April 4, 2007

LAWRENCE, Kan. - The Marquette women's soccer team tied Iowa, 1-1, and fell to Kansas, 3-0, in spring play Saturday on the campus of the University of Kansas. Due to rainy weather, the games were moved indoors to Memorial Stadium and played on turf field.

"Overall the trip was good and provided us a very valuable learning experience as we look toward the fall," said head coach Markus Roeders. "The progress is there. It was reassuring to see the team play at a high level and compete, yet implement everything we have taught over the last two months. Although we never like to lose, I think what we learned and the experience we gained is far more important this time of year."

In the first game against Iowa, the Golden Eagles saw good possession, but had to battle back after allowing the Hawkeyes to score first. With seven minutes remaining in the game, the Golden Eagles evened the score on a goal by junior Alllison Mallams from Zwolski who served it in from the end line.

"We were excited to see how well the players possessed the ball. This is the best ball control we have seen in the spring."

With only 20 minutes between back-to-back games, the turn around was quick, but the Golden Eagles got plenty of 11 v 11 experience. While coming out too defensive minded in the first half against Kansas, Marquette fell behind on a great Jayhawk shot that went to the upper corner on the far post.

The Golden Eagles tried to counter, but were left scoreless after unlucky attempts. In the first half, junior Britni Benage hit the post on a shot from 20-yards out. As focus was renewed in the second half, the Golden Eagles used their aggressiveness to turn things around and dominate play. However, Marquette, who forced to play a man down for the final 18 minutes of the game, made mistakes that proved to be costly as Kansas capitalized and pulled off the 3-0 win."

"The 3-0 score is more indicative of how Kansas finished its chances than how the game was actually played," added Roeders.

Many players who didn't see as much action last fall played significant minutes Saturday. Allison DeGroot saw her first minutes in goal, while freshman Mack Ayer, sophomores Kelli DeBarge, Shannon Cusick and Aubrey Trembly, and juniors Benage and Julia Egasti turned in good performances.

The Golden Eagles will continue spring play Saturday, April 14, when they host Illinois at Valley Fields at 3 p.m.