The Golden Eagles were down 2-0 at halftime and then had to play the final 18 minutes with 10 men.
Well, let’s count the ways that Marquette men’s soccer lost on Sunday night.
The first is the obvious scoreboard kind of way where Illinois-Chicago scored twice in the first half and then protected that lead to give Marquette a 2-0 loss. Here’s the first one, from Rui Reis that was ultimately the game winner as he just outsmarted a Marquette defender.
21′
A beautiful goal from Rui Reis!#ChicagosCollegeTeam pic.twitter.com/O7dihg5KAb
— UIC Men’s Soccer (@UIC_MSOC) September 16, 2024
That was in the 21st minute, and then the Flames tacked on with this strike in the 44th minute as keeper Marten Brink just did not have enough urgency to play the ball.
44′
Darrell Turcios with the second goal to end the half!#ChicagosCollegeTeam pic.twitter.com/GK3OE6fmtF
— UIC Men’s Soccer (@UIC_MSOC) September 16, 2024
Those were the only goals of the game, and now you’re caught up on that part.
The second way Marquette lost this game was completely in the way of style. Shots were 9-2 in favor of UIC in the first half, and 7-3 favoring the Flames through 70 minutes of action. That’s 16-5 in just over an hour, and you’re not going to win a lot of soccer matches, much less merely put a goal on the board to not get shutout, while you’re allowing that much play in your defensive end.
Why did I cut off the measure of how badly Marquette was getting outshot at the 70 minute mark? Well, that’s because Justin Milovanov was issued a yellow card for unsporting conduct….. and then a second for dissent on the first yellow card. Double yellow = red, and that was it for Milovanov on this night as well as next time out as well, and that’s the third way that this match was a loss for the Golden Eagles. Marquette was already underwater in this game, then they became shorthanded, and worse, they went shorthanded by losing the only man to have scored a goal for MU in the last three, now four matches, and he’ll miss the next one as well.
Not good!
Up Next: That was it for tune up matches before Big East play starts, and the match that Justin Milovanov will miss will be the league opener against Villanova on Friday. That’s MU’s only match between now and September 28th, so it’s kind of a big deal. First kick against the Wildcats will be at 3pm Central time because they do not have lights at their facility, and FloSports will have the streaming broadcast. Villanova is winless on the season at 0-3-3 with draws against Lafayette and Fairleigh Dickinson in their last two matches.