Marquette men’s soccer is no longer unbeaten at Valley Fields this year.
The Golden Eagles (7-2-1, 1-2 Big East) lost 1-0 to the St. John’s Red Storm (5-3-2) Friday night, their first home loss of the year.
“It’s a beautifully cruel game sometimes,” Marquette head coach Louis Bennett said. “I was disappointed in all the strikers. We created opportunities but didn’t finish them. We were very poor in front of the goal.”
Marquette outshot St. John’s 19-1, but only put three shots on target.
Statistical leaders
Senior midfielder Edrey Caceres led the Golden Eagles with five shots.
For the Red Storm, junior forward Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau had the only shot on the night for the squad, a goal in the 39th minute that proved to be the difference. Sophomore goalkeeper Alec McLachlan also landed a clean sheet for St. Johns.
Depth gets tested
Coming into Friday night’s match, the Golden Eagles were down two key players, with graduate student captain Christian Marquez and sophomore midfielder Mitar Mitrovic both being injured.
“Obviously they are a big heart and soul of our team and they make a huge difference,” Bennett said. “But without them, I don’t know that we’ve got the same certain something.”
Then, in the 49th minute of the contest, they lost another key rotational piece as first-year forward Ryan Amond exited the match with an injury and would not return.
Cannot capitalize
In the 47th minute, St. John’s junior defender Antonio Biggs received a red card for a slide tackle on graduate student forward Brooklyn Merl. Then, nine minutes later, the Red Storm would receive another red card, giving the Golden Eagles a two-man advantage for the last 34 minutes of the match.
“I thought we responded to the way they (St. John’s) play and what they do very well,” Bennett said. “It’s chaotic sometimes playing against them.”
However, Marquette was not able to capitalize on its advantage and the Red Storm held the Golden Eagles scoreless on the night.
Up next
Marquette continues its three game home stand as they take on Northern Illinois (2-6-0) Monday night at Valley Fields. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.
