The Marquette men’s soccer team was trounced 6-2 by Georgetown Saturday afternoon in a game where injuries wreaked havoc.

Three of the five starters that were inactive for the game due to injury were defenders, and things went from bad to worse as the game progressed.

“Unfortunately, we had some key injuries in the first half, and we couldn’t come out and get it back,” junior midfielder Calum Mallace said.

During the first half, Marquette had two defenders leave the game with injuries. Junior Michael Alfano had to leave the game with a concussion, and junior Paul Monson required stitches in his upper lip, though he would return in the second half.

Injuries on the Golden Eagles’ back line eventually forced back-up goalkeeper Keenan Flynn to come in as a defender.

“I never have had to put a goalkeeper on the field during an actual game, and Keenan Flynn had to come in and play central defender,” Bennett said. “I don’t think he’s ever had to play on the field, in high school or in college so he did what he could.”

Georgetown’s defensive scheme didn’t make life any easier for the Golden Eagles.

“Georgetown likes to play a high press, and our personnel were inexperienced,” Bennett said. “We had five starters not on the roster. It greatly affects our team, and then when you play a healthy team that’s top of the league, it’s difficult with a high press to play the ball out.”

The most controversial moment in the game came at the end of the first half when Georgetown scored on a botched offside call, leading to the ejection of a furious Bennett.

“Obviously, I’m a little disappointed that I got tossed, but sometimes you have to take bullets for the lads, and I thought at that stage of the game it was my job to take a few bullets,” Bennett said.

The ejection occurred when Marquette attempted to run an offside trap on a Georgetown free kick, wherein the Marquette defensive line would charge forward before the kick, attempting to catch the opposing forwards offside.

The play seemed to have been executed well, but the offsides’ whistle never came. This left Marquette goaltender David Check in a two-on-one situation and allowed Georgetown an easy goal.

“We thought it was a very, very, very poor decision that allowed them the goal in the last few minutes of the first half,” Bennett said. “We thought it was offsides, their team ran to the ball, and even though the guy who got the ball may not have been offsides, we thought that others were. So I felt at that stage I needed to take a few bullets, and that’s what happened.”

The six goals were the most goals allowed by a Marquette squad since a 5-1 loss at Seton Hall in 2007. The loss drops Marquette below .500 for the first time since the season opener.

“They were hot today,” Marquette’s lone goal scorer, junior midfielder, Amilcar Herara said. “We came out cold and just couldn’t keep up.”