Marquette Men's Soccer Upsets #22 Nebraska-Omaha

Jake Taylor scored in the 85th minute as Marquette men's soccer defeated Nebraska-Omaha on Friday night. It's the first loss of the season for the Mavericks, who are ranked #22 in the country by Top Drawer Soccer.  MU moves to 3-1-1 on the season.

It was kind of a quiet game for the most part.  Neither team had anything resembling a serious chance at a goal before halftime, although Louis Bennett II had a strong try after John Pothast flicked him a corner kick in the 45th minute. In the second half, MU's offense seemed to largely consist of balls sent ahead to David Selvaggi, C. Nortey, or Kelmend Islami that were just a shade too far and were easily collected by UNO keeper Joseph Ghitis.

It seemed that Marquette was carrying the advantage late, but it also seemed that overtime was inevitable. Then Selvaggi got tangled with a a UNO defender in the 85th minute, and the referee declared that Selvaggi was sufficiently impeded to call a foul. That gave MU a free kick from about 40 yards out, and LB2 sent it soaring towards the middle of the 18 yard box. Ghitis zoomed out to punch it away, but completely whiffed. I mean, like COMPLETELY.  Ghitis was nowhere near making a play on the ball, and that allowed it to scoot over to Taylor, who settled it, collected himself, and snapped it into the far wall of the net for the game winner.

It's the 4th goal of Taylor's career, and the first since he knocked in an equalizer against Providence last season.

Up Next: Marquette will take a week off before hosting Northern Illinois next week Friday night. The Huskies are 1-1-0 this season and are currently scoreless with Florida Atlantic late in the second half.