Sept. 25, 2011

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MILWAUKEE - Taylor Madiganscored the Golden Eagles' golden goal 18 seconds into overtime to lift the No. 14/15 Marquette University women's soccer team over No. 20/24 Notre Dame, 3-2, on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Valley Fields.

With the win the Golden Eagles improve to 10-2-0 overall and 3-1-0 in BIG EAST play, while the defending NCAA Champion Irish drop to 4-5-2 overall and 1-2-1 in league action.

Notre Dame took the kickoff to begin overtime, and Marquette immediately pounced. After Cara Jacobson intercepted a ND pass, Kelly and Mady Vicker pushed the ball forward. Vicker continued to push up looking for Kelly in the open space, but her pass was deflected at the top of the 18-yard box. The ball fell right to a charging Madigan, who fired a shot just eighteen seconds into overtime that Fox tipped but couldn't save.

It was a back-and-forth game and it didn't take long for the Golden Eagles to open the scoring. After taking the opening kickoff, the Golden Eagles immediately pressured. Lisa Philbin fired a low cross across the goal mouth that eluded Notre Dame goalkeeper Maddie Fox and Stemmeler drilled it into the back of the net just thirty seconds into the match.

Marquette continued to look for another first-half goal but were unable to capitalize on its five other shots in the frame

Notre Dame tied the score 1-1 in the 63rd minute when Melissa Henderson received a pass from Rebecca Twining, cut inside around a defender, and slotted the equalizer past a diving Natalie Kulla.

Marquette, undeterred by the sudden setback, fired back quickly off of a corner kick from Kelly in the 66th minute. The ball ricocheted out to Katie Hishmeh, who found to Kelly cutting back in from the corner flag. Kelly let loose a low drive that bounced off of the hands of Fox and into the side netting for the go-ahead goal.

Even with the momentum back on Marquette's side, the Irish would not go away. Jessica Schuveiller hit a rising shot from 35 yards out that sailed into the top corner out of reach for Kulla to tie the score for the second time at 2-2.

The teams battled back and forth in the final moments, with neither team able to find the back of the net in regulation.

For the game, Marquette owned a 19-9 shots advantage and put nine of those on target. Kulla earned her 10th win of the season, 50th of her career while making three saves.

The Golden Eagles will be back in action Friday, Sept. 30 at Louisville. Game time is set for 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.

Game Notes
• Marquette moves to 2-6 all-time against Notre Dame. It is the Golden Eagles first win over the Irish since the 2005 season when they won 4-1 on Sept. 30, 2005.
• The Golden Eagles held Notre Dame to nine shots, well below its 23.0 shots per game average. The nine shots are season low for the Fighting Irish.
• Marquette played its fourth overtime match of the season and stands 4-0 when extra time is needed.
• Marquette is 21-10-5 all-time against BIG EAST National Division foes.
• Maegan Kelly scored her team-leading 11th goal of the season. Marquette is 15-0-0 all-time when Maegan Kelly scores a goal.
• The Golden Eagles pushed their home unbeaten streak to 16 games. MU is 8-0-0 at Valley Fields this season.
• Ashley Stemmeler's goal 30 seconds into the game is the quickest Marquette has scored a goal this season.
• Marquette has reached 10 wins for the 16th consecutive season.
• Marquette moves to 3-1 over ranked opponents.