Sept. 22, 2008

MILWAUKEE - Following back-to-back shutouts, two members of the Marquette women's soccer team were recognized for their play by the BIG EAST Conference announced Monday afternoon. Redshirt freshman Natalie Kulla was tabbed the conference's goalkeeper of the week and senior defender Shannon Cusick was named to the honor roll. It is Kulla's first BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week award and the third time Cusick has been named to the honor roll this season.

"Congrats to Shannon and Natalie," said head coach Markus Roeders. "Our defense has played extremely well and definitely has helped us win games. Natalie has done well in goal as a freshman and benefits from the strong defensive play of Shannon, Alli McBride, Katie Kelly and Katie Miller. We don't give our opponents many opportunities, which has been a trademark of our program for a long time."

Kulla earns BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honors following a pair of shutouts in which she totaled seven saves and helped the Golden Eagles go 1-0-1. The freshman recorded 208:24 minutes of scoreless play in net last week, including four saves in an overtime win at USF on Sept. 19. Kulla also blanked Pepperdine for 110:00 and totaled five saves, including a pivotal stop in the first overtime from Pepperdine's leading scorer. Along with the 83:29 scoreless minutes she registered at Auburn (Sept. 14), Kulla pushed her scoreless streak in net to 292:53.

Cusick played all 208-plus minutes last weekend and was integral to limiting USF and Pepperdine to 16 total shots. Against USF, the Golden Eagles' stifling defense allowed just six shots, two of which were on goal. Against Pepperdine, Cusick controlled MU's defense when Pepperdine was awarded five corner kicks in a 20-minute block of time in the second half, and allowed just three shots total in overtime.

The Golden Eagles will resume BIG EAST Conference play Thursday, Sept. 25, at Providence.