Men's Soccer: The Axel Sjoberg Show Is Awesome

The #17/#13 Marquette men's soccer team picked up wins over the weekend over both of the Michigan schools from the Big Ten, and in both cases, the star of the match was MU defender Axel Sjoberg.

In Friday night's match against Michigan, Sjoberg rallied MU back from allowing a goal in the 45th minute to let the Wolverines take a 1-0 advantage into halftime. First Sjoberg headed home a Paul Dillon corner kick in the 51st minute to even the match and Sjoberg's first goal of the season. Then in the 63rd minute, the Wolverine defense blocked shots from both Sebastian Jansson and John Pothast, but Michigan couldn't control the ball. That's when Sjoberg snagged it and popped the ball into the net for the game winner.

Sunday afternoon brought a trip to East Lansing to face Michigan State and when the match ended, it was obvious that Sjoberg remembered to bring his sense of timing. Goals from Marquette's Andy Huftalin and MSU's Adam Montague had the match tied when Blake Skamiera earned a red card for stepping on Dillon right in front of the MU bench in the 74th minute. But even playing a man down, the Spartans were able to keep the game tied through the remainder of regulation and through the first overtime. In the 108th minute, Marquette drew their only corner kick of overtime, and Sjoberg put his 6'7" frame to use to head home the Bryan Ciesiulka corner for the golden goal.

Marquette is now 7-0-0 for the first time in program history and is one of just two - TWO! - teams in Division 1 at 7-0-0 on the season. The other one is Marquette's Blue Division rival, Notre Dame, who also picked up wins over Michigan and Michigan State as the other half of the Big East's entry in the Big East/Big Ten Challenge over the weekend.

Up Next: Marquette opens up Big East play against DePaul on Saturday night at Valley Fields.

Hit the jump for video of both of Sjoberg's goals against Michigan!