No. 18 Marquette men’s soccer suffered its third straight loss of the season, falling to in-state rival Wisconsin 1-0 in double overtime Monday night at Valley Fields.
“Madison is a really gritty team but they couldn’t be more polar opposite of how we (Marquette) play,” Marquette head coach Louis Bennett said. “It stinks and it’s difficult because should-of, could-of, and nearly-did is not good enough to win a soccer game.”
In the 108th minute, sophomore forward Jack Finnegan put one in the back of the net connecting on the header off a throw in from teammate Zach Klancnik that was touched by senior defender Moritz Kappelsberger.
“This was one of those games where you do 98 percent of the work, but in that final 2 percent we couldn’t get it done and that’s really disappointing,” Bennett said. “Especially against a state-rival.”
The first half consisted of defensive showings from both teams defenses as there were just three combined shots in the half.
Marquette came out striking in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
In the 51st minute, redshirt junior midfielder Zyan Andrade shot one on net but it struck the left post. Then four minutes later, redshirt sophomore forward AJ Franklin took a shot on net but it sailed across the crossbar.
Neither team would score in the remainder of regulation forcing overtime.
In the 93rd minute, the Golden Eagles had an opportunity to end the match when Mirsberger took a shot from far but Badgers goalkeeper
“I definitely should have had the one in overtime but keeper made a good save and now I can’t really do anything about it” Mirsberger said.
Despite outshooting Wisconsin three to one in the first overtime, Marquette headed to its first double overtime of the season.
“We could have finished it (the game) in the 101st minute, we had a 3 v 2, but we didn’t take advantage of that. It was within our grasp to win the game,” Bennett said. “I thought we gave effort, there was pride, there was fight, there was so much good about this game. The craftsmanship in the final 3rd just needs to be better.”
Mirsberger finished with a team-high three shots while playing all 108 minutes.
“They were all good chances, looking back it’s probably going to haunt me,” Mirsberger said. “Being from Wisconsin, I always want to beat the Badgers, so it’s tough and will sting for a little bit, but we got to get over it.”
Both Franklin and Andrade recorded two shots of their own on the night.
Redshirt junior Hallwood finished with three saves on the night while giving up the one goal. Badgers goalkeeper Carter Abbott finished with one save.
Both teams combined for 34 fouls in the match.
“The game was very physical,” Bennett said. “I would get myself in enormous trouble if I were to comment anything on the officiating.”
After regulation ended, Bennett was booked for yellow card himself.
Next up for Marquette (3-3) will be their BIG EAST opener against the Villanova Wildcats Saturday at Valley Fields. Tap-off is set for 7 p.m. CST and can be streamed on FloSports.
“We’ve just got to sharpen up,” Bennett said. “We’ve got work to do, we will work from week to week and try to win every possible game, so that we will win the BIG EAST. When we play at our best, this is a NCAA tournament team, I really do believe that.”
This article was written by Ava Mares. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @avamaresMU.
