than how badly the shot percentage was tilted away from them in 2018.</p>
<p id="xicHpf">It’s not a perfect stat, of course, but generally speaking: In order to shoot the ball, you have to possess the ball. If you have lots more shots than the other team, you’re possessing the ball more than they are, and thus denying them precious game time where they could be thinking about shooting. I’m sure you can find examples of successful teams with low shot percentages, but I’d be willing to bet that you’d find teams with incredibly accuracy in the process.</p>
<p id="txTL7F">Anyway.</p>
<p id="j5suH3">The point of the story is that there were 498 shots attempted in total in Marquette’s 18 games last season. The Golden Eagles only accounted for 42% of those shots. </p>
<p id="EMGxxU">It won’t be a surprise to you to find out that when Marquette was rolling in late part of the previous decade and the early part of this decade, they were throwing up shot percentages in the 60% and 70% territory. Allowing teams to knock around 58% of shots against them is a big explanation as to why things went so very very wrong last year.</p>
<p id="OEnQAF">It wasn’t heavy firepower that was truly responsible for those great shot percentages 10 years ago, it was the ability to snuff out opposition attacks before they got too deep towards MU’s goalkeeper and even had a chance to turn into shots. Marquette needs to find a way to either A) keep the ball on their offensive end or B) keep the ball out of their defensive end in 2019. Even if they struggle to maintain possession, if they’re able to keep turning the ball back around and headed back in the direction they want it to go, things will be looking up for them. </p>
<h2 id="fX19s8">#3 — Is this a postseason caliber team?</h2>
<p id="HzGylS">This one takes on two components: The Big East tournament and the NCAA tournament. Last year, Marquette finished 2-5-2 in conference play. This gave them eight points and landed them in ninth place, ahead of only 0-9-0 Seton Hall. DePaul took the sixth and final conference tournament berth with 14 points, leaving MU well off the pace. It was the first time that the Golden Eagles had ever missed the conference tournament since joining the Great Midwest Conference in Year #2 of the program in 1994.</p>
<p id="3dCcet">As you can guess, they also missed the NCAA tournament in 2018. After ripping off six straight NCAA appearances between 2008 and 2013, MU has only made the national championship field of 64 once in the past five seasons. If Marquette does not make it to the NCAA tournament in 2019, it will be the first time in Markus Roeders’ 25 year tenure as head coach that he will miss the tourney in three consecutive seasons.</p>
<p id="fkDBZ2">So yeah, there’s a lot going on here.</p>
<p id="qUyC3s">Let’s start with expectations, shall we? The Big East preseason poll has Marquette expected to finish eighth. However, there’s only four points separating the Golden Eagles in eighth and St. John’s and Villanova in a tie for sixth place. Can Marquette make a couple of relatively minor improvements and jump into the top six this season to qualify for the league tournament? I think that’s easily possible and probably likely.</p>
<p id="KvNeef">Past that? If the Golden Eagles want to make it to the NCAA tournament, they probably need to have their focus on winning the Big East this season, and that’s a different animal completely. Last year, Georgetown was the only Big East squad to make it to the NCAA tournament, and they got there with an unbeaten record and the league’s automatic bid. If that’s the kind of strength that the Big East is going to have again in 2019, then you have to at least shoot for the top of the table if you want into the NCAA tournament.</p>
<p id="9fNnuo">On top of that, Marquette’s schedule is clearly designed to get a team with question marks all over the place onto their feet by the time league play rolls around. MU will face two teams ranked in the preseason polls, but one is Georgetown (#7) and the other is local rival and regular non-conference foe Wisconsin (#16). Butler and Minnesota earned votes in the preseason poll, but that’s it for the schedule. Marquette might (should?) be able to rack up wins in non-conference play, but it remains to be seen if they would actually be helpful when it comes to a theoretical at-large bid.</p>
<p id="areFyX">Is it possible? Sure. A lot of things would have to go right after they spent most of last year going very wrong. If luck and health were Marquette’s biggest problems last year, then probability says that things will probably be much better this year. NCAA tournament better? We’ll see.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/8/21/20813821/marquette-golden-eagles-womens-soccer-season-preview-questions-scoring-postseasonBrewtown Andy2019-08-18T09:15:00-05:002019-08-18T09:15:00-05:002019 WSOC Season Preview: The Newcomers
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<img alt="Big East Basketball Tournament - Quarterfinals" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Zjjj_a2fYql0rnVBwSZFB3KmVfU=/0x13:2674x1796/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65039513/518194044.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>It’s not just the freshmen, as the Golden Eagles have added a grad transfer, too.</p> <p id="dBcsPm">Hello, and welcome back to our ongoing <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a> women’s soccer season preview! If you haven’t already seen it, run yourself over to read through <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/8/17/20800415/marquette-golden-eagles-womens-soccer-season-preview-the-returning-players">our overview of what head coach Markus Roeders has in his players that are returning from the 2018 campaign</a>.</p>
<p id="dOjnbJ">Here we’re going to talk about the newcomers on the roster. There are nine freshmen, although two of them are almost guaranteed to not play this season, as well as one graduate transfer. We’ll start with the grad transfer, as I’d expect her to have the biggest immediate impact on the team, move on to the two women that aren’t likely to play — trust me, it’ll make sense why I think think that — and wrap up with the other seven who may or may not see the field in 2019.</p>
<p id="oyaVgh">This is being written following the exhibition game against University of Regina, so the results/lineups/rotations/whatever else from that are being taken into account here.</p>
<h1 id="rwCpgw">GRADUATE TRANSFER</h1>
<p id="ypDOTY">Midfielder<strong> Natalie Yass</strong> joins the Golden Eagles after playing three seasons at <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/northern-illinois-huskies">Northern Illinois</a>. It’s not that wild of a connection, as she graduated from Waukesha West High School. After a prep career where she recorded 34 goals and 35 assists, Yass was regularly one of the best point producers for the Huskies. You can take that to mean whatever you want it to mean, as NIU went 15-38-6 in her three seasons. I prefer to think of it as she was one of their bright spots, assembling nine assists and three goals in her three seasons. </p>
