April 29, 2006

Kenosha, Wis. - The Marquette men's soccer team ended the spring season on high note with a 1-0 win over Northwestern and 1-1 tie with Wis.-Parkside in Kenosha, Wis., this afternoon. With the win and draw, the Golden Eagles cap their spring slate, 5-1-1.

"We were able to play everyone on the roster in these two games even if they played in unfamiliar positions," said head coach Louis Bennett. "It was a great evaluation to look and see where we are at."

"We are leaving (the spring season) fit, hungry, and with a firm belief and understanding in the style of play we are about," added assistant coach Stan Anderson. "The coaching staff has brought them a long way in a short time."

In the first game of the day, Marquette defeated Northwestern, 1-0. MU notched the game's only tally when Nathan Sabich hit a 25-yard blast to the top corner. The goal was unassisted as Sabich carried the ball out from the backfield on the left side, beat a defender and took one last touch before striking.

"This is something we worked on in practice. He had the poise and ability to do it right. He is going to be able to create many more opportunities like this," Bennett said.

After the defeat of Northwestern, Marquette mixed up the lineup against Wis.-Parkside. As a result of MU players playing in unfamiliar positions, Parkside was able to capitalize first and slip the ball past Golden Eagles keeper Mike Tabory.

"We were disorganized in the first half due to the players playing in unfamiliar positions and Parkside took advantage of our miscue in the first half. It was Tabory first start, the ball just slipped past his right hand."

The Golden Eagles were able to bounce back in the second half and created many opportunities that weren't able to end up in the back of the net. Jamie Zarse, Matt Blouin and Dan Addis had scoring chances but all were saved by Parkside's keeper.

"Zarse had a fantastic breakaway, and Blouin and Dan Addis had goals beckon them. They had wonderful opportunities."

The Golden Eagles finally got the equalizer, seconds before changing up the offense, from Zarse who stepped in front of defenders to knock it in. Nick Kay was credited with the assist after getting the initial touch from Rob Walton who crossed the ball in front of the goal from the left side.

"We were able to bounce back in the second half. We made adjustments and were in more of a familiar lineup," added Bennett. "After a disorganized first half, we had a superb second half showing."

The Golden Eagles wrap up the spring season 5-1-1 overall. Marquette's lone loss of the spring season came at the hands of Bradley, 2-1, in the first game of the spring. After that the Golden Eagles' record was left unblemished and scored 16 more goals in the process.

"The goal of the spring was to identify and establish our style of play, and to get the players to adapt. Even though we weren't able to play 11 v 11 in practice, we did well and worked with what we had. It was on-the-job training so to say and in turn our guys were able to build a strong understanding of their rolls. After losing the first game, we have gotten better and moved faster than we anticipated. We are heading into the summer now and looking toward the fall."