So That Happened
September 11, 2014
Milwaukee 5-4 Marquette
Milwaukee earned its first win over Marquette since 2008 in a dramatic nine-goal game that puts the series at 9-8-6, only narrowly in Marquette’s favor. Milwaukee senior Morgan LaPlant opened the scoring in the 10th minute, followed by goals from fellow seniors Krissy Dorre, Kelly Lewers, and Vienna Behnke. The 4-0 lead was finally challenged in the 68th minute as Marquette senior Mary Luba converted a penalty kick following a handball called in the box. In addition to Luba, three other Golden Eagles scored their first goals of the season to pull even: Caroline Fink, Liz Bartels, and Heather Handwork. The game was decided with 1:32 left in the match, when Milwaukee freshman Sydney Senn knocked home the Panthers’ fifth and final goal.
Stanford 1-0 Florida
As one of the few matches between ranked opponents this weekend, this match could be a preview for a rematch in the postseason. It took overtime to decide this one, with senior Lo’eau LaBonta striking home a penalty kick in the 93rd minute to give the Cardinal a deserved win. The shutout is the sixth straight for Stanford, and they outshot the visiting Gators 20 to 8. Florida didn’t go down without a fight, beating the home side in the corner kick battle 4 to 1, with all four coming in the second half of the match.
Virginia 2-1 Tennessee
Friday night’s match with number two Virginia was a good chance for the Volunteers to earn a small but much needed RPI boost heading into SEC play after dropping results against Wisconsin and BYU. Senior Hannah Wilkinson gave Tennessee the lead just 10 minutes in, and while the lead would last through halftime, Virginia created plenty of chances to score but lacked the finishing touch. Sophomore Kristen McNabb and senior Danielle Colaprico netted two of the Cavaliers 23 total shots to complete the comeback.
September 12, 2014
UCLA 2-1 Wake Forest
The Bruins jumped out to an early two-goal lead off a Rosie White penalty kick and a Sam Mewis goal in the first 15 minutes of play. The Bruin defense continued its stingy ways and held the visiting Demon Deacons to zero shots through the first 60 minutes of play. Wake Forest came out pressing more in the second half and saw its efforts rewarded with a Riley Ridgik goal in the 79th minute. The senior midfielder’s upper left shot in the corner beat Katelyn Rowland for the first time this season, bringing an end to the Bruins’ shutout streak to 772 minutes.
September 14, 2014
Michigan 2-1 Wisconsin
This was an up and down game for a Wolverines team that needed the full 90 minutes to grab an important win against a ranked, unbeaten Big 10 foe in Wisconsin. Michigan grabbed the lead less than 10 minutes into the game through sophomore Ani Sarkisian, but gave up a penalty later in first half which was finished by junior Kinley McNicoll. While the Badgers had 12 corner kicks in the match, the Michigan defense was able to keep them off the board and then it was all up to Sarkisian once again. The sophomore scored the game-winner with just one second left in regulation, dealing Wisconsin its first loss of the season.
Kentucky 2-3 Pepperdine
With a less than stellar nonconference resume thus far, Kentucky was looking to defend home field against a Pepperdine side that had already upset North Carolina and Maryland earlier this season. Sophomore Rylee Baisden scored the only goal of the first half to give the Waves the lead, only for junior Kelli Hubly to tie things up in the second half. The final 10 minutes saw both sides going all out for the win. Pepperdine senior Lynn Williams scored what seemed like the game-winner in the 82nd minute, but Wildcat star senior Arin Gilliland equalized with just 28 second left in the game. Williams would strike again for Pepperdine in overtime, to add another major nonconference win to their resume.
In and Out
Despite promising starts that saw both Boston University and Long Beach State enter Our Game Magazine’s Top 25 early in the season, both exited the rankings this week, making way for Pepperdine and California. BU’s most recent three games include 0-1 losses to San Francisco and Northeastern and a 1-1 draw with Akron, all at home. Long Beach State suffered a 0-2 loss at BYU that simply couldn’t compare to California taking Texas Tech to two overtimes and defeating Santa Clara for the second time this season. Pepperdine comes in with a 6-1-1 record, including a 1-0 defeat of North Carolina in August and most recently, a 2-0 win over Xavier and 3-2 win over Kentucky in overtime on the road.
Coming Up
North Carolina vs. Notre Dame (September 20)
In a statement match last season, the Fighting Irish went to Chapel Hill and walked away with a 1-0 scoreline after a Crystal Dunn game-tying goal was disallowed in the 29th minute (replays show the ball crossed the line). That match showcased Morgan Andrews’ rise to the big stage. For this year’s return match and first ACC conference match for both schools, Notre Dame is coming off of a respectable West Coast trip after beating Santa Clara and drawing at Stanford. Meanwhile, North Carolina has stumbled out of the blocks but is better than its 3-2-1 record and starting to find its form.
[divider]Contributors[/divider]
Rachael Caldwell will be graduating from the University of Arkansas in 2015 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and minors in Spanish and Business Management. Rachael played soccer from when she was three until her senior year of high school, where she was the captain of her state championship winning team. Rachael looks forward to writing more for Our Game Magazine and also writes about women’s soccer on her blog, rachaelfc.wordpress.com.
JJ Duke graduated from Rider University in New Jersey with a degree in Digital Media Studies. Although his playing days may have ended back in high school, he still prides himself on being a decent shot-stopper and an all-around fanatic of the beautiful game (fervent supporter of Manchester United and the founder of a Rider supporters group, the 206 Ultras). He was the Student General Manager at 107.7 FM The Bronc while at Rider and contributed to various local newspaper and Web sites in the Trenton, NJ, area of high school and collegiate sports including T and Fish4Scores.com.
Ruth Moore serves Our Game Magazine as a College Editor and the magazine’s Design Editor. She holds a degree in Professional Writing from Kutztown University, freelances in communication design and loves coffee.
Brandi Ortega designs, writes, and plays soccer in Southern California. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in English. Find her on twitter at @brandiortega.