The Marquette men’s soccer team fell to No. 9 UC Irvine Anteaters 1-0 Sunday afternoon at Valley Fields in what coach Louis Bennett called a “great college game.”

“This was a great college game that we are upset about coming on the wrong side of,” Bennett said. “We had the momentum; we had the parts of the game that would have allowed us to win the game.”

Irvine had the opportunity to do something that no other Marquette opponent has done this year: take shots on a goalkeeper other than senior Matt Pyzdrowski.

Bennett said he wanted Pyzdrowski to have a break and that junior Keenan Flynn had been pressing enough in practice to warrant a start.

“Keenan’s a California lad, he’s played against Irvine before,” Bennett said. “We felt he would give us the tools we needed to win the game.”

Flynn, a Sacramento, Calif. native, transferred to Marquette last year from St. Mary’s in California where he spent the previous two years.

Flynn said that there was no added pressure in playing a California team or from this being his first start at Marquette.

“Today was just another game,” Flynn said.

Sophomore midfielder Calum Mallace said that Flynn kept them in the game.

“Keenan played really well for someone who hasn’t played in a while,” Mallace said. “He had some huge saves that kept us in the game.”

In the 56th minute of action Anteater Spencer Thompson ended the tied affair after he beat one Marquette defender from the left corner of the box and drilled it past Flynn on the near post for the game’s only goal.

“After they had their first goal they sat back which made it harder,” Mallace said.

“They’re a good team: quick, physical and fast,” Mallace, who had a team high six shots, said. “That’s what we’re going to be expecting in the Big East.”

Marquette had one last chance to tie the game in the 89th minute. A foul was called at the top of the box followed by a yellow card to sophomore Anteater Joel Bagby gave Marquette a direct kick.

Mallace took the kick, but it went straight into the wall of Anteaters.

After the game Bennett said Flynn was the right choice to start.

“Flynn had some very good saves,” Bennett said. “He just didn’t have much of a chance with the breakaway goal.”

The shutout loss is Marquette’s third straight, but Mallace thinks the team can turn it around.

“We need to find out what players want it the most and get them in the rotation,” Mallace said. “Once we find the right combination I think we’ll be good.”

After the game senior forward Michael Greene and Mallace were named to the 2009 Marquette Invitational All-Tournament Team.