Marquette Men’s Soccer Falls To #21 Butler

The first two minutes of the second half spelled doom for the Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday night as Butler’s Lewis Suddick assisted on two goals just 41 seconds apart as the #21 ranked Butler Bulldogs pulled off the 2-1 win at Valley Fields.

Marquette was possibly just fractions of inches away from winning this match. The Golden Eagles outshot Butler 21-10, including an 11-7 margin in the first half before anyone scored. Joe Moulden’s goal in the 47th minute was just a scant inch or two away from being punched away by MU keeper Noah Heim, and Brandon Guhl’s shot from the right side skirted just barely past a charging and sliding Heim.

In addition to those near saves, there was Jason Davis’ two tries on net in the 53rd minute. Trust me, you need to see it to believe how unlucky Davis was and/or how lucky BU keeper Eric Dick was to have the ball not end up in the net.

Like I said, perhaps fractions of an inch.

Connor Alba scored his third goal in the last four games in the 73rd minute to pull Marquette within one, but the Golden Eagles couldn’t get a shot on frame the rest of the way.

For right now, Marquette finds themselves in a tie for the sixth and final Big East tournament spot at 10 points. The good news is that Marquette went to a draw with Providence, the other team with 10 points. The bad news is that the Big East’s standings show MU in seventh place. With just one match to play, Marquette can’t fall in the standings, but they could reach as high as fifth place with some help.

Up Next: Marquette wraps up the regular season on Wednesday afternoon against DePaul. The Blue Demons are in last place and can’t qualify for the Big East tournament, but I think it’s safe to say that playing spoiler for the Golden Eagles will provide them with some motivation.