Aug. 27, 2006

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MILWAUKEE - Junior forward Christy Zwolski broke a 13-year old Marquette University record, scoring 10 points on Sunday afternoon at Engelmann Field to lead the No. 16 Golden Eagles to a 9-0 victory over Sacred Heart in the Milwaukee Cup. With the win, Marquette takes the Milwaukee Cup title for the second consecutive year. Five Golden Eagles were named to the all-tournament team; seniors Meghan Connelly and Lauren Weber, along with juniors Laura Boyer, Allison Mallams and Zwolski. Mallams took home another honor as she was named the most valuable player of the tournament for tallying 11 points on four goals and three assists in two games.

In addition to setting the points record, Zwolski also tied the school record for goals in a game, registering four, while assisting two others. Teammate Mallams tied the all-time mark for helpers in a match with three.

"I felt we were very efficient in our attacking, we had a number of shots to score nine goals," said head coach Markus Roeders. "I think it's a credit to how we play and how we attack. The goals that we scored were all very good, there wasn't anything that we didn't create today."

Zwolski began the scoring after receiving a cross from Mallams to the far post and firing to the left of the goal from six yards out in the fifth minute to give MU the 1-0 lead.

Less than four minutes later at the 8:16 mark, Mallams found senior Meghan Connelly with a cross, almost identical to the first to Zwolski. From the middle of the goal, she fired from six yards out to extend the Golden Eagles' lead to 2-0.

The Golden Eagles took a 4-0 lead into halftime after a Connelly to Michelle Compty goal just inside the 28th minute. Connelly, from the far side, tried a shot that was blocked by a Pioneer defender, but was able to grab the rebound, sending a cross to Compty who finished from six yards out with her first goal of the season. The assist by Connelly was the 16th of her career, tying her for eighth on the all-time list.

MU's defense was also solid, allowing just one shot in the first half.

Marquette struck early and often in the second half, scoring three goals only 57 seconds apart in the first 4:08.

At the 48:11 mark, sophomore Katie Kelly found Connelly with a cross to the left post who beat Sacred Heart goaltender Ashley Mocarski to the ball and then dribbled in the games fifth goal and her third of the season. She now has 16 for her career and is tied for seventh all time.

Thirty-one seconds later, Mallams found Zwolski with a cross who then punched in a header for the hat trick, giving Marquette a 6-0 lead.

The two reversed rolls just 26 seconds later as Zwolski found Mallams on the near post who then fired back off the far post for the goal and a 7-0 advantage.

The duo connected again, the fourth time in the game, in the 57th minute when Zwolski fed Mallams who slid a shot far post from five yards out as MU extended its lead to 8-0. The goal was Mallams fourth of the season.

Zwolski's fourth goal of the game came from the right side, and was unassisted from 10 yards out. Her 14th career goal gave the Golden Eagles a 9-0 lead.

When asked about her record-breaking day, Zwolski had only praise for the rest of her team.

"The girls up top are amazing to play with," said Zwolski. "They are so creative and everything seems like it's flowing right now. It's a lot of fun."

"Our entire front line did a terrific job," added Roeders. "We have to rely on them and I think we have a lot of different options. For them to get started early and get a feel for what it's like is tremendous.

Junior goalkeeper Laura Boyer improved to 2-0 on the season, registering one save in 62:26 in net. The win moved her into sole possession of fourth place on the career wins list (21-4-1). She was aided by a defense that allowed just two shots in the second half, three total on the day.

Marquette's nine goals ranks as the second-most ever scored in a match, just one behind a 10-goal outing at Purdue, Sept. 1, 1998. The team's 26 total points on the day also ranks in a tie as the second-most ever, and eight assists ranks in a tie for third.

"I think we have to try and stick to our system and try to fine tune and get a better feel for moving the ball around," Roeders said in regards to keeping the team's momentum flowing. "Even as the game went on, we wanted to keep playing our game. For us, player movement and ball movement was the key and if we do it well, we can create some tremendous opportunities. In many ways we did that and the entire team did that, the entire team played their part today."

The Golden Eagles (2-0) are back in action on Friday, Sept. 1 when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to take on the Drake Bulldogs (0-1) at 5 p.m. at the Cownie Soccer Complex.