SO MANY GOALS: Marquette 6, Detroit Mercy 0

Okay, I have to be honest with you. I didn’t see an single frame of this Marquette men’s soccer match live. I was a little late in turning it on, and by that point, technical difficulties had taken over the FloFC stream. With that preventing me from watching, I went off to perform some transport services for the local high schooler that lives in my house.... and by the time I got home, well, Marquette kind of made it so I didn’t need to try to turn the match on.... and even then they weren’t done scoring goals.

Your final from Valley Fields: Marquette 6, Detroit Mercy 0. The Golden Eagles are now 3-0-0 on the year and haven’t allowed a goal in over 195 minutes.

And yet, for most of the first half on Friday night, it was still clearly in doubt. Yes, Karim Abdoul Pare hit the net in the third minute to put Marquette up 1-0 right away. Can I tell you about this goal? No, I can not, because the FloFC replay picks up the match at halftime. What I can tell you, though, is that Marquette outshot Detroit Mercy 12-7 in the first 45 minutes while holding onto that 1-0 lead, and both keepers made four saves to keep it to just one goal scored in either direction. Like I said, clearly in doubt after 45 minutes.

In the 54th minute, Brooklyn Merl stepped forward and said, hey, you know what, I think I want to be one of the best scorers in the Big East this season. Beto Soto hauled in a long pass, settled it, knocked into Merl’s path, and he zipped it low and into the net for a 2-0 lead.

Much like that 1-0 lead, that 2-0 margin stayed pretty stable for a while. Shots between the two sides were relatively even as the second half went along, and in fact, they were a little hard to come by for either team. Then, in the 80th minute, the floodgates opened.

That’s Lucas Nesthus capitalizing on a pass from Noah Madrigal, and keep that name in mind for a second. Marquette kept the ball in play on their offensive end of the field, pounding shots on the Detroit Mercy net and forcing Robby Spradlin III to make some saves to keep the game under control. Eventually, there was just too much from the Golden Eagles for him to handle, and in the 85th minute, Madrigal put one of his own in the net.

An excellent settle and strike off the pass from Ryan Amond for the 4-0 lead.

STILL NOT DONE. Check out this goal at exactly the 87 minute mark from Antonio Costabile.

5-0 Marquette, and STILL NOT DONE.

Madrigal ran underneath a long pass off the restart, and with Spradlin charging to clear it up and Detroit Mercy’s John Nino running right with Madrigal.... the referee saw enough contact from Nino when Madrigal hit the turf in the 18 yard box to call for a penalty kick. In it went as Spradlin went the wrong direction, boom, 6-0 in the 88th minute. It was almost 7-0 in the waning seconds as Madrigal boomed a shot from about 15 yards, but Spradlin made a leaping deflection away from the net to wrap things up.

12 shots for Marquette in the second half with five of them going in and another five getting stopped by Spradlin. Somehow, this could have actually been much more one-sided. MU finished the match with a 24-11 shots advantage as they were able to tilt the field against the Titans repeatedly.

By the way? Quietly? On the other end, Ludwig Malberg made five saves for his second straight shutout of the season. Can’t win it without that.

Madrigal ends up being top point man of the night with two goals and an assist. That’s all of his points on the season so far, and Merl’s goal early in the second half moved him to eight points on the year as the German forward has scored a goal in each of Marquette’s three matches this season. Merl’s goal streak is actually at four matches, as he scored in MU’s season finale last fall.

How about some highlights courtesy of GoMarquette.com, but not all of them, though, thanks to FloFC’s difficulties?

Up Next: Marquette will be back in action on Monday afternoon as they play a Labor Day matinee match against Harvard. First kick is scheduled for 2pm at Valley Fields. The Crimson got their season started on Friday afternoon as they hosted Rhode Island and went to a scoreless draw with the Rams.