<p id="p8B6Cy">We may have gotten a taste of what to expect from Yass this season as she knocked in two goals in MU’s 5-0 exhibition win over Regina. That’s really great, but we have to establish two caveats to that. First, Yass did not start the match. While it’s great that she put the ball in the net twice, she wasn’t at the top of the list to be in the starting 11 in the coaches’ minds for whatever reason. Second, Regina was wildly outclassed in the match, as they didn’t even record a shot in the first half, which ended with MU leading 2-0. I’m not saying that Yass can’t create goals in the future, of course. I’m merely saying that we’re going to need more data than what we have to get a read on what to expect from her.</p>
<h1 id="Kq8AyN">THE FRESHMEN</h1>
<h2 id="yekAoj">GOALKEEPER</h2>
<p id="DVpum1">With Maddy Henry on the scene for her senior season, it seems unlikely that we’ll see much if any of either <strong>Mikki Easter</strong> or <strong>Mel McNamara</strong> on the field for the Golden Eagles this season. On the flip side, Easter and McNamara are the only two keepers on the roster other than Henry. One of them is presumably next year’s starter, and at the very least, one of them is going to officially be Henry’s backup in 2019.</p>
<p id="t6LsUt">Easter’s official MU bio is a bit longer and involved than McNamara’s, so it would seem like her extensive Olympic Development Program experience might give her the inside track as the backup for this season. Apparently she recorded shutouts in all 16 of her district matches — whatever that actually means in Virginia — so that’s pretty good. She was also on the volleyball team for four years in high school and on the swim team for two. Multi-sport experience is never a bad thing. Easter was the first keeper off the bench for Marquette in the exhibition win over Regina, so either A) she’s leading the way to officially be the backup or B) she won the coin toss with McNamara.</p>
<p id="HI30Gs">Here’s some McNamara highlights:</p>
<div id="qewpBn"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PvE-ISlRX0c?rel=0" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media; accelerometer; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"></iframe></div></div>
<h2 id="BXKago">FORWARD</h2>
<p id="8TY0Qt">We have just one forward to talk about, and that’s <strong>Shelby Fountain</strong>. She’s a 5’3” native of Silver Spring, Maryland, but she’s actually a graduate of IMG Academy in Florida. She was only at IMG for one year, attending Bethesda Chevy Chase High School before that. Her official MU bio doesn’t mention anything in terms of stats from her varsity years at Chevy Chase, which is a little troubling. However, you don’t get to IMG Academy because you’re bad at soccer, as proven by her nine teammates moving on to the Division 1. She was also a track star at CCHS, finishing seventh in the state in the 400 meters and winning a regional championship in the 100 meters. Speed is always a crucial part of being a forward, so we’ll see how well Fountain can translate that to playing time this season. </p>
<p id="k6ULUJ">Here’s a highlight video for her from last August, and you can find more videos on <a href="https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-soccer-recruiting/florida/bradenton/img-academy-pendleton/shelby-fountain">her NCSA page</a>.</p>
<div id="sz65l7"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D2YK5wwbfvo?rel=0" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media; accelerometer; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"></iframe></div></div>
<h2 id="TqeJHI">MIDFIELDER</h2>
<p id="KkhhFR">There are three freshman midfielders on the roster, and as luck (?) would have it, each one is tasked to a specific department: one straight up middie, one midfielder/forward, and one midfielder/defender. Nice and organized.</p>
<p id="29k3Jd">We’ll start with the two specialized mids, as both earned themselves a bit of distinction in the exhibition game against Regina. Midfielder/defender <strong>Josie Kelderman</strong> found herself in Markus Roeders’ first eleven on Wednesday night, which is a little bit surprising for a freshman but also not surprising at all. Those of you paying ultra close attention may have popped when you read her name. Yes, Josie is the daughter of UW-Milwaukee men’s soccer head coach Kris Kelderman. Yes, I am greatly entertained that she is at Marquette instead of playing for Troy Fabiano on the other side of town. In any case, Kelderman earned two high school letters at Nicolet High School in the northern Milwaukee suburbs in 2016 and 2017. That sounds to me like she went the route of not playing high school soccer after that, which seems to be a recurring theme in prospects lately. She did, however, win a Wisconsin state title in the 4x100 meter relay in 2018, which is pretty neat.</p>
<p id="Niu5pk">Midfielder/forward <strong>Alex Campana</strong> also showed out against Regina, scoring a goal in the 52nd minute to give MU a 3-0 lead shortly after halftime. The game was to a certain degree already out of control when Campana scored, given that MU had held the Cougars without a shot in the opening 45 minutes, so it’s hard to say for certain what we should take away from this in terms of playing time in 2019. What we do know is that she scored 40 goals and added 30 assists in her four year career at Natick High School in Massachusetts, so she clearly has a knack for getting the ball in the net one way or another.</p>
<p id="k8jNN8"><strong>Maddie Tabor</strong> is the straight up midfielder in the group. Having game notes on Kelderman and Campana worked out pretty well in terms of organization of this article because......</p>
<h2 id="V9H7Fo">DEFENDER</h2>
<p id="Y4O2BD">..... Maddie’s twin sister <strong>Emma Tabor</strong> is amongst the defensive crew coming in this season. <a href="https://media.giphy.com/media/l3vR6aasfs0Ae3qdG/giphy.gif">I love it when a transition comes together</a>. Both Tabors are listed at 5’7”, with both coming to Marquette locally from Brookfield East High School. Neither one played soccer for BEHS, but they were both seven year starters for FC Wisconsin at the club level. <a href="https://gomarquette.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4706">Emma’s official bio</a> gives us a little bit of an insight as to how much playing for the Golden Eagles means for the sisters:</p>
<blockquote><p id="60IkGc">“The first time I stepped onto Valley Fields I was age 9. My coach at the time was Jess Taylor, a former MU soccer player, who arranged for my team to be ball girls. I became an instant Marquette Women’s Soccer fan. As I developed as a player and began considering soccer programs and schools, Marquette set the bar for what I wanted in an athletic and an academic experience.”</p></blockquote>
