The Marquette men’s soccer team held on to an early 1-0 lead to beat the Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday at Valley Fields. The win is the first for Marquette who was previously 0-4 against Georgetown. With this win, the Golden Eagles are poised to make it to the Big East Tournament for the first time.
“It was crazy at times, but I was really happy that we got one today,” defender Matt Stummer said. “We all fought hard and we all fought really hard.”
The start of the game was fast an intense and saw two early attempts by Marquette in the fourth and eighth minutes. Anthony Colaizzi fired at the goal but found the fingertips of the goalkeeper, while Tom Lynn’s effort curled over the net.
Marquette found the goal it needed in the 29th minute from a corner kick. When the ball fell into the box, junior Michael Alfano settled the ball and passed it off to forward Calum Mallace who fired the ball into the top of the net who gave Marquette a first half lead for the first time this season.
“It was a great game,” Mallace said. “Both teams created chances. But we definitely created the better ones and we put one goal in and that’s what counts. Not one of my best goals but it was a goal nonetheless.
Four minutes from half time, Georgetown came close to scoring when David Madison headed the ball towards goal but was deflected after a diving effort by goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski.
In the 57th minute, Mallace appeared to have been fouled in the box but the referee awarded a no-call instead. Coach Louis Bennett could not hold back his thoughts on the call and began calling out the referee from the sidelines.
“When are you guys going to get it right?” Bennett yelled. “It is a foul. It is a foul!”
The tirade earned Bennett a yellow card, his first in the season.
However, Marquette did not allow the interruption to stop them and they continued to defend and attack the Georgetown goal. But when the whistle blew, the victory went to the Golden Eagles, who recorded their third win on the season, which ties Bennett’s high for the school.
“I’m not going to scoff at three points,” Bennett said. “We knew that Georgetown would play quick and fast and would try to break. But as long as they weren’t getting threw-balls we would be happy.”
