For the second straight season, and the second time in coach Louis Bennett’s time at Marquette, the men’s soccer team will participate in the Big East Championship tournament.
The men secured their position in the conference tournament with their 3-2 double overtime victory over Seton Hall Saturday night.
“It means progress,” senior defenseman Matt Stummer said about returning to the Big East Championship tournament. “Obviously we wanted to do better than we did last year, and that’s a goal we have for ourselves every year. We got a nice little win (Saturday), and hopefully it gives us some momentum.”
Marquette (6-7-4, 3-4-2 Big East) will play on the road Wednesday against the third place team from the Blue Division: St. John’s (10-5-2, 4-3-2 Big East). Marquette didn’t play the Red Storm in the regular season.
With the victory Saturday night, Marquette ended its recent three game losing streak.
Stummer said a level of unfamiliarity was the key to the losing streak.
“We had some guys with injuries, guys in different positions, which caused different chemistries,” Stummer said. “Things were unfamiliar for us at times, and it caught up with us.”
Marquette benefited Saturday night and will benefit against the Red Storm from having some of those injured players back in the lineup — most notably freshman defenseman Eric Pothast. Pothast returned Saturday night from his battle with mononucleosis that forced him out since Oct. 13 against Notre Dame.
“It just shows how valuable Eric Pothast is,” Bennett said. “He was the man at the back when we went unbeaten for six games, and now we get him back and we win.”
Pothast took little time to remind the team what it missed. He headed in the team’s second goal of the night Saturday off a corner kick and provided stability to the backline as the team’s central defender.
“Pothast is one of the most styled players I have ever played with,” Stummer said. “Having him back is good for this team. Him being gone definitely hurt us in some of the games we struggled in.”
Junior midfielder Amilcar Herrera was another player back from injury. Herrera didn’t make his presence known on the scoreboard like Pothast, but freshman Bryan Ciesiulka said Herrera’s return made a difference in other ways.
“He’s just a great strength on the wing,” Ciesiulka said of Herrera. “He gets serves in, he beats his guys one-on-one and he’s a good target to go to.”
Junior defenseman Michael Alfano didn’t return to action Saturday night. Bennett said it is uncertain when or if he’ll return this season as he recovers from his concussion.
“Concussions are a really hot topic right now,” Bennett said. “The days of players saying that they got their bell rung and playing the next day are gone.”
Whether Alfano does or doesn’t play against St. John’s, Stummer said the offense should be in a position to step up.
“We got some goals (Saturday), which has to be a confidence booster for the guys up front to build off going into the next game,” Stummer said. “Hopefully, this will build some momentum for more goals to come.”