<p id="fgRHWr">So it’s been a long time coming.</p>
<p id="DaDJ9U">While the Tabors provided us with a nice gimmick to move from section to section there, it’s actually fellow freshman <strong>Addie Shock</strong> that made the biggest splash in the exhibition win. She found herself in the starting lineup for Roeders, and given that she’s playing defense, that’s a pretty important role. Then again, it’s hard to pass up (as well as not notice) having a 5’11” defender on your back line. The younger sister of MU sophomore Macey Shock has one of the more interesting high school careers you’ll see, particularly given the role she’ll play for the Golden Eagles. Again, she’s a defender here..... but in her one year of high school soccer at The Wellington School in Ohio, she scored eight goals and 10 assists. She appeared to be playing central defense on Wednesday night, so we’ll see how she fits into MU’s plans going forward.</p>
<p id="TNldtZ"><strong>Katie Smith</strong> is the final freshman to discuss. The 6’0” freshman from Arizona doesn’t have much in the way of accolades in her official bio, but we know that her Desert Vista team made it to the Arizona 6A semifinals in her senior year. Winning 14 matches in a row when you’re the team captain is always a big deal, no matter the level, so that’s pretty notable. Marquette’s returning roster strength is in the defensive end of the field, so we’ll have to wait and see how much Smith can contribute immediately. Worst case scenario, Smith and Shock are potentially the most physically imposing pair of defenders on any roster in the Big East over the next four years. That can’t be a bad thing.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/8/18/20805335/marquette-golden-eagles-womens-soccer-season-preview-freshmen-graduate-transfer-overviewBrewtown Andy2019-08-17T11:00:00-05:002019-08-17T11:00:00-05:002019 WSOC Season Preview: The Returning Players
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<img alt="Alyssa Bombacino" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ccqDfMvzw_0xfWFDGb_8z_TxgMA=/0x0:1788x1192/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65036841/41835247_10155677327851551_7912941162241982464_o.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Will we see more offensive firepower from Alyssa Bombacino in 2019? | Facebook.com/MarquetteWSOC</figcaption>
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<p>We take a look at Markus Roeders’ returning roster to see what this coming season can be.</p> <p id="H1VsCh">The 2019 <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a> women’s soccer season continues to inch closer and closer. It’s time to start diving into official preview stuff, and we’re going to start with a look at who is coming back to the squad from the 2018 team. It’s the logical place to start, as we can knock around what known quantities will contribute this year before considering where the newcomers fit into the picture.</p>
<p id="JQmMsV">We’ll divide things up by position here, as that’s a much easier way to summarize things than going by class. After all, you get sophomores, juniors, and seniors all playing along side each other on the regular basis, so constantly swinging back around to talk about a section of the field as we move down the class depth chart is just inefficient. </p>
<p id="VW99V2">While we’re going to do this by position, we’re going to start with a senior dominated position, partially because there’s just one player in the position.</p>
<h2 id="7TxR38">GOALKEEPER</h2>
<p id="DnM0z9">The one player in question is <strong>Maddy Henry</strong>, back for her senior season this year. She has started every single match of her Marquette career, recording a career goals-against average of 1.25 and a save percentage of .786. Things have gotten increasingly difficult for Henry since her freshman year. She’s had to rack up a ton of saves, going from 87 as a freshman to 99 and then an even 100 last season. That is, unfortunately, a new Marquette program record. While Henry’s save total jumped way up from freshman to sophomore year, it didn’t result in much of a change in Marquette’s record. That wasn’t the case going from sophomore to junior year, as the Golden Eagles suffered the first losing season under the direction of head coach Markus Roeders.</p>
<p id="5JkEek">Henry is very clearly a talented goalie, as a less talented player wouldn’t even be able to make all the saves that she did make. She’s going to be called on to play every minute in net this year, as she has only two freshmen behind her on the depth chart. That’s not a problem, as she’s cleared over 1,600 minutes in all of her three seasons so far. However, Henry will only be able to do so much to aim the Golden Eagles back towards the NCAA tournament after missing out in the last two seasons. Marquette got outshot 289-209 last year, and reversing that trend will be the biggest thing that MU can do to get the best possible season out of their senior keeper.</p>
<h2 id="0tLbht">DEFENDERS</h2>
<p id="kyRVrC">In addition to seven returning defenders on the roster this season, Marquette also has one listed midfielder/defender combo, so we’ll get to all eight of them here eventually.</p>
<p id="eP85Xg">There are four women who we know will play a major role in the defensive corps in front of Henry this season. This starts with seniors <strong>Emily Hess</strong> and <strong>Bri Jaeger</strong>, who join their keeper as two of the four women to start all 18 matches last season. Both logged over 1,600 minutes last season with Hess adding two assists to the scorebook and Jaeger recording her second career goal. I think it’s safe to say that Roeders will give Hess and Jaeger all the minutes that they can handle in 2019. Traditionally, Roeders ends up letting his back line play the full 90 minutes much more than the rest of his field players, so there’s no reason to think that won’t be the case again for these two.</p>
<p id="LS5A8P">In addition to Hess and Jaeger, we can also expect a big role for middie/defender combo <strong>Madison Burrier</strong>. She saw over 1,200 minutes last season, appearing in all 18 matches and starting 14 of them as a freshman. While the Golden Eagles had their struggles with putting a consistent lineup out on the field in 2018, Burrier wasn’t really part of that problem, earning a way onto the field from the get-go and keeping her spot in the rotation. We’ll see if she plays on the back line with Hess and Jaeger or if she’s lined up just in front of them in the midfield.</p>
