#20 Marquette Women's Soccer 2014 Preview

Marquette Golden Eagles

Overall Rank: #20
#1 Big East
#20 Marquette Women's Soccer 2014 Preview
Marquette Team Page

 

The Golden Eagles are going through an exciting time in their program history. The team is coming off of winning both the Big East regular season and tournament titles for the second year in a row. Last year's record ensured the team that its streak of consecutive winning seasons would reach 18 and a program-best sixth straight NCAA Tournament berth. However, that may not be the most impressive stat. Marquette has not lost a home regular season match since August 28th of 2010.

2013 Record: 18-4-0, 9-0-0
2013 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Markus Roeders

Returning Leaders:
Goals: Mary Luba, Senior, M, 8
Assists: Mary Luba, Senior, M, 5
Shots: Mary Luba, Senior, M, 55
Saves: Amanda Engel, Junior, GK, 45

Other Key Returnees: F Ashley Handwork, M/F Mady Vicker, M/F Liz Bartels, M/F Alex Heffron, M/F Jacie Jermier, M Ann Marie Lynch, D Morgan Proffitt, D Haley Fritzlen

Key Losses: M/F Maegan Kelly, M/F Taylor Madigan, M/F Cara Jacobson, M/D Vanessa Legault-Cordisco, D Emily Jacobson, M Ashley Stemmeler, D Katie Hishmeh, M/F Kate Reigle

Strengths:
The Golden Eagles bring back just over half their scoring, led by senior Mary Luba, who finished second on the squad with eight goals. She is joined by Mady Vicker, who scored six goals and Liz Bartles and Ashley Handwork, each of whom had four goals apiece. Vicker's six goals came on 18 shots on goal and five were game-winning tallies. Another strength for Marquette is the return of junior goalie Amanda Engel. The Colorado native played all but 185:34 of the season and saved 45 shots.

Weaknesses:
While Marquette does bring back some nice offensive weapons, the ones they lost are quite large. Maegan Kelly led the team with ten goals, while Taylor Madigan added six. Replacing that firepower is key.

Final Projection:
Marquette is going to be good again this season. Very good. The squad is a nice combination of upperclassmen and underclassmen, both of which are full of players with extensive playing experience. Marquette brings in a nice recruiting class, which includes eight four stars from Topdrawersoccer's rankings. Eight of the team's 19 matches are against NCAA Tournament teams, including big non-conference matches against Nebraska, Colorado College, Texas A&M and Milwaukee.

Projected Postseason: NCAA Tournament

By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 2.36 (14th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Goals-Against Average: 0.722 (29, 3)
Shutout Percentage: 0.500 (30, 1)
Save Percentage:  0.754 (222, 8)

Madness 2014 Women’s Soccer Recruit Rankings:
#91 Carrie Madden

 

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