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Last week didn't go Marquette's way. A 1-0 loss to Butler where the Golden Eagles easily outshot the Bulldogs, but had their program record shutout streak snapped, and a 1-1 draw with Villanova that almost ended the same as the trip to Indianapolis. It took an 89th minute goal from Louis Bennett II to pull MU level, and the change in posture from the Wildcats tells us a lot about how Marquette has to attack the remainder of the season.
Both Butler and Villanova were able to get a lead on Marquette and from there, they either retreated to defend or started fouling like crazy. MU was seconds away from losing two consecutive Big East games for the first time since October of 2010 as a result of this. Teams know that they're lucky to get one goal past goalkeeper Charlie Lyon and the Marquette defense, and if they get that goal early, they're more than happy to try and park the bus for the rest of the match. MU can't afford to get put into early holes and put themselves at such a disadvantage going forward, especially given the quality of the remaining conference opponents.
This match is a make up date for a September 27th game, which was cancelled because Providence couldn't travel to Milwaukee due to a fire in an air traffic control center in Chicago. If you purchased a ticket ahead of time to that game, you can use that ticket for tonight's game.
Big East Match #5: vs #23 Providence (8-2-1, 3-0-1 Big East)
When: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 at 7pm
Where: Valley Fields
Audio/Visual: The match will be carried on the Big East Digital Network, so get your Fox Sports Go app ready. Live stats will be here.
Special Promotions: The Birds Of Prey will be leaving Sobelman's for a march to the Valley at 6:20pm. The first 100 students to arrive get a FREE Birds Of Prey Tshirt.
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteSoccer
The Friars jumped into the top 25 in the NSCAA poll this week after going 2-0 against Georgetown and St. John's, including a dominant 2-0 shutout of the Hoyas. That one in particular was a fun match, as they had to play it in the morning in Washington, D.C., to avoid conflict with weather later in the day.
Markus Naglestad had an 80th minute goal for the game winner against the Red Storm to move himself into a tie with Mac Steeves for the team lead at seven this season. Steeves had hit lucky number seven to open the scoring in that match. Steeves and Naglestad match each other in assists as well for the top mark on the Friars roster in points with 16, good enough for a tie for third best in the Big East along with Xavier's Will Walker. Because Providence had a match with UConn cancelled, they've only played 11 contests this season, meaning Steeves and Nagelstad actually lead the Big East in points per game at 1.45.
Senior Keasel Broome mans the net for the Friars for the second straight season. While the Friars have two of the most productive scorers in the Big East this season, Broome lags towards the back in the goalkeeping statistics. He ranks 7th in goals-against average at 1.06 and 9th in save percentage at .745.