<p id="UdGF7C">We’ll have to wait and see what happens with <strong>Maddie Monticello</strong> this year. She appeared in 13 matches as a sophomore last year, and made five starts. That sounds like she was contributing a lot, but in reality, she only played 568 minutes. Even more telling, that’s essentially only half as many minutes as she played the year before as a freshman on a much more successful Marquette team. She did start in the exhibition against Regina, so we’ll tilt the switch towards “expected to be a major contributor.”</p>
<p id="wj15X2"><strong>Bonnie Lacey</strong>, <strong>Mary Kate Simon</strong>, <strong>Maura Weaver</strong>, and <strong>Madeline Warren</strong> round out the defenders on the roster. Lacy and Warren did not play at all last year as freshmen, so they remain a question mark in terms of what they can contribute. Simon played in four matches as a redshirt sophomore a year ago, tallying 71 minutes. Weaver was a bit more active, recording 185 minutes played in eight appearances, also as a redshirt sophomore. This is year #4 in the program for Weaver and Simon, so they’ll be experienced voices in the locker room for sure. We’ll see if Roeders and his staff dole out a larger role for them this season.</p>
<p id="1Zol27">Before we wrap up this department, we should probably note one departure that will have an impact on how roles develop this season. Katie Koker appeared in all 18 matches last season, starting in 14 of them as a freshman. That’s really great, or at least it would be if she hadn’t transferred to Minnesota. The Racine native showed a tenacity on the backline even at just 5’5”, and she added a goal and an assist, too. That’s over 1,100 minutes of action that Roeders will have to replace on defense. Hess, Jaeger, and Burrier will be able to provide enough cover for the woman that gets the nod until they get acclimated, so it’s a matter of finding a fit within the existing construction more than anything else.</p>
<h2 id="3z1yon">MIDFIELDERS</h2>
<p id="0CCPsA">First things first: Marquette lists just three true midfielders on the roster. Three. The good news is that Markus Roeders loves to list crossover midfielders. In addition to the previously mentioned Madison Burrier, there are also four midfielder/forwards on the roster, and, for whatever reason that this many years into paying attention that I still can’t figure out, a forward/midfielder. So, we’re going to push the F/MF over into the forwards group and only talk about the other seven here.</p>
<p id="qpCasY">That’s somewhat unfortunate, because we kind of don’t have a lot to talk about here. <strong>Katrina Wetherell</strong>, Marquette’s lone representative on the preseason all-Big East team, is the only known quantity in the midfield. Even as a freshman, she was one of just four women to start all 18 matches a year ago, racking up over 1,400 minutes played. With a goal and four assists, she finished tied for second on the team in points. Marquette is probably going to need a lot more from Wetherell in 2019. She did lead the team in shots and shots on goal in 2018, but as you can see, that didn’t turn into balls going into the net all that often. Either she’s going to have to find better angles for shots or she’s going to have to do a better job of setting up her teammates. Either one is good, as the Golden Eagles need to do a better job of holding the ball on the offensive end of the field in 2019.</p>
<p id="lHKMto">We really can’t go any further here without mentioning that Wetherell did not play in MU’s exhibition win over Regina. For the time being, we’re going to cross our fingers and presume it’s for precautionary or temporary reasons, but keep that in mind as the season draws closer.</p>
<p id="dqIg7r">Wetherell is also the only midfielder to play more than 300 minutes. <strong>Erin Johnston</strong> appeared in 11 matches, but only saw 181 minutes. Midfielder/forward <strong>Rachel Johnson</strong> also had 11 appearances, but logged up 263 minutes. Those are the next two highest minute totals in the group, and generally speaking, less than three games worth of action in an 18 game season isn’t much when we’re talking about experience that will pay off in 2019.</p>
<p id="DnERj9">As much as Johnston and Johnson aren’t known quantities for Roeders and his staff in terms of in-game production, they’ve still got a leg up on the last remaining midfielder and the three other midfielder/forwards that we’re putting in this group. <strong>Maggie Lena</strong> and <strong>Elaina Eckert </strong>both played just four minutes in one game last season. As coincidence would have it, both saw their four minutes of action against BYU. That was a step backwards in minutes for both women from their freshman season the year before, but not by much. Lena and Eckert have yet to play 50 minutes for Marquette, and if they struggled to find the field in a year where Roeders was struggling to find combinations that worked on a regular basis, things probably aren’t going to come together for them as juniors this season.</p>
<p id="zS9Uef">The final two women here are complete question marks, as they’ve yet to play at all for Marquette. That’s not a terrible surprise for <strong>Sammi Bugay</strong>, who came in as a freshman last year as one of the least heralded prospects in her class in terms of things accomplished before arriving at Marquette. She’s a redshirt freshman this year, so we’ll see what happens. <strong>Meredith McGuire</strong> is a redshirt sophomore now who did not play at all last year as a redshirt freshman. As was the case with Lena and Eckert, that’s a little worrying given the troubles of last season. Still, she’s in year three with the program now, so we’ll see what the experience that she has ends up helping her contribute.</p>
<h2 id="Nwrtv9">FORWARDS</h2>
<p id="2M267b">We have four women to talk about here, and there’s questions to be asked all over the place.</p>
<p id="D8VHbQ">Let’s start with <strong>Kylie Sprecher</strong>. In 2017, she was an All-Freshman Team honoree in the Big East and Freshman of the Week twice. She finished the year with three goals and six assists, <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2017/9/9/16280436/marquette-golden-eagles-womens-soccer-boston-university-terriers-recap-score-highlights-sprecher">including the game-winner in what might be the stupidest win in Markus Roeders’ entire career as Marquette head coach</a>. With that in mind, 2018 was a disappointment for Sprecher. She appeared in just 16 matches for the Golden Eagles, earning 11 starts and playing just 827 minutes. She scored just one goal, although it was a pretty big one at the time. <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2018/10/19/18001294/marquette-golden-eagles-womens-soccer-recap-georgetown-hoyas-carusa-farrell-sprecher-henry">It broke a scoreless tie just past the hour mark before Marquette ended up losing to #4 Georgetown 2-1 in overtime</a>. However, there is an explanation for her drop. <a href="https://marquettewire.org/3997052/sports/sprecher-looks-to-return-to-2017-form-after-national-team-experience/">She spent 16 weeks over the 2018 summer in a walking boot</a>, and her fitness levels just weren’t there to log minutes. She saw more than an hour’s worth of playing time in just six 2018 matches, and at the end of the day, that had a pretty big impact on what Marquette was capable of on offense.</p>
