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Watching a scoreless soccer match always makes me grind my teeth and think of that old Sports Night quote about the sheer pointlessness of a 0-0 tie.
After a protracted battle getting logged into ESPN3, I was treated to the announcing crew repeatedly butchering the names of Marquette's players (guys, if the media guide pronunciation guide isn't helpful, GoMarquette.com has audio of the guys saying their own names: have a listen please). My relief that I hadn't missed any scoring as the second half got underway was soon replaced by frustration.
Conservative play by Marquette led to St. John's dominating possession of the ball. For large swathes of the second half, it felt as if the Golden Eagles were playing for the tie. Goalkeeper Charlie Lyon kept busy making 8 saves on the night for his eighth shutout of the season.
Team scoring leader C Nortey was swamped by the Red Storm defense then was booked in the 90th minute. The yellow card is his second in as many games. The NCAA doesn't follow FIFA accumulation rules thus Nortey won't be prevented from playing when Marquette returns to Valley Fields to take on #7 Georgetown on Saturday at 7:00pm.
As disappointing as a 0-0 result is against a team still searching for its first conference win of the season, the match was not at all pointless: the one point from the draw keeps Marquette in first in the Big East standings ahead of the match-up with second place Georgetown. The tie also earned the Eagles Golden a spot in the conference tournament with 3 games left in the season.