The Golden Eagles wrap up non-conference play at home before venturing on the road to start Big East action.
I think we can all tell that Chris Allen’s first season in charge of Marquette women’s soccer is not an outrageous success straight out of the gate. It doesn’t take a quantum physicist to understand that a 2-5-2 record isn’t the best thing in the world. They’re getting more than doubled up in goals, 17-8 so far, and that’s not great because the shooting margin isn’t that bad, 14.6 against versus 9.3 for.
However, the mathematical reality of what’s going on came into focus this week as the NCAA launched the RPI rankings for the sport on Monday. Through matches played on Tuesday, September 17th, Marquette is #190 in the country in the RPI.
That’s bad!
Part of Marquette’s problems is that they’re 0-4-0 against top 75 opponents. Hooray for challenging yourself, but hey: That means they’re 2-1-2 against everyone else! That’s something. To be honest, I bet Marquette’s RPI would be a little bit better if they had found a way to beat Milwaukee on Sunday. The Panthers are #195 as I look at the team sheet right now, and while a win over a team ranked there isn’t going to be a gigantic boost, it’s definitely better than a draw.
Things are going to get tough for Marquette, starting almost immediately after the final horn on Thursday night. Thursday’s match is a great opportunity to get on the winning side of the ledger, but after that, it’s nothing but Big East matches the rest of the way. There are five teams in the top 50 of the RPI in the conference right now, including Sunday’s opponent.
There’s also a huge drop off from #50 Butler to #115 St. John’s. As league play goes along, the Golden Eagles will face five sub-100 opponents. Beating three of them would be an improvement on last year’s conference record, so there’s upsides for Marquette here. It will be helpful to put together a great 90 minutes of soccer on Thursday and head into Big East action with a full head of steam.
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Match #10: vs St. Thomas Tommies (4-3-1)
Date: Thursday, September 19, 2024
Time: 5pm Central
Location: Valley Fields, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Streaming: FloSports
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteWSOC
Bluesky Updates: @AnonymousEagle
Marquette is 2-0-1 all time against St. Thomas. The three matches have been in each of the last three seasons with the draw coming a year ago in Milwaukee.
Things have turned around lately for St. Thomas. They started off the year winless in their first three matches, including back-to-back 4-1 losses at Northern Illinois and at home against Minnesota…. yes, the same Minnesota team that got a 2-1 win over Marquette. Since then, the Tommies have won four of five contests, including three shutouts, two of which were their last two matches. Was one of those a 6-0 final score against an NAIA team that they outshot 28-3? Mind your business!
In any case, that has them riding a bit of a hot streak heading into this match, which is their non-conference finale. UST was picked to finish eighth in the nine team Summit League this season, which is of particular note to Marquette. The Golden Eagles went to a 1-1 draw that they were lucky to get against Kansas City in the home opener this season, and the Roos were picked ahead of the Tommies in the SL preseason poll. In theory, that’s good news for the Golden Eagles relative to picking up a win here, but again: Needed a last second corner kick and header to tie KC.
Lexi Huber is top of the scoring chart for St. Thomas so far this season. Thanks to putting in two against Viterbo in that 6-0 win, the senior from Minnesota has five goals on the year, and she’s the only player with more than five points on the roster. Molly Knoblauch tops the assists column with three helpers this year, including one in each of the last two matches.
Olivia Rowe has played all but 10 minutes in net this season for UST. She’s not having the best time of it, letting in 1.52 goals per 90 minutes and stopping just 70% of shots on frame. Given the fact that UST is ever so slightly outshooting opponents on the year (if you ignore that NAIA match), that’s not so hot. When you realize that Rowe hasn’t let in a goal in more than 195 minutes and so those numbers are much improved…… well, that’s a lot to consider relative to MU’s chances of putting one in the net.
Big East Match #1: at Butler Bulldogs (5-2-1, 0-0-0 Big East)
Date: Sunday, September 22, 2024
Time: Noon Central
Location: Sellick Bowl, Indianapolis, Indiana
Streaming: FloSports
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteWSOC
Marquette is 4-9-1 all time against Butler. Things have tilted heavily towards the Bulldogs since 2016. Butler has won seven of the last eight meetings, including last year in Milwaukee by way of a 2-0 shutout. MU won 4-1 the last time the two faced off in Indianapolis.
Butler has had a wild start to the season. They needed an equalizer to draw with Ohio at home to start the season. They compounded a 1-0 loss to then-#9 Notre Dame (a team that beat Marquette 5-0) by losing 2-0 at Cincinnati four days later in a match that featured 17 shots combined between the two teams. But they’re outscoring teams 13-4 in their five wins on the year, and that’s 8-1 in their last three victories because they let in three goals in a road win against Drake back on August 25th.
All told, that has Butler sitting at #50 in the RPI as I type this up on Wednesday morning, since the NCAA debuted this year’s RPI rankings earlier this week. Yeah, sure, that means they’re fifth best in a Big East that’s stacked at the top, but it also means that they’re in reasonable contention for an NCAA at-large bid as league play starts. Sneak out an upset here or there as the slate goes along, and they’re looking pretty good….. but also they were picked to finish fourth in the league, so this is just about what was expected from the Bulldogs, too.
Talia Sommer has been On One so far this year for Butler. Five goals and three assists give her 13 points and that means Sommer is topping the charts in all three columns for the Bulldogs. Those numbers currently have her at #3 in the Big East in points, #2 in goals, and tied for 4th in assists. Marking her will be important, but slowing Butler’s offense down will be the key component. They have seven women averaging at least a shot per game and they’re outshooting opponents by nearly nine attempts per game. That sounds like a recipe for disaster for the Golden Eagles.
Anna Pierce is your netminder here, playing all 720 minutes so far this season. That Butler shot advantage thing is helping her out, as she’s only needed to stop 73% of shots on goal to average one goal allowed per 90 minutes. If Marquette can generate pressure, they might be able to find a seam to beat Pierce, but it’s going to require pushing back against that Butler attack.