<p id="149dSx">It’s been over a year since that stretch in the walking boot for Sprecher. That fitness question is in her rear view mirror now, so the only question is whether she’s back to 2017 form. If so, Marquette should be much more dangerous in the offensive third. If not.... a lot of someones are going to have to step up to create goals.</p>
<p id="Q9qhrX">The obvious someones we would look to first are <strong>Alyssa Bombacino</strong> and <strong>Abby Hess</strong>. Bombacino had a weird 2018, but maybe not so weird for a freshman. She didn’t play at all in the season opener, and then didn’t clear 20 minutes in a game until the eighth game of the year. By the end of the year, she had played in 16 matches and logged only 601 minutes. And yet, somehow, she finished tied for the team lead in goals with three. Okay, yes, the “somehow” is largely because three was enough to lead the team. Still, one goal per 200 minutes played is pretty damn great, so hopefully we see her minutes go way way up for her sophomore year with the production level staying the same.</p>
<p id="B1dfqI">Hess is one of the few women to appear in every Marquette match a year ago, and while it didn’t help her find the back of the net all that much (just one goal), she did make a major impact on offense. She finished the year with three assists, one behind Wetherell for the team lead. A healthy Kylie Sprecher should be able free up some space for Hess as well as create a few more chances for those handy helpers.</p>
<p id="EXn63d"><strong>Macey Shock</strong> is listed as a forward/midfielder on the roster, and she rounds out our discussion here. As a freshman last year, she appeared off the bench in 14 games, but only tallied up 242 minutes. With Carrie Madden and Heather Handwork gone, Marquette has space in the forward end of the formation for players to step up and contribute. It’s good that Shock was getting regular action a year ago in her first year on campus, and hopefully that turns into solid production in 2019.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/8/17/20800415/marquette-golden-eagles-womens-soccer-season-preview-the-returning-playersBrewtown Andy2019-08-10T09:15:00-05:002019-08-10T09:15:00-05:00Marquette Soccer Vs The USC Preseason Polls
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<img alt="Marquette soccer" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-WEGBROEM6jSvFH0VPdc8yQFd-4=/120x0:960x560/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64988592/Marquette_soccer_ball.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Facebook.com/MarquetteWSOC</figcaption>
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<p>Neither of the Golden Eagles teams are ranked to start the season, but they’ll be facing a handful of teams getting votes this season.</p> <p id="LJF0K1">Hey, who likes preseason college soccer polls?</p>
<p id="amDlLu">Well, if you’ve gotten this far, then the answer is probably you. ‘Sup.</p>
<p id="uodaIj">Back on August 6th, United Soccer Coaches (or USC, for speed reasons) released their preseason college soccer top 25s. Since we’re just slowly getting around to mentioning it, then you’ve probably accurately guessed that neither <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a>’s men’s nor women’s teams are ranked to start the 2019 campaign. That’s not surprising, so we’re not going to jump up and down to shout about it.</p>
<p id="w5VCSS">What we’re doing to do instead is talk about the teams on the respective schedules that are ranked in the preseason top 25 for both Louis Bennett’s team and Markus Roeders’ team, as well as the teams that are merely receiving votes. It’s a preseason poll, so there’s going to be a giant pile of wiggle room right now on who is and is not earning votes. </p>
<h2 id="ngPSwN">MEN’S SOCCER</h2>
<p id="2Oam0R">There’s just one team on Marquette’s schedule that will start the season ranked in <a href="https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-di-men/">the USC top 25</a>, and if you’ve been paying attention to men’s soccer long enough, you can guess who it is.</p>
<p id="naYhZv">It’s <a href="https://www.casualhoya.com/">Georgetown</a>, of course. The official Big East preseason poll isn’t out quite yet, but I would expect that the Hoyas will be the easy favorite to win the league. They’re coming in at #13 in the country with 379 points, nestled in between <a href="https://www.streakingthelawn.com/">Virginia</a> at #12 with 390 points and <a href="https://www.cardchronicle.com/">Louisville</a> at #14 with 268 points.</p>
<p id="ruPx3M">There are three teams on the schedule in the giant pile of squads receiving votes to start the year. <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/creighton-bluejays">Creighton</a> is the only Big East team in there, unofficially ranked #32 in the country with 12 points. <a href="https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/">Wisconsin</a> is one point and one step in front of them at 13 and #31 respectively. <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/saint-louis-billikens">Saint Louis</a> is the last member of the group at just four points, placing them at #46 on the rankings if you think about them going out that far. Like I said, it’s a giant pile of teams receiving votes, essentially doubling the top 25. Such is life in the preseason when there’s an increasing amount of uncertainty on every ballot the closer and closer you get to the #25 spot.</p>
<h2 id="LZLRNw">WOMEN’S SOCCER</h2>
<p id="WIKAiP">Like the men’s team, Marquette’s women’s squad will face four teams that got a preseason ballot turned in with their name on it somewhere. The difference here is that two of the teams are ranked while two are merely receiving votes.</p>
<p id="Y5ANqG">As was the case with the men’s side of the aisle, Georgetown is the lone Big East team in <a href="https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-di-women/">the top 25</a>. Here, the Hoyas start the year ranked #7 in the country after going all of 2018 without a loss until the national semifinals. They nearly landed in the #6 spot, as <a href="https://www.blackshoediaries.com/">Penn State</a> turned up there with 678 points against just 676 for Georgetown. <a href="https://www.dukebasketballreport.com/">Duke</a> is a bit down the road at #8 with 619 points.</p>
<p id="1pwhxJ">Wisconsin is the other ranked team on the slate to start the year. They come in at #16 in the country with 283 points in the polling. There was a big drop off between #15 and #16 as <a href="https://www.garnetandblackattack.com/">South Carolina</a> is one spot ahead of the Badgers with 383 points. <a href="https://www.anchorofgold.com/">Vanderbilt</a> is just barely behind UW at #17 with 273 points.</p>
