It has become an annual spring tradition for the Marquette men’s soccer team to host the Wisconsin Cup and for the Golden Eagles to battle city rival Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
What most people don’t know is this year’s contest — which will be held Sunday at 9:30 a.m. — is to be the fifth version of the Bob Summy Memorial Match, named in memory of an athletic booster and supporter of the Marquette soccer team for many years.
Summy died suddenly when he attempted to pick up a live wire that had fallen in his yard after a storm six years ago. Coach Louis Bennett, as well as newly named UW-Milwaukee coach Chris Whalley, have made the match a tradition that goes well beyond the pitch.
Wisconsin-Green Bay and Wisconsin-Madison will take part in the other opening round match, with the winners and losers of each match meeting in the second round.
Marquette beat UW-Milwaukee 1-0 in the 2009 fall season on a Calum Mallace goal in the 85th minute. It was one of the Golden Eagles’ four wins last year.
While Bennett is looking forward to playing the Panthers in the first round, he said it is tougher to know what to expect from the opposition in the spring season due to the varying lineups that are typically presented.
“The spring season isn’t something that’s easy to scout for because the team we see now may be completely different than what we see in the fall,” Bennett said.
While Bennett downplayed the opening game against the Panthers, a few of the players on the team are excited for the chance to play their rival.
“The games against UWM always get pretty heated,” freshman forward Andrew Krynski said. “We’re excited to hopefully get two big W’s and have some bragging rights in the state moving toward the fall season.”
While Marquette dropped a 1-0 decision last weekend to a Northern Illinois team that finished 10-8-1 last fall, the team has had to deal with anywhere between four and six injured players per game who have been unable to contribute this spring.
The beginning of the spring season is meant for conditioning purposes, while the tail end is reserved more for determining a team’s growth and maturity, Bennett said.
“This is really our last chance to sharpen our tools, as coach likes to say,” freshman midfielder Anthony Selvaggi said. “We’re looking to convert our chances in the final third and get a few goals up there.”
The tradition of Marquette and UW-Milwaukee taking part in the Summy match for the fifth straight spring proves that even though both teams would like to win, the match goes well beyond the pitch and keeps both teams grounded.
“It’s something that really means a lot to us because Bob was such a great guy and the team wouldn’t be where it is now without the support he gave us,” associate coach Stan Anderson said.
