Entering the night coming off its explosive 6-1 win over Utah Tech Sunday, the Marquette men’s soccer team looked to continue its winning ways Friday night against the University of South Florida.
And while it wasn’t their prettiest offensive performance of the season, the Golden Eagles were able to etch out a 1-0 shutout win over the Bulls in a hostile home environment at Valley Fields
“Going into this game we knew it was going to be hard but we got the clean sheet and we got the win,” senior midfielder Zyan Andrade said.
It is the first shutout win of the season for the Golden Eagles.
“It was amazing, shoutout to the whole backline, the keeper and honestly everyone,” Andrade said. “Everyone defended together (and) that’s why after scoring, we could keep them outside the box and just defend until we got the dub.”
Head coach Louis Bennett said he was “really happy” about the performance from his backline.
“Our collective defending and the way we kept the ball out of the back of the net was superb,” Bennett said. “And you add Alan Salmeron to that, they did a really good job of not giving them any clear cut chances. We’ve been searching for that kind of game.”
Andrade scored the lone goal of the match in the 65th minute when Marquette was awarded a penalty kick after South Florida was called for a hand ball inside the box.
“He’s a very experienced player ,” Bennett said. “He does some really good work and is the one that stepped up. Lukas Sunesson, as soon as we made the sub, is our normal penalty taker but Zyane says ‘i’ll take it’ and he scored which was great.”
The Brazil native has now scored three combined goals in each of the last two games for Marquette.
Andrade said his recent success on the pitch has come from the motivation and fire from within of it being his last season.
“Everything game is really important and every game I want to give my all,” Andrade said. “Being with these guys is just amazing so I guess that’s what’s working out for me.”
Both teams found themselves tied 0-0 heading into halftime as neither were able to break through the other’s defense in the first half. South Florida outshot Marquette 5-4 in the opening 45 minutes.
Despite not being able to finish any of its opportunities in half, Andrade said it did not pull his team away from its game plan or focus going into the second half.
“We knew the goal was coming, we just had to be patient, keep creating chances, keep defending well and it worked out,” Andrade said. “We’re still far from where we want to be but eventually we are going to be there. And when Big East play comes, we are going to be ready.”
As was the case in the first half, the second was as much of a defensive and physical 45 minute stretch.
Marquette found itself a man up for the final 12 minutes of the half, after South Florida senior forward Oscar Resano was given a red card and ejected from the game following an argument with the officials.
In the second half alone, there were a combined 23 fouls called on both sides. Bennett said he relied on his veterans in the moment to keep his team focused when the game turned chippy.
“I think I could do better, I can be better in organizing them a little better, I could be better at demanding some things and they could be better in realizing that we have to manage a game,” Bennett said. “We played a man up and it didn’t look like that sometimes. But that’s for something behind closed doors, for us to look at the film, and calmly realize that we could do so much better.
“Publicly this is a great win. They’re (South Florida) a tough team, they’re going to be at the top of their division (and) they’ve got some very good players. Their expectation is that they’re going to run the table. Good learning game for us and we are on the right side of the w.”
After missing out the first two games of the season, due to a wrist injury sustained during the summer, senior goalkeeper Chandler Hallwood returned to the net. Hallwood made six saves on the night.
“He gives a little bit of confidence and he knows what’s expected. All the things you want from an experienced player,” Bennett said.
South Florida goalkeeper Jackson Weyman finished with two saves on 10 shots faced. For Weyman, it was his first game back at Valley Fields since he transferred out of Marquette following the 2020-21 season.
“I really like Jackson and thought Jackson played really well as well,” Bennett said. “He’s done a great job getting into the starting lineup and being the number one (goalkeeper).”
Next up for Marquette (2-1) will be Big Ten foe Michigan at Valley Fields Sept. 9 at 7:05 pm.
“Michigan is a big school, big team and we’re going to be ready for sure,” Andrade said.
This story was written by Catherine Fink. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CatherineFinkMU.