<p id="8zdcCE"><a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/butler-bulldogs">Butler</a> gives the Big East two teams receiving votes in the polling, although just barely. The Bulldogs snagged three points to end up as the unofficial #46 team in the country. <a href="https://www.thedailygopher.com/">Minnesota</a> is the fourth and final team getting votes on Marquette’s schedule. If they wanted to, they could call themselves the #33 team in the country after earning 33 points. That’s very nice and tidy, isn’t it?</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="mrTKvv">
<p id="aKZWeM">The Marquette men’s soccer team starts off the 2019 season with a home game against <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/uab-blazers">UAB</a>. First kick is set for 7pm Central on Friday, August 30th. The women’s squad opens up with a road game against <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/colorado-st-rams">Colorado State</a> on Thursday, August 22. They will play three straight road games to open the season before making their way back to Valley Fields for the home opener on Sunday, September 1st. It will be <a href="https://www.maizenbrew.com/">Michigan</a> coming to town then, with first kick set for 2:30pm.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/marquette-soccer/2019/8/10/20797753/marquette-golden-eagles-soccer-preseason-poll-top-25-ranking-georgetown-hoyas-wisconsin-badgersBrewtown Andy2019-08-09T07:45:00-05:002019-08-09T07:45:00-05:00Wetherell Named To Preseason All-Big East Team
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<img alt="Katrina Wetherell" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yNcrU2DCVfeSOJg2I3FsNnR7llA=/280x0:1800x1013/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64981686/43195908_10155710014721551_6226730241553858560_o.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Katrina Wetherell is Marquette’s only rep on the preseason all-league team. | Facebook.com/MarquetteWSOC</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Also, uh, Marquette was picked to finish eighth, which is not great.</p> <p id="mWEW43"><a href="http://www.bigeast.com/news/2019/8/7/womens-soccer-georgetown-voted-preseason-bigeastwsoc-favorite.aspx">The Big East announced the 2019 preseason awards for women’s soccer</a> on Thursday, and as expected, it was not a banner day for <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a>.</p>
<p id="IgMqLv">The good news is that MU sophomore Katrina Wetherell was named as one of the three midfielders on the 11 woman all-Big East team. The medium news is that Wetherell is Marquette’s only representative on the all-conference team. The bad news is that Marquette is picked to finish eighth in the league this season, earning 34 points to finish well ahead of ninth place <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/creighton-bluejays">Creighton</a> (20 points) and 10th place <a href="https://www.southorangejuice.com/">Seton Hall</a> (9 points), which earned every single last place vote available.</p>
<div id="dWtRKv">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">⚽️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BIGEASTwsoc?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BIGEASTwsoc</a> Preseason Coaches' Poll ⚽️ <br><br>Coming off their second College Cup appearance in three years, <a href="https://twitter.com/HoyasWSoc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HoyasWSoc</a> unanimously picked as BIG EAST favorites<a href="https://t.co/reg2wQr5Nh">https://t.co/reg2wQr5Nh</a> <a href="https://t.co/HyUW4c1dHe">pic.twitter.com/HyUW4c1dHe</a></p>— BIG EAST Conference (@BIGEAST) <a href="https://twitter.com/BIGEAST/status/1159480022626947072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2019</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p id="TJNbQl">None of this should be particularly surprising to you. </p>
<p id="ueS3mC">Marquette finished 4-11-3 a year ago, marking the first ever losing season under head coach Markus Roeders. Wetherell was the only Golden Eagle to earn all-conference honors at the end of last season, landing a spot on the All-Big East Second Team. Given the struggles that MU had a year ago, you can understand why the conference’s coaches did not enter into their voting with a positive mindset about the Golden Eagles. The question marks are all there: No proven scorers, shaky defense, a young team with just three seniors along with a junior/redshirt junior group that didn’t contribute much in terms of minutes played last season.</p>
<p id="BRh4mD">With that said, there’s reason for belief that Marquette will out-perform their eighth place prediction. MU’s biggest problem last season was ultimately consistency. Only four players started every match — all of whom return for 2019 — and only nine appeared in every match. To a certain extent, you can’t fault Roeders for struggling to come up with lineup combinations that worked given that he was unable to start the same eleven from match to match. It’s reasonable to think there’s a chance that the lineup re-jiggering has established a solid baseline of what to expect from the roster this year, and things could move forward from there.</p>
<p id="jY7IIS">Let’s focus on Wetherell, shall we?</p>
<p id="w9pNIm">The 5’8” Arizona native was one of the four players to start all 18 matches a year ago, and was one of five Golden Eagles to play at least 1,400 minutes. She finished tied for second on the team in points in 2018 thanks to a team high four assists. Wetherell ended up with the most shots on the squad a year ago as well as the most shots on goal. It only turned into one marker on the year, a largely meaningless last second goal in a 3-2 loss to Villanova. Wetherell was the first ever Marquette freshman to earn All-Big East First Team <em>or</em> Second Team honors. Given the quality of the squads that Roeders has guided in the league during his tenure as head coach, that’s a pretty impressive accomplishment for Wetherell.</p>
<p id="Kdn0YK">Moving on to the other Big East awards handed out....</p>
<p id="lVO10v">Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Samantha Dewey, <a href="https://www.bannersontheparkway.com/">Xavier</a><br>Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Meaghan Nally, <a href="https://www.casualhoya.com/">Georgetown</a><br>Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year: Shelby Hogan, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/providence-friars">Providence</a></p>
