After dropping its home opener just four days ago, Marquette men’s soccer returned to the pitch Sunday afternoon with a new-found energy and grit defeating Utah Tech 6-1 at Valley Fields.
“We knew we had to come in here today and just win the game as a confidence booster,” senior midfielder Zyan Andrade said.
Sunday’s match consisted of seven total goals scored, continuous applied pressure and a goal scored within the first 110 seconds of competition.
In the second minute, Andrade headed home sophomore forward Abdoul Karim Pare’s cross to give the Golden Eagles their first lead of the season.
Utah Tech erased its early 1-0 deficit in the fourth minute when first-year forward Taylor Rogers put one past Marquette first-year goalkeeper Ludvig Malberg.
The score would not be tied for that long, as the Golden Eagles scored two more goals in the first 15 minutes in result of applying pressure on the Trailblazer’s backline.
In the ninth minute, Karim Pare, on the breakaway, fired a shot through the legs of Utah Tech junior goalkeeper Cuba Grant to give Marquette a 2-1 lead. It was Karim Pare’s first collegiate career goal.
Then three minutes later, senior forward Lukas Sunesson slotted home pass senior defender Alex Mirsberger’s pass to extend the Golden Eagles lead to 3-1.
Andrade scored his second goal of the match in the 26th minute from the top of the box. First-year midfielder Mitar Mitrovic was awarded with the assist.
Marquette was not finished there for the half.
In the 43rd minute, graduate student Brooklyn Merl scored his first goal of the season to send the Golden Eagles into halftime leading 5-1.
Coming out of halftime, Utah Tech made a change in net as sophomore goalkeeper Jacob Zimmerman replaces Grant.
In the second half, neither side had a clear cut scoring opportunity until the 84th minute, when Mitrovic sole the ball from an Utah Tech forward and sent it up the field to Sunesson in the middle of the box. With Zimmerman coming on in attack, Sunesson passed it to Merl as the German native scored his second goal of the afternoon.
Malberg earned his first collegiate win in net, finishing with two saves while allowing the lone goal.
The Golden Eagles dominated on the statistic sheet, including outshooting the Trailblazers 24-6. Marquette’s 26 shots is the most the Golden Eagles have attempted since Aug. 30, 2019 against Alabama Birmingham when they shot 25.
Marquette (1-1) will host the University of South Florida Friday night at 7 pm CST at Valley Fields.
This article was written by Ava Mares. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @avamaresMU.
