Marquette men’s soccer attempted to stay undefeated this season Monday night at Valley Fields.
And the Golden Eagles (6-0-0) did just that, taking down the No. 21 Wisconsin Badgers (3-2-1) 3-1. Marquette used three goals scored by three different players, to take down a Badger team that had only allowed two goals the entire season up to this point.
“Great win. Thought it was a really, really good win,” Marquette head coach Louis Bennett said.
Early fireworks
Marquette got the scoring started in the second minute when first-year forward Ryan Amond scored his first career goal.
“For him (Amond) to get the start, and get a goal in the first two minutes, is something special and it’s something that he will remember forever,” senior midfielder Edrey Caceres, who assisted Amond, said.
The Badgers answered right back in the 14th minute, as graduate student midfielder Tim Bielic fired a shot from just outside the box that deflected off of a Marquette defender and into the top left corner of the net.
But the Golden Eagles would take the lead right back after graduate student forward Brooklyn Merl fired one in the back of the net to give Marquette a 2-1 lead.
“When they tied it up we then went back to work,” Bennett said. “We were good for the second goal.”
Statistical leaders
For the Golden Eagles, junior forward Abdoul Karim Pare led the charge with two shots on target.
Sophomore goalkeeper Ludvig Målberg finished the match with two saves.
For the Badgers, graduate student defender Birgir Baldvinsson and graduate student midfielder Tim Bielic both tallied a team-high two shots. Crockford finished the match with six saves on nine shots on goal.
Playing short handed
In the 53rd minute, senior defender Jai Hsieh-Bailey was booked a red card after a slide tackle.
This booking would leave Marquette shorthanded for the last 37 minutes of the game.
“We hadn’t practiced playing a man down, so that was our practice I guess, but it gives us confidence,” coach Bennett said. “It gives us a real belief in ourselves that if we stick to the program and we stick to the way that we want to play, that it will work out.”
No place like home
It is no secret that Marquette men’s soccer is off to its best start in a decade, but what does it mean to the Golden Eagles to win all six contests at home?
“It feels amazing,” Caceres said. “We are very happy. We’ve been putting in the work, week in and week out, and it feels amazing to be 6-0.”
Next up
Marquette hits the road for the first time this season as they take on Creighton (1-2-2) Friday, Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m CST.
“There aren’t any bad teams in the Big East,” Bennett said. “We do this in preparation for the Big East, it means so much to us.”
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.