<p id="npudq3">If you read <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/8/2/20749917/predictions-big-east-womens-soccer-preseason-awards-kajan-nally-hogan-georgetown-st-johns-providence">our prognostications article</a>, then these three awards should not be a surprise to you. I didn’t pick Dewey as my OPOY, but the fact of the matter is that she had the most points in 2018 out of any player returning to the Big East this year, so that’s a no-brainer. Same goes for Nally and Hogan in terms of their qualifications, which is why they were my picks in those spots.</p>
<p id="hMqRH6">Here’s the rundown for the preseason all-conference team, with the asterisks marking the six unanimous choices.</p>
<p id="vcKD3n"><strong>Anja Savich, </strong><a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/butler-bulldogs"><strong>Butler</strong></a><strong>, So., F </strong><br><strong>Annika Schmidt, Butler, R-Sr., D* </strong><br><strong>Taryn Jakubowski, Creighton, Sr., M* </strong><br><strong>Paula Germino-Watnick, Georgetown, Sr., F* </strong><br><strong>Kelly Ann Livingstone, Georgetown, Jr., D </strong><br><strong>Meaghan Nally, Georgetown, Sr., D* </strong><br><strong>Katrina Wetherell, Marquette, So., M </strong><br><strong>Shelby Hogan, Providence, R-Jr., GK </strong><br><strong>Hannah McNulty, Providence, Jr., F </strong><br><strong>Zsani Kajan, St. John’s, R-Jr., F* </strong><br><strong>Samantha Dewey, Xavier, R-Sr., M*</strong></p>
<p id="5ZV25H">That right there is an impressive 9-for-11 connection rate on my preseason all-league team. The misses were Wetherell, as I went with Georgetown’s Grace Nguyen instead with both women earning Second Team honors last year, and Livingstone. I picked my team completely from last year’s all-Big East teams, and Livingstone wasn’t on the list at the end of last season. I’m not sure why the Big East coaches favored her now over players that they preferred at the end of 2018, but that’s their choice. </p>
<p id="j1dFmg">You can check out the full press release on the preseason awards <a href="http://www.bigeast.com/news/2019/8/7/womens-soccer-georgetown-voted-preseason-bigeastwsoc-favorite.aspx">right here</a>.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/8/9/20791712/marquette-golden-eagles-womens-soccer-big-east-preseason-awards-wetherellBrewtown Andy2019-08-02T09:25:00-05:002019-08-02T09:25:00-05:00Unscientific Predictions: 2019 Big East WSOC Preseason Awards
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<img alt="COLLEGE BASKETBALL: MAR 02 Seton Hall at Georgetown" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AObAaDZFn7rnaZud-soF2rUJuAk=/0x0:3900x2600/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64900970/1128483382.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>The Hoyas lost one game all of last season: In the NCAA tournament Final Four. They’ll probably win a lot more games this year. | Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Who are the names to know in the league this coming season?</p> <p id="CDKxOb">Hello.</p>
<p id="Z66e6h">You’re reading this (at the earliest) on August 3rd. The women’s college soccer season starts on August 22nd. There are LESS THAN TWENTY DAYS until soccer is downloaded into your brain by way of your eyeholes.</p>
<p id="L3rICG">So, we should probably do something about previewing all of that.</p>
<p id="oWQCeQ">First up: Trying to figure out how the Big East coaches will vote for the various and sundry preseason awards and honors. That starts..... </p>
<p id="XhqeHx"></p>
<p id="HV5qoK">wait for it</p>
<p id="aPvNel"></p>
<p id="cHY4D3">now</p>
<h2 id="XW9oY3">Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Zsani Kajan, St. John’s</h2>
<p id="fpefjB">Okay, I had to puzzle through this one for a minute. There were two players in the league last season who totaled 30 or more points, but both were seniors. The next best point total in the league belonged to <a href="https://www.bannersontheparkway.com/">Xavier</a>‘s Samantha Dewey, who is back for 2019. However, Dewey stacked up nine goals and seven assists in 21 games, while Kajan put up 11 goals and two assists in 19 games. In addition to that, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/providence-friars">Providence</a>‘s Hannah McNulty had 10 goals and four assists in 20 games. It’s a subtle difference, I’ll admit, but Kajan has a teensy bit higher points per game mark than Dewey or McNulty, so we’ll go with the better per game performance here.</p>
<h2 id="1oNG02">Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Meaghan Nally, <a href="https://www.casualhoya.com/">Georgetown</a>
</h2>
<p id="wxeMOD">Last year’s preseason <em>and</em> postseason Defensive Player of the Year is this year’s preseason DPOY. Sometimes you don’t have to think very hard about these things. </p>
<h2 id="Y8FNng">Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year: Shelby Hogan, Providence</h2>
<p id="1eExXB">Item the first: Hogan was the Second Team All-Big East keeper at the end of last season, with the First Teamer, Georgetown’s Arielle Schechtman, finishing her eligibility last year. </p>
<p id="N1WD9W">Item the second: Hogan was second in the conference in save percentage to only Schechtman.</p>
<p id="4E7MBP">Item the third: Hogan was second in the conference in total saves behind only Marquette’s Maddy Henry. Generally speaking, as you can see from what happened to Marquette last season, you don’t want your keeper making a bajillion saves. That means that there were a bajillion and a half shots, which is generally bad. However, Hogan had that sparkling save percentage, so tip of the cap and this preseason honor to her.</p>
<h2 id="sNAPMY">Preseason All-Big East Team</h2>
<p id="r0eBAc"><strong>Samantha Dewey, M, Xavier</strong><br><strong>Paula Germino-Watnick, F/M, Georgetown</strong><br><strong>Shelby Hogan, GK, Providence</strong><br><strong>Taryn Jakubowski, M, </strong><a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/creighton-bluejays"><strong>Creighton</strong></a><br><strong>Zsani Kajan, F, St. John’s</strong><br><strong>Hannah McNulty, F, Providence</strong><br><strong>Meaghan Nally, D, Georgetown</strong><br><strong>Grace Nguyen, M, Georgetown</strong><br><strong>Anja Savich, F, </strong><a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/butler-bulldogs"><strong>Butler</strong></a><br><strong>Annika Schmidt, D, Butler</strong><br><strong>Adrian Walker, D, </strong><a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/depaul-blue-demons"><strong>DePaul</strong></a></p>
<p id="Kmzy4a">11 players on the field, 11 women on my preseason all-league team. Keeper, three forwards, four midfielders, and three defenders. This was relatively easy to put together given the composition of the all-Big East teams at the end of last season. Every woman here was either a First Teamer or Second Teamer. </p>
<p id="JOdSbP">The only questions came in the midfield and defender departments. There was one midfielder and two defenders from the Second Team at the end of last season that had to be left out here. Marquette’s Katrina Wetherell lost out to Georgetown’s Grace Nguyen by way of “Georgetown was and should still be very good and Marquette was/might be not good.” A simple distinction, I think.</p>
