Aug. 27, 2010
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - A week after firing off 33 shots in the season opener, Auburn was held to just five shots and could not maintain a consistent presence in the attacking third as it fell at No. 23 Marquette, 3-0, on Friday evening at the MKE Cup. The loss evens Auburn's record at 1-1-0 while Marquette is now 2-0-1.
"We started out slow. We played a poor first half, gave them a goal following a bad foul and poor defending on our part," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. "Marquette played a harder first half. Second half I thought we played better than Marquette but we got unlucky on a controversial goal and we just didn't create enough opportunities. Bottom line we have to be better, we just weren't good enough tonight."
Marquette controlled both the pace of play and possession for the majority of the 90 minutes, registering 14 shots, eight of which were on goal, while Marquette's goalkeeper Natalie Kulla only needed to make four saves, with all but one of Auburn's chances coming from long range.
With Marquette dominating possession and keeping play in the Auburn defensive third, Rachael Sloan made Auburn pay for its lack of offense in the 14th minute when she fired a shot from deep and wide inside the 18 that Auburn goalkeeper Amy Howard could not get a mitt on before it found the side netting. Sloan possessed the ball deep inside the box after Julia Victor found her with a pass, snapping Auburn's scoreless streak of 103:31 to start the season.
The game remained a one score contest for the next 59 minutes before Maegan Kelly's strike from 20 yards out struck the underside of the crossbar and ricocheted down, giving Marquette a 2-0 lead in the 73rd minute.
Marquette expanded its lead to 3-0 just one minute later when Lisa Philbin finished off a Lauren Acree cross with a one-touch at the post.
Auburn closes out its two-game stay in Milwaukee on Sunday at 11am when it faces co-host UW-Milwaukee at Marquette's Valley Fields.