 |
Women's Soccer Heads to Minnesota for the NCAA Tournament
Nov. 12, 2008
MILWAUKEE - 2008 NCAA Tournament Bracket in PDF Format
The Marquette women's soccer team will make their seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament this Friday at Minnesota. The Golden Eagles (11-7-3) will kickoff against the Golden Gophers (20-3-0) at 6 p.m. at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium in Minneapolis. Live stats will be available via Game Tracker. "Our team is thrilled to be back in the NCAA Tournament," said head coach Markus Roeders. "It is a goal of our program to advance to postseason play every year and having missed out last season was difficult. The returning players committed themselves since last fall and all the hard work has paid off. Our schedule, within and outside of the BIG EAST has prepared us well and now we can use that experience competing this weekend. We are proud of our group and they are excited. Our three seniors get another chance to shine and will lead the way. The freshmen and sophomores will experience it for the first time, but this is where they want to be. I know we will be very focused, determined and it will be great team effort." The Golden Eagles earned one of 34 at-large bids, with the other 30 spots awarded to teams who won their conference tournament. Marquette is coming off a regular season in which it went 11-6-3 and finished second in the American Division of the BIG EAST. Marquette advanced to the BIG EAST semifinals where it lost to top-ranked Notre Dame, 2-0. Marquette has won 11 games for the 13th consecutive season. The Golden Eagles are 5-5-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Gophers' will make its first appearance in the tournament since 1999 Friday against the Golden Eagles. Minnesota earned an at-large bid after advancing to the Big Ten Tournament championship game. Minnesota has won a program-record 20 games this season and captured a share of the Big Ten regular season title. Senior forward Lindsey Schwartz leads the team offensively with 20 points on seven goals and six assists. The Golden Gophers offense boasts five players with 10 or more points, while 15 total players have contributed offensively. In goal, senior Lindsey Dare has seen all 2101:25 in net and has registered 16 shutouts and a 0.43 goals against average. Dare's goals against average is the eighth best in Division I play. The Golden Gophers' defense is third nationally in shutout percentage behind UCLA and Portland, and seventh best in win-loss-tie percentage. In the latest national polls, the Golden Gophers are ranked No. 22 by the NSCAA, No. 24 by Soccer America, Soccer Buzz, and No. 20 by Soccer Times. "Minnesota will be a difficult team to play on its home field but we shouldn't expect anything less. They have enjoyed a terrific year in the Big Ten and their senior class has been the key to their success. Neither team has allowed many goals although they have scored more than us. We should expect two very good defensive team, as neither team has allowed many goals this season. The game might come down to which squad takes advantage of a set play or such," said Roeders. The winner of the Marquette-Minnesota game will play the victor of the South Dakota State-Colorado game on Sunday at 1 p.m. Colorado (14-4-4) fell to Missouri in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game but earned its sixth-straight appearance to the NCAAs as an at-large team. The Buffaloes, a No. 4 seed in the tournament, are led by senior Gianna DeSaverio with nine goals, while junior Nikki Marshall has contributed eight goals. Senior goalkeeper Kirstin Radlinski has recorded 69 saves on the season, and stands 19th in the nation with a .863 save percentage. South Dakota State (14-4-1) earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament after upsetting top-seeded Oakland, 1-0, in the Summit League Tournament Championship. The Jackrabbits are led by senior Erin Kasmarik with 10 goals and 24 points. Senior keeper Nicole Lograsso has played all but 35 minutes in net and owns a 0.73 goals against average. Marquette is 0-1-1 against Minnesota, with the last meeting coming in 1994 as the two teams played to a 0-0 draw in St. Paul. MU has never faced Colorado, and maintains a 1-0 series advantage over SDSU with the 1-0 win coming in Milwaukee in 2004.
|
|
