Marquette men’s soccer coach Louis Bennett said this weekend’s games are a “great part of the evolution of our team for this season.”

Marquette’s first test comes Friday night when it faces Florida Gulf Coast in its first match of the Marquette Invitational.

FGCU won two of its first three games this season including a 2-1 victory over South Florida on Sept. 1. That loss ended South Florida’s 30-home game winning streak. On Aug. 28 South Florida beat then No. 1 Akron 2-1 in an exhibition. FGCU is ranked No. 5 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America South Region rankings.

“Florida Gulf Coast is an up and coming program,” coach Louis Bennett said. “I’ve known Bob Butehorn (FGCU head coach) for a long time. I know he’ll put a good product out on the field and they’ll work and work. They’re no slouches.”

Bennett said that FGCU is a team that looks to break out quickly every chance it gets, much like South Florida.

“They have some very explosive and flamboyant players,” Bennett said. “It’s definitely a different style than what we play in the Midwest.”

On Sunday Marquette finishes its weekend by hosting Santa Clara. The Broncos are 1-1 on the season. The loss came at the hand of future Marquette opponent Wisconsin-Madison, a team that Wisconsin-Parkside – who Marquette beat 4-1 on Aug. 24 – tied 2-2.

Bennett said the Broncos have a large Latin influence on the way they play the game: they emphasize short, quick passes and moving off the ball with less long, direct passes.

For the Golden Eagles to be successful this weekend, Bennett said his team must close down open spaces and block up the midfield.

Marquette will be forced into playing teams with styles that it normally wouldn’t face but Bennett said it’s all the same.

“It’ll be like it always is: it’ll be human chess,” Bennett said. “Except we’ll be playing a slightly different style.”

The different style could lead to Marquette’s first win of the season. Senior midfielder Hector Navarro said the team consistently puts pressure on itself to win regardless of how early or late in the season it is: there always needs to be a sense of urgency.

As for what needs to change in order to get that first victory, junior midfielder Calum Mallace said the team has worked on finishing its scoring opportunities and conditioning since its 0-0 draw against Western Illinois.

“Western Illinois was a good game for us offensively and defensively,” Mallace said. “We did well but we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.”

As for who will defend the net in search of the first win, this weekend, that question is still up in the air. The official decision will be made on Thursday. But Bennett said sophomore David Check has the edge.

“It would be hard for Keenan to break in over that, simply because we kept the ball out of the back of the net (against Western Illinois),” Bennett said. “But obviously with Check’s performance and statistics, he’s in the driver’s seat right now.”