The Golden Eagles have to reset after taking their first loss of the season.
Well, the odds were against Marquette men’s soccer going undefeated, right?
The Golden Eagles took their first loss of the season on Monday night in Madison, and the timing was not super swell. See, when United Soccer Coaches put out their first in-season poll last week Tuesday, Marquette was earning votes. I know, right? I didn’t even think it was worth looking at when MU opened up 2-0-0, but there they are in Poll #1 of the year with three points. Sure, it’s a little misleading because there are a grand total of eight people voting in this thing, but votes are votes.
Why was the timing of Monday’s loss not super swell? Because there’s a delay in results counting for the poll and the poll coming out. The polling period closed on Sunday night, Marquette lost on Monday, and the new poll came out on Tuesday with zero points for MU. Not cool, voters! At least let Marquette lose before you dump them out. Now there’s not really a reason to throw votes at the Golden Eagles until they really show that they deserve them.
But there’s upsides to losses. Sometimes you hear coaches say that the only results possible are a win or a learning experience. Marquette got through their first three matches of the season allowing just one penalty kick goal, but then gave up a pair in the second half to Wisconsin for their first run of play goals of the season. As we mentioned in the recap, you could argue that both goals trended a little bit towards the unlucky side for Marquette, but all that means is that Marquette has to tighten things up and not put themselves in position for luck to bite them in the butt.
Thursday’s contest is a very important match in that regard, because there’s a big test waiting for Marquette next Monday. Northwestern is 4-0-0 on the year and ranked #9 in the country. MU will visit them on Monday night, and it would be best if the Golden Eagles went into Evanston on a win instead of two straight losses, or even a loss and a draw. Get things pulled together, figure out what needs to be figured out after the loss to Wisconsin, and go into next Monday on a high note. Simple, right?
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Match #5: vs Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (1-2-0)
Date: Thursday, September 5, 2024
Time: 2pm Central
Location: Valley Fields, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Streaming: Flo FC
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Twitter Updates: twitter.com/MarquetteSoccer
Bluesky Updates: @AnonymousEagle
Marquette is 1-0-0 all time against Purdue Fort Wayne, and that lone match was in Milwaukee a year ago. Three second half goals, all powered one way or another by Brooklyn Merl, handed the Golden Eagles the 3-0 win.
Hey, you know what? You can’t fault Purdue Fort Wayne for one of their losses this season. They started off the year with a 4-2 loss to #1 West Virginia. That’s how that goes sometimes. Okay, yes, falling behind 3-0 in the first half hour wasn’t great, but scoring twice in six minutes in the second half is still an accomplishment, and no shame in losing to the top ranked team on their field.
Their other two contests this year were a 3-0 road win over Eastern Illinois and a 1-0 road loss to Bradley. The shots were pretty close in the EIU match, 15-10 favoring the Mastodons, and Bradley fired in the winner in the 88th minute in that one even though PFW had them doubled up on shots. So maybe Purdue Fort Wayne has been a little bit unlucky twice and a little bit lucky once in terms of their results this season.
PFW was picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League this year, but they did get a first place vote in a very scattershot poll. Here’s how scattershot the poll was: Wright State got a first place vote, and they ended up ninth out of 10 teams. The 66 points earned by the Mastodons did land them 25 in front of Milwaukee, and we know that Milwaukee Cup match is looming down the road for Marquette. If the Golden Eagles can take care of business here, that bodes well for their encounter with the Panthers.
No one has scored twice for Purdue Fort Wayne yet. Five goals, five different goal scorers. With that said, three of their goals are from guys with just one shot on the season through three contests, so I feel like we can trust that they won’t be depended on to carry the offense here. Two of those guys — Abe Arellano and James Maxwell — are tied for the team lead in points with a goal and an assist already, but again: One shot each. Marco Valencia is on the list of guys with a goal, and he leads the team with 10 shot attempts.
Redshirt freshman Sep Habibi started the West Virginia game, let in three first half goals, and hasn’t played since the intermission in Morgantown. I presume that head coach Stephen Gorton is going to keep going with redshirt sophomore Nic Diana, but Habibi did win the job to start the year. Diana has allowed two goals and saved three shots in his 225 minutes of action. That’s a great goals-against average — 0.80 per 90 minutes! — but a not good save percentage of just 60%.