A storm was brewing at Valley Fields Thursday afternoon. Not only the weather that caused the matchup between Marquette men’s soccer (3-1-1) and Purdue Fort Wayne (1-2-1) to be moved back four hours, but on the pitch as well.
It was a physical 90-minute battle that ended in a scoreless draw between the Golden Eagles and the Mastodons.
“Disappointed in the result,” head coach David Korn said. “Thought our group has done really well the first four games in terms of the intensity we’ve played with and I think that’s what bred a lot of our really good soccer moments. And I don’t think we started the game with that same intensity and spirit.”
Brick wall Brink
Most of the first-half action took place in Marquette’s goal as Purdue Fort Wayne put four shots on net.
However, first-year netminder Marten Brink was there to save all four.
The most vital of these came in the 16th minute after Purdue Fort Wayne was awarded a penalty off a foul from junior defender Gabriel Rokov. Mastodon junior forward Marco Valencia stepped up to take the penalty, but Brink anticipated his shot to the left and made the save.
“We take a moment where it could’ve been a penalty and a goal for them and we got something positive out of it,” Korn said.
It was Brink’s first penalty save of the season after he let one in against Marist. He went on to finish the match with five saves, his most since the season-opening 2-0 win against Drexel.
Close encounters
In the 56th minute Brink and Marquette’s back line looked stunned after Purdue Fort Wayne sent a ball past them and into the net.
However, after a lengthy VAR review the goal was disallowed due to offsides, keeping both Brink’s clean sheet and Marquette’s hopes alive.
“Honestly I was a bit shocked because losing this game would be very hard after the loss against Wisconsin,” Brink said. “So at first I was a bit shocked but I think in the next moment I tried to push the team.”
Even with this rejuvenation, the Golden Eagles were not able to get anything going on the offensive front. They had double the amount of shots that the Mastodons did, but with nothing to show for it.
Marquette’s physicality tallied big numbers including 20 fouls and four yellow card bookings awarded to midfielders Justin Milovanov, Mitar Mitrovic, Matthew Iriarte and Clayton Hamler.
“We can be disappointed sometimes the way the calls go but a lot of that starts with how we’re playing in the game,” Korn said. “I think that’s a good lesson for our guys today.”
Up Next
The Golden Eagles are headed back on the road to face Northwestern Monday. The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CST.
“We always say our next game is the most important of the season,” Korn said. “I don’t think today was our best performance but there’s opportunities for us to improve from that.”
This story was written by Sofie Hanrahan. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @SofieHanrahanMU.