<p id="oNuXAn">In the defender grouping, I went with DePaul’s Adrian Walker over <a href="https://www.vuhoops.com/">Villanova</a>’s Kristin Barbour and Xavier’s Grace Bahr. When it comes to defense, it’s hard to figure out individual impact on a team, or at least harder than it is when it comes to measuring offensive output. Here’s what I went with: DePaul had a team goals-against average under 0.90 last year while Xavier was just barely under 1.00 and Villanova was up over 1.25. In addition to that, DePaul was second to last in the conference in saves. This means that shots weren’t even getting to their keeper, and that means plays were being made by their field defenders. Walker was the only Blue Demon defender honored at the end of the 2018 campaign, and so she gets my nod here.</p>
<h2 id="4Zm434">Top Five Teams</h2>
<p id="mC1OsL"><strong>1 — Georgetown</strong><br><strong>2 — Providence</strong><br><strong>3 — Butler</strong><br><strong>4 — Xavier</strong><br><strong>5 — St. John’s</strong></p>
<p id="YFYj2s">Just go ahead and hang a sign on Dave Nolan and his team that says “Pick Against Us At Your Own Peril.” Sure, the Hoyas are losing two 30 point scorers. It doesn’t mean they’re not the favorite to win the league this season, it just means they’re probably not contenders to go to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. Oh well.</p>
<p id="d9cQBz">Past that, this got interesting fast. There was only five points separating second place Butler last year and sixth place DePaul thanks to a three-way tie for fourth place in the league last year. Butler lost an NWSL draft pick caliber midfielder in Paige Monaghan and <em>both</em> of their goalies that split time last year. St. John’s has Kajan returning up top, but her three biggest support pieces last season were all seniors. Shelby Hogan bailed Providence’s defense out a ton last year to finish fourth, and that was <em>with</em> All-Big East First Team honoree Katie Day, who is now a grad assistant on the roster. PC was the first of the three teams in the tie at 14 points, with Xavier and DePaul joining them at a 4-3-2 record in league play. In short, all three have question marks between what they return and what they lost from last year.</p>
<p id="NiEuGP">I’m just throwing darts when trying to figure out who goes where, and I’m barely even considering someone from the bottom four last year jumping up into the top half this season. It’s entirely possible, given the confusion level that I’m encountering trying to sort it out here.</p>
https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/8/2/20749917/predictions-big-east-womens-soccer-preseason-awards-kajan-nally-hogan-georgetown-st-johns-providenceBrewtown Andy2019-06-05T08:15:00-05:002019-06-05T08:15:00-05:00WSOC Releases 2019 Schedule
<figure>
<img alt="Alyssa Bombacino" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KFpitxYRYS2sVcNrklThkfkIoyo=/0x0:1788x1192/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63952753/41835247_10155677327851551_7912941162241982464_o.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Alyssa Bombacino is MU’s returning leading scorer with three goals in 2018. | Facebook.com/MarquetteWSOC</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mark your calendars as the Golden Eagles look to bounce back from their first losing season in more than two decades.</p> <p id="y0Jrrz">After finishing 4-11-3 a year ago for head coach Markus Roeders’ first ever losing season, I would imagine that <a href="https://www.anonymouseagle.com/">Marquette</a> women’s soccer couldn’t turn the page to 2019 fast enough.</p>
<p id="391cIL">We got a bit of public facing page turning on Tuesday afternoon, when the team released their 2019 schedule. </p>
<p id="0VHMXs">At first glance, it appears that the schedule is a little less daunting than the 2018 slate was. Last year, Marquette had four NCAA tournament teams from the year before in their non-conference schedule, in addition to a UWM team that went undefeated but somehow got left out of the field. This time around, it’s only three: <a href="https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/">Wisconsin</a>, <a href="https://www.thedailygopher.com/">Minnesota</a>, and <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/wis-milwaukee-panthers">UWM</a>. All three will be away from Valley Fields. </p>
<p id="rSwnw9">The schedule has an interesting twist in it: An in-season home-and-home with <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/colorado-st-rams">Colorado State</a>. CSU is coming off of a 6-9-4 campaign a year ago, so you’d like to think that Marquette could snag two wins against them. MU opens the regular season out in Fort Collins, and then turns around and plays host to close out the non-conference schedule exactly one month later.</p>
<p id="iWg3ne">There won’t be a match at Valley Fields until September rolls around, as MU will play their first three contests on the road. They’ll play two matches the weekend before school starts in August — at Colorado State and then at <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/ball-st-cardinals">Ball State</a> — then visit Wisconsin on Thursday of the first week of school before returning to Milwaukee for the home opener. That will be against <a href="https://www.maizenbrew.com/">Michigan</a>, and MU’s very next match will be against Minnesota to give them three straight against Big Ten opposition. After that, the Golden Eagles won’t leave Milwaukee again until Big East play, with home dates against <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/utah-state-aggies">Utah State</a>, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/teams/northern-illinois-huskies">Northern Illinois</a>, and the aforementioned Colorado State game, as well as the crosstown trip to see UWM.</p>
<p id="2GXKV8">Marquette went 2-5-2 in Big East play a year ago, and this season, they’ll have to spend most of the league slate on the road. That’s the facts of life in a 10 team league with a nine game schedule. MU will have four home games and five road games, including starting the Big East slate off with a trip to Washington, D.C., to play <a href="https://www.casualhoya.com/">Georgetown</a>. The Hoyas are coming off a 2018 season that ended with a trip to the College Cup Final Four, and they’re pretty much always a tippy top quality team to play. MU will start the schedule with them, so it’s not the worst thing in the world to get that one out of the way and then worry about finding points for the Big East tournament afterwards.</p>
<p id="FZotdo">Here’s the full schedule.</p>
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https://www.anonymouseagle.com/2019/6/5/18653543/marquette-golden-eagles-womens-soccer-schedule-big-east-wisconsin-minnesota-milwaukeeBrewtown Andy