The ball was like an airplane, whizzing through the air, a clear destination in sight.

When it hit the goal and the whoosh of the net echoed around the stadium, it was vindication. Senior midfielder Edrey Caceres sprinted towards his bench, his teammates stood still — in awe of what they witnessed — and music started blaring out of the Valley Fields’ speakers.

At 11:53 p.m., Caceres’ 25-yard game-winning goal in the 79th minute started the histrionics and stamped the 3-2 Marquette men’s soccer victory. It was a match won and lost a dozen times, a match that spanned two days and a match that didn’t look like it would start three hours before kick-off.

But Mother Nature was on the Golden Eagles’ side, clearing the lightning and allowing the season-opener to happen — albeit three hours late. So Caceres won the game with a free-kick he “knew was going in” from the moment he kicked it.

But five minutes earlier, it was entirely different.

“It was the best of times, and the worst of times,” Marquette head coach Louis Bennett said.

The worst of times

Marquette had just given up its second goal in 20 minutes, squandering a 1-0 lead earned from a 19th minute penalty scored by Caceres, his first goal of the night.

The Bulldogs had spent the second half keeping possession, dictating the flow of the game and forcing the Golden Eagles to play defense.

An unsavable half-volley from senior midfielder J.P. Pascarella had tied the game at one, and a curling shot to the right corner of the goal from first-year midfielder Jackson Kirsch in the 74th minute gave Drake the 2-1 lead.

Marquette well and truly got punched in the face — and didn’t look like it would respond.

“It’s bare-knuckle boxing,” Bennett said. “Sometimes there’s a bit of blood.”

The best of times

The Golden Eagles were down and looking flat. They very easily could’ve sat back and played to keep it a close loss instead of a win.

But if Drake punched Marquette, Marquette knocked out Drake.

On a counterattack in the 79th minute, graduate student forward Brooklyn Merl carried the ball towards the Bulldogs’ net, only looking up to see how much space he had left before shooting. He opened his hips, kicked with his left foot and it was a tie game, 2-2.

A minute later Caceres netted his second.

The Golden Eagles took the game to the Bulldogs, creating chances after a 33-minute dry spell spent mainly in their own half.

The comeback was completed after a rollercoaster of a second half and Marquette was victorious.

It started and ended late, very late, and most people had gone home. But the ones that stuck around into the chilly Friday morning got to see the game of games, and it was only the season opener.