The 2010 season was muddled with injuries. The 2011 season started off with injuries.
Now add another.
Already down two starters (senior midfielder Calum Mallace and defender Michael Alfano) the Marquette men’s soccer team (1-2) lost its starting central defender when freshman Axel Sjoberg went down with a right foot injury in the first half of Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Western Illinois to wrap up a second place finish in the 37th Panther Invitational.
Sjoberg will be out four to six weeks, expanding the injury report to eight players, which was as many as were out for the West Virginia game on Oct. 27, 2010.
“In the air it’s definitely a big presence (to lose), especially on punts and goal kicks and organization and familiarity for all of us,” sophomore defender Paul Dillon said of losing Sjoberg.
The four defenders struggled to become comfortable with one another in the first game, but after a 3-2 double overtime victory against Western Michigan on Friday and nearly a half of shutout soccer together, the feeling out process begins again with Sjoberg out.
“I know us four were a lot more comfortable playing with one another,” Dillon said. “We got settled down and played out the back. I feel like we played a lot better this weekend.”
After Sjoberg left, redshirt freshman Jon Mau slid from right back to central defender and senior midfielder Amilcar Hererra slid back from midfielder to the back right.
Coach Louis Bennett had only one healthy defender available to sub for Sjoberg, redshirt freshman Dennis Holowaty, but opted for Hererra.
“We were thinking about rotating Dennis in, but we knew we had to get forward,” Bennett said. “We knew (Western Illinois senior midfielder Alexis Dominguez) was quick, and we knew that (Hererra) would be a better matchup. We had already looked into that. We discuss those things, and we had gone through the case scenario. In hindsight, maybe for the last 15 to 20 minutes we could have used (Holowaty).”
Dillon thought Hererra filled in well, but Bennett hopes Hererra doesn’t need to be the long term solution at that position.
“I don’t know the last time (Hererra) played a full 90. He was on our injury list for quite a while with some minor things,” Bennett said. “I don’t know if he’s the long term solution at right back. I would hope not. But we’ll see.”
Alfano could be in the mix to fill-in somewhere on the defensive line. He’s spent time as a central defender and right back during his Marquette career.
Alfano is currently day-to-day with his recovery from a foot injury. If he can fully participate in practice by midweek, Bennett expects him to play Friday at Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Milwaukee Cup.
“Alfano is an experienced guy, which first and foremost is the biggest key,” sophomore defender Eric Pothast said. “He’s also very athletic and has great speed on the outside so he can get forward. He’s got a big vertical jump so he can win a lot of headers. And overall he’s just a competitor. So we get another guy who’s hungry to keep balls out of the net, and that’ll be key for us.”
If Alfano cannot play, Bennett said, Marquette will still be OK.
“If Alfano isn’t healthy, we won’t have game-hardened (players) or experience on our back four,” Bennett said. “But will we have players with enough talent to get the job done? Absolutely.”
