The Marquette men’s soccer team will kick the snow off its cleats and head out to Minnesota this weekend to take on USSF D2 Pro League side NSC Minnesota. The game will be Marquette’s second in its spring season and will look to continue its form after defeating Illinois-Chicago 1-0 on March 8.
NSC Minnesota is a member of the second division formerly known as the USL slotted under Major League Soccer. This is the first year for NSC, which replaced the now-defunct Minnesota Thunder.
Golden Eagles assistant coach Stan Anderson is a long-time friend of NSC coach Manny Lagos, and said that their friendship made it easy to schedule. He added that this will be just as much of a test for the NSC side as it will be for Marquette.
“This time it will be a competition for their players,” Anderson said. “(NSC) will have their full side together later in the year. With (NSC), the first half might be the projected starting 11, but the second half might be potential substitutions.”
Anderson also believes the exposure to a professional team will do wonders for Marquette’s growth and intensity.
“We want to play against the best that we can,” he said. “This is very common. College teams want to play better sides and we want to see where we are.”
Sophomore forward Calum Mallace believes he is in the best shape in his college career and eager to get a shot at a real professional side to prove his first-team selection.
“(I am) just preparing for it like any other match,” Mallace said. “Every game I’m ready to win, I want to win, and I’ll do everything in my power to win. I think that the whole team is on that same page right now. Whether it’s a professional team or another Big East team, we’re going out there to win.”
This matchup will be a sort of a homecoming for Mallace, who is a native of Minnesota and whose brother played for the old Thunder side. But he knows that even though they can prepare against themselves like any other match, NSC will have definite advantages against them.
“I think they’re all going to have experience,” he said. “They’ll be a good, physical, and professional team and they’re not going to want to lose to a college team because they’re a professional team so they’re going to take it pretty seriously.”
Freshman Ryan Robb, who played at the Crystal Palace youth academy in England, believes his experience abroad has prepared him to go up against a team like NSC.
“I’m lucky because I used to play with Crystal Palace so I feel I have an edge coming in,” Robb said. “I definitely feel strong going into the game. The spring is going well for me.”
Robb said he enjoys playing in the United States because of the more physical style of play than in Europe and believes it has improved his game to where it needs to be.
But Anderson is trying to keep the game’s purpose in perspective. He said while he wants a good result, that’s not the most important thing.
“I want to come out (of the game) with many things,” he said. “The result is not as important as how well we play against this team.”
