Sept. 13, 2009

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MILWAUKEE ­ -- The Marquette women's soccer team earned its sixth straight home shutout dating back to the 2008 season with a 1-0 victory over No. 23 Minnesota Sunday afternoon at Valley Fields. Senior Becky Ryan scored Marquette's lone goal in the 49th minute. With the win, the Golden Eagles improve to 5-2-0 overall while the Gophers fall to 4-2-1.

"I'm really happy for our team. We had to grind it out today. It was tough mentally and physically, but we did an excellent job," said head coach Markus Roeders.  "Minnesota is nationally ranked and have done well. WE will take it and will move forward. The credit has to go to to or entire team. It is team defense again and I thought we were solid all-around. We pride ourselves on not just winning, but getting shutouts as well, and that is against any opponent. I think we are on the right track. Today was another stellar performance."

For the game, the Golden Eagles held the advantage in the shots column, 12-9, including a 5-4 shots on goal differential. Sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Kulla made all four stops in 90 minutes in net, while Minnesota keeper Cat Parkhill made four saves.
 
The match was evenly fought throughout the first half with neither team getting a good opportunity to score until sophomore Rachael Sloan broke through the Golden Gopher defense during the 30th minute, leaving her one-on-one with Parkhill. Parkhill charged out of the net and was able to get a glove on the ball, but was unable to maintain control and it became loose inside the box.  The Golden Eagles could not capitalize on the opportunity before a Minnesota defender knocked the ball out-of-bounds.

Sophomore Danielle Martens got another good look at the goal less than two minutes later.  Junior Lauren Thut served the ball inside the Minnesota box to Martens who was positioned about 12 yards in front of the net.  Martens blasted a shot, however, it traveled just right of the goal, leaving the game scoreless heading into halftime.
 
Coming out of the 15-minute intermission, Marquette scored the only goal it would need to capture the win at the 48:10 mark, when junior midfielder Julia Victor poked the ball through a Minnesota defender to Ryan, who was positioned 15 yards from the goal. Ryan pulled the trigger, sending a rocket past Parkhill on the far side.

"It takes one goal to win games. It was a great finish by Becky. She has been waiting on getting that one. She is one of our forwards that we can rely on to get the ball in the net, and she did a great job for us today," said Roeders.

Sunday¹s win over Minnesota marks the first over a ranked foe this season and second over an opponent from the Big Ten Conference. Marquette defeated Michigan, 1-0, on Aug. 30.
 
The Golden Eagles will finish their three-game home stand Thursday, Sept. 17, when it opens BIG EAST Conference play against USF at Valley Fields at 7 p.m.
  
 
 
Match Notes:
* Marquette improves to 4-0 at Valley Fields, has not allowed a goal in its last six games dating back to the 2008 season.
* Sunday¹s 1-0 defeat of Minnesota is Marquette¹s first victory over the Gophers. Marquette is 2-0 this season against the Big Ten Conference.
* Julia Victor¹s assist marks her first point of the season, while Becky Ryan scored her second goal of the season.