WSOC Travels To Creighton Saturday Afternoon

The Marquette University women's soccer team (4-3-2, 0-0-1 BIG EAST) continues BIG EAST Conference play at Creighton (3-5-1, 0-1-0 BIG EAST) on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 4 p.m. CT.

Saturday's outing is the lone contest in a run of five matches that has the squad playing away from Valley Fields. After Saturday, the Golden Eagles will return home to host St. John's (Oct. 1) and DePaul (Oct. 4) in BIG EAST action.

Downs, McAleenan Lead Rally

Marquette opened BIG EAST play with a 2-2 draw against Butler at Valley Fields on Sept. 20, rallying from a 2-0 halftime deficit.

Senior Cate Downs netted her first goal in over three years to start the scoring and just over two minutes later junior Ella McAleenan evened the score with her first of the season and third of her career.

For her efforts, Downs was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the first time in her career.

Offense Shows Signs Of Life

Through matches of Sept. 20, Marquette ranks fouth in the league in shots (119), second in goals (16), third in points (46) and third in goals per game (1.78).

In 2024, Marquette averaged just 1.10 goals per match and collected a total of 91 shots on goal (already 62 through nine matches in 2025), which is 52.1 percent of the team's overall attempts (119).

Defensively, Marquette has allowed just 34 opposing shots on frame, only 34.5 percent of the total attempts (96).

Shea, Decker Anchor Back Line

While head coach Chris Allen has started multiple versions of the team's back line, the two constants have been freshmen Clare Shea and Meg Decker.

The duo leads the team in minutes played among field players and both have started each of the team's nine outings.

Shea already owns a goal and an assist in 2025 and Decker picked up her first-career point with an assist against Loyola.

Balanced Scoring On Display

Marquette has netted a total of 16 goals through the first nine matches, with 11 different players finding the back of the net for the Golden Eagles. Five players (Keiper, Ruhland, Dorfman, Shea and Alberts) have collected their respective first-career goals in 2025.

The Golden Eagles are one of less than 10 programs in the country to feature at least 10 players with one goal an no single player with more than five scores.

Marquette scored a total of just 22 goals in 20 matches in 2024.

Allen Not Afraid To Use Bench

While seven different players have started each of the team's nine matches (19 total have started at least one match), head coach Chris Allen hasn't been afraid to use his bench, early and often.

A total of 26 players have now seen action in 2025 and a pair of players (Erin O'Keefe and Kiley McMinn) have been sidelined with injuries all year and entered the season as expected contributors.

Creighton Series Dates To 1993

Marquette's all-time series with Creighton dates back to 1993, the program's first season of varsity competition.

The series is tied at 7-7-3 all-time and the two programs have split the last four matchups. The Golden Eagles claimed a 3-1 victory on Sept. 28, 2023 in the team's last trip to Omaha, courtesy of a pair of goals by former player Hailey Block.