BLOG: Breaking down the rest of the Milwaukee region
Staff Reporter Josh Berenter looks at the teams in the Milwaukee region:
Marquette (15-4-2 overall, 12-1 Big East)
Host of the region, and No. 3 seed overall in the tournament, the Golden Eagles are the No. 12 team in the country going into the College Cup.
Marquette earned an at-large bid into the College Cup after losing in its conference tournament semifinals to the University of South Florida. The loss snapped Marquette’s school record 12-game winning streak.
The Golden Eagles other losses came against New Mexico (12-2-5), San Diego (11-7-2) and BYU (16-3-2). All four of the teams that Marquette lost to are in the tournament field of 64.
Marquette has scored 42 goals this season, averaging 1.98 per game, and has a goals against average of 0.78 compared to CMU’s 0.57 average. The Golden Eagles have a balanced attack, boasting three players with at least five goals. Freshman forward Maegan Kelly leads the team with seven, while junior forward Rachael Sloan and senior forward Ashley Bares have six and five goals, respectively.
Senior defender Lauren Thut leads the team in assists with 12, which is eight more than any CMU player. The MU goalkeeper, junior Natalie Kulla, has played every minute this season, recording nine shutouts and 57 saves.
CMU lost to its only other Big East opponent this season, West Virginia, 2-1 in Morgantown, W.V., on Sept. 4. Marquette defeated the Mountaineers on Sept. 23 by the same score.
Wisconsin (10-4-4 overall, 7-1-2 Big Ten)
UW earned an at-large big to the College Cup. Last season, the team advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16, where it lost to Boston College 1-0. The Badgers are riding a four-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament, having lost just once in their last 16 games.
They boast a defensive force, only allowing 0.44 goals per game. Meanwhile, on offense, UW averages just one goal per game with junior forward Laurie Nosbusch’s nine goals accounting for half the team’s offense.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (12-6-2 overall, 8-2 Horizon League)
UW-Milwaukee earned an automatic bid to the College Cup by winning the Horizon League tournament, defeating Butler 5-0. The Panthers have won their conference regular season championship every year since 2000, and are going to the College Cup for the third consecutive season.
Junior forward Sarah Hagen leads the team with 18 goals and 42 points. The Panthers average 1.9 goals per game, allowing just one goal per match. Goalkeepers Leslie Deebach and Jamie Forbes have platooned in net for UW-Milwaukee, with Deebach playing a majority of the minutes. She has a 0.96 GAA with 56 saves and one shutout.
