Aug. 26, 2006

Box Score | Highlights

CHICAGO - The Marquette men's soccer team, playing for the first time in a regular season game under head coach Louis Bennett picked up a 2-1 win by downing Loyola (Ill.) in Chicago.

Marquette wasted little time getting on the board. The Golden Eagles (1-0) scored just 1:02 into the contest when Dan Addis scored off a short-range header on an assist from Nick Kay. The Golden Eagles scored just 10 minutes later when Mike Klemm finished off an entry to the back post from Rob Walton.

"We're elated we won," Bennett said, who owns a career 11-2-1 record against Loyola. "Loyola makes if challenging for the visitor when they play at home."

Bennett said he was very pleased with his team showing it could score early. Last season, Marquette had just nine goals all year and scored two goals in a match just twice.

"These were picture perfect goals. They are the kind of goals we should be scoring," Bennett said. "They are our bread and butter goals. We need to live off this type of goal all season."

Even more pleasing for Bennett was getting the long-awaited first game out of the way.

"It's more relieving for the players than it is for me," he said. "We have been training for so long. Knowing that you can accomplish in training what you can in a game is a confidence boost for the team."

Marquette allowed a goal to Loyola (0-1) in the 70th minute when Matt Marek headed in a cross off the foot of Kevin Harrigan.

"The momentum of the second half swung back and forth and our inexperience showed. We bent, but we didn't break," Bennett added.

Freshman Matt Pyzdrowski played all 90 minutes in goal, making four saves. Pyzdrowski was a last minute replacement to the starting lineup. Senior Marc Dettmann was scheduled to start, but he dislocated a finger in warmups.

Marquette returns home to take on Denver in the first home contest of the regular season on Sunday, August 27 at noon at Valley Fields. Getting the team ready for the contest on short rest will be a challenge for Bennett.

"With so many inexperienced guys, playing back to back games will be a challenge," Bennett said. "Everyone who played tonight, whether it was for nine or 90 minutes, played very well and gave us total effort. I'm pleased with the way they came out tonight, but it is up to our staff to get them back down to earth and ready for the next game."