The Marquette men’s soccer team has gotten off to another tough start in the Big East conference.

A loss to DePaul and a draw against South Florida were not ideal results for the Golden Eagles last weekend, but the attitude of the team remains positive.

“This past weekend we got more production from the front, which is what we were looking for going into the weekend,” redshirt sophomore Scott Miller said. “We just need to clean things up in our final third. We’ll take care of business and be ready for Friday.”

With an unimpressive overall record of 1-4-1, Marquette heads into a very important weekend beginning with Cincinnati on Friday.

The Bearcats (5-2, 1-1 Big East) have impressed many this year, netting 15 goals in just seven games compared to Marquette’s three goals in six games.

“We know that Cincinnati has been getting good results lately,” sophomore Chris Madsen said. “Coach always does his homework so we’ll be very prepared for Friday.”

In Sunday’s match against DePaul, Madsen put the Golden Eagles ahead 1-0 with a goal in the 83rd minute. The Blue Demons came right back, though, equalizing the game a minute later and eventually defeating Marquette with a goal in double overtime.

“It was somewhat of a disappointing game against DePaul,” coach Louis Bennett said. “That one really stung and the lads were disappointed because we had an opportunity to get three points there.”

Miller, who has started all six games as the team’s sweeper, thinks tough defeats such as the loss at DePaul can motivate a team as it moves forward.

“There are a lot of lessons and a lot of very good things that we can take from the DePaul game,” Miller said. “Hopefully we’ll apply them if and when we have a lead this weekend.”

Friday’s match against Cincinnati will be the first of four straight conference home games for the Golden Eagles — something Bennett and his players don’t take lightly.

“We’re working to give the crowd something to come back to in order to have a huge home field advantage,” Bennett said.

Madsen said the team holds an advantage playing at home and expects good results from the weekend.

“Everybody loves playing at home,” he said. “We feel a little bit more comfortable here, so we should do well.”

Last season, Marquette won just one conference game — defeating the Bearcats 1-0 on their home field.

“We just look at it as another Big East game,” Madsen said. “They don’t have the same team as last year and neither do we, so it’s going to be a very good battle.”

Despite walking out of last weekend winless, Bennett felt the draw against South Florida was the team’s best possible result — one it can use as motivation for this weekend.

Now the Golden Eagles are in catch-up mode and Bennett is solely concerned about his squad playing to its full potential and getting a victory, whether it’s pretty or not.

“We’re knocking on the door all the time now,” he said. “It doesn’t always have to be a beauty competition, it’s about getting results.”