The Marquette men’s soccer team seems to have a new positive attitude that has been less than evident since coach Louis Bennett took over in 2006. But with three solid victories in four games this spring, the Golden Eagles are to firing on all cylinders.

“It’s given us a lot of confidence,” freshman midfielder Ryan Robb said. “I think especially now that we have a nucleus of players that are going to come in and do their job, and I think as a team there’s an air on the pitch and in the dressing room that we can turn over any team that we play.”

That nucleus was the key to Marquette’s success toward the end of its fall season, which saw the Golden Eagles reach the Big East Tournament for the first time. Bennett’s players have fully pledged their allegiance to his system of play, and Robb said spring play has greatly improved his game.

“This spring has been really good for me,” Robb said. “I feel like my form has been really good, and I feel like I am improving as a player all around. We still have a lot of good players that need to come in and play from injury, and the more players we have the better.”

One of the players Robb was referring to is junior midfielder Matt Stummer, who has been solid for the Golden Eagles, starting 12 games last season. Stummer has been injured for most of this exhibition season but hopes to return by the end of the spring.

“I feel pretty good actually. There’s no pain, but it’s just a matter of getting it healed fully,” Stummer said of his injured quadricep muscle. “Even all spring when I played with it, it really wasn’t as much of a sharp pain as much as it was a nagging injury that we realized to be more serious.”

Stummer admits that not being out on the field to train with his team during the spring is disappointing, especially as someone who is seen as a leader on the team. But he continues to be a leader off the field, working on the team’s mental and coaching aspects.

On Saturday, the team will take on Northern Illinois, its last full match against a collegiate side before the four-team Wisconsin D1 Spring Cup tournament.

Bennett has seen the increased confidence in his players this spring and hopes these exhibitions reveal who he can trust when the games count in the fall.

“The lads know what they should be doing and how they fit in to what we’re doing,” Bennett said. “And then it’s performance based. I certainly hope that with two weeks left, that after the two weeks, after we’ve played Northern Illinois and the Wisconsin D1 Spring tournament, I definitely want to be able to feel who will be a potential starter.”