After last week’s draw against Purdue Fort Wayne, the Golden Eagles (3-2-1) looked to regroup as they took on No. 9 Northwestern (5-1) Monday evening in Evanston, Ill.
Marquette fell short in the last seven minutes of the game, as junior defender Nigel Prince headed in a corner from senior midfielder Collin McCamy.
84′ | GOAL! Nigel Prince heads the Collin McCamy corner off the bar and in to give Northwestern the lead!
‘Cats 1, Marquette 0 pic.twitter.com/IwZJjZvmTs
— Northwestern Men’s Soccer (@NUMensSoccer) September 10, 2024
After the goal, Brink threw his hands in the air because he felt like he was interfered with. The refs didn’t seem to see anything though, as the goal that put the Wildcats ahead would stand, ultimately leading to a 1-0 loss for Marquette.
Keeping the pace
Although it took 83 minutes for the first shot to be made, Marquette proved that it could keep up with the pace of a ranked team.
Both teams had a total of five shots in the half, but it was the Golden Eagles who outshot them 12-11 in the end. The 6-foot-7 goalie Marten Brink came up with big saves for Marquette time and time again.
One of the Golden Eagles’ best chances came in the 34th minute, when junior midfielder Mitar Mitrovic fired a shot to the bottom right of the net that was saved by junior goalkeeper Rafael Ponce de León. Then again in the the 47th minute, graduate forward Tim Smith put a ball just over the crossbar as the game remained tied at zero.
Despite all these chances, the Golden Eagles were shut out for the second consecutive game.
Aggression and consequences
Most of the first half was played in the midfield as teams looked to each other to see who would make the first mistake. Evidently, neither side could feed off of those mistakes for their own advantage. Marquette was also caught offsides four times by the end of the game.
Both the Wildcats and Golden Eagles received multiple yellow cards, yet it was Northwestern who took the intensity to another level and ended the match with 17 fouls compared to Marquette’s nine.
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will travel back to Valley Fields on Thursday, where they will face Edgewood. The match is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Raquel Ruiz. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @RaquelRuizMU.
