It was a struggle for both the Golden Eagles and Badgers to create many chances in the I-94 rivalry match Wednesday night. All it took was one cross by senior defender Adam Hermsen to give Marquette the victory.
Hermsen crossed the ball into the box while galloping down the right side of the field in the 77th minute. Wisconsin keeper Adrian Remeniuk deflected the ball just slightly, but not enough to keep it away from redshirt senior Kelmend Islami on the far post. He buried it for his fifth goal of the season.
“I could see they were kind of high so I was trying to put it behind them and get some good bend on it,” Hermsen said. “Luckily it went right to Kelmend.”
The win is Marquette’s first at Wisconsin since 1999 and ends a four game winless streak for the blue and gold, while the Badgers fell to 2-8-1 on the season.
“There was some good play, there was some good fortune and there was a lot of resilience,” Marquette head coach Louis Bennett said.
Wisconsin could have taken the lead in the first half, when sophomore Tom Barlow beat Marquette keeper Wicho Barraza and had a wide open net. His shot bounced right off the post and was cleared by the Golden Eagles.
Bennett shook up the lineup for the match, giving freshman Ben Tweedie his first game action as an additional midfielder. Redshirt senior C. Nortey was set back a bit farther than normal on the pitch, allowing him to be more of a facilitator until the team drove into the attacking zone. The coaches kept redshirt senior forward David Selvaggi out of the lineup with a calf injury to make sure he is 100-percent healed for the team’s game on Saturday.
“Tweedie wanted to be on the field so badly, he’d do anything,” Bennett said. “He made four or five statement tackles.”
Both teams had trouble keeping possession near the box. Marquette held Wisconsin to only two shots on goal, while the Golden Eagles had only six on goal.
Marquette has struggled defending after scoring goals and at the end of games as of late, but were able to eliminate serious scoring chances in this match.
“In a rivalry game, chances are hard to come by, so you need to make the most of your opportunities,” Hermsen said.
“(It’s good) knowing that we can hold on and didn’t give away any clear cut chances,” Bennett said. “Fatigue is a factor. They made a lot more substitutions than us. We don’t have many extra players to put in. We’ve got to utilize what we have and make sure that they’re mind over matter. Mentally and emotionally, they can bypass any physical fatigue.”
The Golden Eagles will return home Saturday to face the Seton Hall Pirates, who are still searching for their first victory of the season. The Pirates have lost seven games in a row, and their only tie came in August against Fordham.
Wisconsin was the final non-conference match of the season for Marquette. From here on out, every match will be vital for the team’s postseason chances in the BIG EAST.
“BIG EAST points are really hard to come by,” Bennett said. “Heck, we’ve got seven games. Why couldn’t we win it?”
