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Women’s soccer draws UConn 2-2 in battle for third in the Big East

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Marquette women’s soccer touted its offense against its last two Big East opponents.

The Golden Eagles scored seven goals in the two wins — pushing the team to third in the conference in average goals per game (2).

But in its fight for third overall in the Big East against UConn (7-3-3, 3-1-2 Big East) Saturday, the Huskies gave Marquette (6-3-4, 2-0-3) enough trouble to force a 2-2 draw, continuing the Golden Eagles’ winless streak in Storrs to 15 years.

The Huskies came out biting.

Only 10 minutes in, Se-Hanna Mars broke past her defender in the box and passed it to Chioma Okafor who tipped it by the right side of sophomore keeper Hailey Wade to go up 1-0 on Marquette.

In the first 23 minutes, the Huskies owned possession. During that time, UConn put up seven shots (two on goal) and Marquette couldn’t tally an offensive stat.

The Huskies would always wait in their half of the field before making an offensive drive, playing with a patience, much to the dismay of Marquette’s chaos-liking offense.

But chaos, as it does for the Golden Eagles no matter how small, reared its head.

“(Our team) got a little causal in possession in our back third,” UConn head coach Margaret Rodriguez said.

Marquette took advantage.

Sophomore forward Megan Murray tried to break into the box on UConn’s half of the field during Marquette’s second visit to the final third. She succeeded, but was fouled right after she got into the box.

Murray nailed the penalty shot past the right of UConn goalkeeper Ava Yama to tie the match at one a piece.

The Huskies’ possession dominance continued, but in the 31st minute, Wade made a critical save.

Marquette started to find the final third by kicking deep balls to the area.

And again, chaos stopped by to say hello.

In the 59th minute, junior forward Emily Fix gathered a pass and charged into the box straight at the net. As she got closer to goal, her defender tried to slide tackle her, but it disrupted Ava Yamas’ attempt to grab the ball. It rolls past all three players and in net to give Marquette a 2-1 lead.

Marquette started getting a lot more goal opportunities: three in about two minutes starting in 62nd minute. But Okafor got her second score of the night to even the match in the 74th minute.

Both teams made many offensive drives in the closing stages of the game, but neither could connect before the 90 minutes ended squared.

Marquette will travel to Villanova on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. CST. The broadcast will be held on ESPN+.

This recap was written by Benjamin Hanson. He can be reached at benjamin.hanson@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.