While there are four goalkeepers on the Marquette roster, competition for the starting job has become a two-horse race between freshman Steve Purdy and sophomore Matt Pyzdrowski.,”With a 2-8-1 record after 11 games of a disappointing 2007 season, head coach Louis Bennett is still searching for a lineup that will give the Marquette men's soccer team an opportunity to win games. No position is less solidified than goalkeeper.

While there are four goalkeepers on the Marquette roster, competition for the starting job has become a two-horse race between freshman Steve Purdy and sophomore Matt Pyzdrowski.

"We're just competing, that's always the situation. We're just competing to be the best," Purdy said. "Sometimes it's frustrating (to not have a set starter), but we both know that we are the two that are like the chosen ones."

Purdy has started six games, with Pyzdrowski, who sat out the first two games of the regular season after suffering a concussion and fractured cheekbone in an exhibition match, starting five games.

Pyzdrowski opened his season with a 2-1 win over Xavier on Sept. 7 but said that while he was cleared to play medically, he thought he might have been pushed into action too soon after injury.

"Basically, I think I came back a little too early from the concussion. We were seeing some side effects that were making me struggle in the games because basically my head wasn't 100 percent," Pyzdrowski said. "I came back and did well in the first couple of games, but I was just mentally fatigued after that.

"I went to the doctors, and basically they said it was definitely most likely side effects from (the concussion.")

The coaching staff "was so focused and I was so focused on coming back from the injury that I don't want to say we turned our head away from anything," Pyzdrowski said, "but we kind of pushed for me to get back."

Bennett said he was confident Pyzdrowski was completely healthy and ready to start in goal. He said the sophomore had one of his best practices ever right after coming back.

"He was cleared (medically.) Emotionally he might not have been ready, but the medical staff did an absolutely excellent job," Bennett said. "In hindsight he might be looking at that, but he was actually playing very well in practice. He just wasn't playing very well in games."

After coming back from the injury, Pyzdrowski played four games wearing a facemask. Marquette went 1-2-1 (including two 1-0 losses) over that stretch. Despite the fact that Pyzdrowski allowed just four total goals during those four games, he was pulled in favor of Purdy for a Sept. 23 match against Rutgers.

Purdy then started games against Rutgers, Louisville, Cincinnati and Drake, and Marquette was 1-3 in those matches. Pyzdrowski was then named the starter for Marquette against Seton Hall on Saturday, and the Golden Eagles lost 5-1.

It may be that instability at goalkeeper that is holding the Golden Eagles down this season. Defender Tim Jallow said that he feels comfortable with both players in goal, but Bennett said the constant rotation of goalies has had a negative effect on the defense.

"If we had a No. 1, a guy who was playing so well he was doing what we wanted, it would be easier on the defensive lineup, it would be easier on the whole squad," he said. "We're not looking to flip-flop, we're really not."

Purdy said defenses do need time to develop consistency with a goaltender and that just about everyone on the Marquette squad has confidence in either him or Pyzdrowski.

"Some have confidence in me, and some of (the players) have confidence in (Pyzdrowski)," he said. "It seems like not all of them are secure on one of us."

The coaches, it would seem, are not secure on the fate of the two goalkeepers either. Bennett said the starter for Saturday's game against Providence won't be determined until later this week.

"Until we get to Providence, or until we get closer because we have two practices left, they'll both be battling it out," he said. "What we're looking for in the goalkeeper position is some dominance and some organization and leadership. That's sometimes easier to say than do."

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