Emily Roll’s corner kick led to the goal in the first half against Marquette (Spomer/WBR) CLICK TO BUY
Nationally-ranked to begin the season and picked to successfully defend their Big East Conference title, the Marquette women’s soccer team showed why they earned all of that praise in the preseason as they ended Creighton’s seven-match winning streak with a 2-1 victory at Morrison Stadium on Thursday night.
The Golden Eagles (8-3-0, 1-0-0 Big East) got on the board in the 15th minute thanks to Cara Jacobson. The senior out of Shorewood, Wis., missed on a point blank shot against a wide open net 10 minutes prior, but she took advantage of her second opportunity after receiving a pass from junior Mary Luba. Jacobson took one touch and sent her shot into the lower left corner past a diving Danielle Rice in goal for Creighton.
Although Marquette dictated play and possession for the majority of the first half they were unable to extend their lead beyond their one-goal advantage in the first half. This gave Creighton a chance to steal some momentum, and in the 44th minute off a corner kick from freshman center back Emily Roll they appeared to do just that. Roll inserted the ball from the left corner and used the far post to bank in the kick and tie the game with 1:29 remaining in the half. It was the first goal of her career, and although it was unassisted, she received some advice from her keeper, Rice, that she applied to perfection on the kick.
“[The back post] is where one of my best friends, [Rice], says is most vulnerable, from her experience,” Roll said. “When I practice them a couple have gone in like that, and I always thought it would be sick if it happened in a game. It was nice.”
Unfortunately for Creighton (7-3-0, 0-1-0 Big East), Roll’s goal came so late in the half that it allowed Marquette a chance to regroup in the locker room. The Golden Eagles came out even more aggressive than they were in the first 45 minutes, firing off shot after shot until former Omaha Skutt Catholic standout and current Marquette freshman Liz Bartels put her team back on top in the 57th minute. The goal gave Marquette a 2-1 lead that they would never relinquish.
They outshot the Bluejays 17-2 and held a 7-0 edge in corner kicks in the second half. Long-time Marquette head coach Markus Roeders thought Creighton’s goal coming so late would sap their momentum, but just to be sure he instructed his team to be more aggressive from the beginning of the second half.
“We knew we had to come out with more urgency in the second half, and I think we did that,” Roeders said. “We put a lot more pressure on them.”
Roeders wished his team had been a little more clinical with their 26 shots, but he was pleased to get a win in what he characterized as a typical Big East tilt.
“This game was a classic Big East game. Welcome, Creighton, to the Big East, because this is what it’s like. It’s hard fought and there isn’t an easy match. Nobody is going to give an inch,” he said.
Obviously disappointed in defeat, Creighton head coach Bruce Erickson felt his team came out a little apprehensive and perhaps gave Marquette more respect than they needed to.
“We expected Marquette to be pretty good, and I think they showed their ability tonight. That was a game where they had their way for the majority of it,” he said. “I think we had a little bit of deer in the headlights. I think scoring the goal helped going into halftime, but I think for our first time out to play somebody who I think we probably gave a little bit more respect than we needed to. We were very tentative. We lost a bit of focus and didn’t really come out and compete at the level that we normally do.”
Coming out on the wrong end of a 26-4 shot disparity, including an 11-1 disadvantage in shots on goal it may be hard to find some positives. But one in particular may be the shot-stopping ability by Rice. The freshman out of Westlake, Texas, finished with a career-high nine saves thanks to how she anticipated and reacted to Marquette’s attacks.
“I was expecting their movement to be impeccable off the ball like it was, and for them to have amazing touches,” Rice said. “I think a lot of times their body language just showed what they wanted to do. Even the first goal, which kind of frustrates me because I knew what she was going to do, but I was just kind of dinking around with it. Their body language just spoke a lot. When they were going long they leaned way back and you could see their eyes trailing backside.”
The Bluejays won’t have much time to recover from this loss as they now hit the road where a very impressive St. John’s club awaits them on Sunday. The Red Storm defeated Xavier 2-0 in their Big East opener tonight. They are 7-1-1 on the season and have only allowed two goals all year.