Both Marquette women’s soccer’s win streak and the weather on Aug. 24 experienced the same thing: they went cold.
On a chillier than usual August evening at Valley Fields, with sweatshirts and blankets littering the crowd, the Golden Eagles’ undefeated start through three games ended at the hands of the No. 21 Wisconsin Badgers, 2-1, who dominated the shot battle 21-4.
Wisconsin started that domination immediately, scoring not even three minutes into the game off junior midfielder Erin Connolly, who slotted it past sophomore goalkeeper Hailey Wade. Marquette head coach Chris Allen said that despite the match’s less than ideal start for his team by giving up the early goal, they didn’t let it plague the next phase of the gameplan.
“I think they didn’t play the scoreboard, and they stayed with it, true to our identity,” Allen said. “They were tough tackling and whatnot, I think they didn’t let that defeat them and get them in a bad spot. They stayed with it, played with their head and hearts.”
After recovering after the early deficit, Marquette was able to get one back in the 24th minute when sophomore forward Jocelyn Leigh slotted a penalty into the bottom right corner of the net before Wisconsin senior goalkeeper Drew Stover could make the save.
30′ | MU – 1 | UW – 1
First goal of the season for Jocelyn Leigh to tie it up
pic.twitter.com/p8MGQvrskv
— MARQUETTE Soccer (@MarquetteWSOC) August 24, 2025
It meant the Golden Eagles went into halftime tied 1-1 despite having taken eight less shots than the Badgers.
That scoreline didn’t last forever, though, and Wisconsin broke the ice on a 62nd minute corner, when junior defender Hailey Baumann headed the ball above Wade, finding the upper part of the net and ultimately putting the Badgers up for good.
Marquette’s chances all evening were few and far between, so even though they got close a few times, it wasn’t enough to earn any points.
“I think we’re one of the first teams to press Wisconsin, make them a little bit uncomfortable offensively, and so we just tried to stay with that. If we get that header [in the 56th minute], that thing goes in, 2-2, and we can feel pretty good about what we came back from,” Allen said.
“We’re right there, we’ve got to execute these details.”
Up Next
Marquette has a two-game swing in the Twin Cities, first at Minnesota (2-1) on Aug. 28 at noon, then at St. Thomas (1-1-1) three days later at 3 p.m. CST.
This article was written by Mikey Severson. He can be reached at michael.severson@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU.