DePaul Penalizes Marquette

Well, that was kind of depressing.

As the Battle of the Winless trudged onwards in a scoreless fashion in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon, I started to develop a bad feeling about the entire deal. 10th place DePaul and 11th place Marquette were playing much too even of a soccer match to make me feel optimism that the Golden Eagles would escape Wish Field with a victory and the very important three points in the Big East standings.

And then, in the 78th minute, Abdoul Karim Pare dragged his foot behind him while trying to muck up a DePaul attack on the very right perimeter of the 18 yard box. That dragged foot was enough to trip the attacker, and since it was on the inside of the box, just enough inside, the referee granted a penalty kick. Jake Fuderer did a nifty hesitation move, and slotted the PK home to the left side of the net, and DePaul led 1-0.

That would be the only goal of the afternoon, and so the Golden Eagles remain winless in the Big East in seven attempts, while the Blue Demons pick up their first league win of the year and move themselves within two points of the sixth and final Big East tournament berth.

Marquette finds themselves six points back of that cutoff with three matches left to play. It’s not what you want. Oh, and on that topic? Things you definitely do not want is midfielder Alan Salmeron taking a yellow card in the 86th minute of the match. That’s his fifth of the season, and by rule, he’ll be suspended for MU’s next match due to accumulation of cards.

Up Next: Two of Marquette’s final three matches of the season will be in Milwaukee, so I guess at least they have that going for them. The Golden Eagles’ last ditch effort to qualify for the Big East tournament takes the form of a Saturday night home date against Creighton this weekend. First kick is scheduled for 7pm Central. The Bluejays (5-3-5, 2-2-3 Big East) are coming off a 4-2 win over Butler on Wednesday, and that ended a three match winless streak for them.