March 24, 2006

MILWAUKEE - The Marquette men's soccer team opened up its spring season with a 2-1 loss at Bradley on Saturday, March 25. Similar to spring football or fall baseball, the spring soccer season is a time for coaches and teams to begin practicing for the next year and to have the opportunity to get in work. Unlike baseball and football, the teams can compete against outside competition.

Freshman Aleksandar Bjelic scored the goal for Marquette in the first half, giving the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead on Bradley, a team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

After a hectic span in the opening minutes which saw Bradley press forward, Marquette settled and evened the pace of the contest. Marquette benefitted from some of its own pressure to score the goal. After moving deep into the Bradley end, the Braves tried to clear. Bjelic stepped in front of the clearing pass, settled the ball, and placed a low right-footer to the right of the Braves' keeper and into the net from 20 yards out.

"That wasn't the type of goal we look to score. It was an opportunistic goal," head coach Louis Bennett said following the first game of his Marquette career. "The positive part is that it was a goal and we did something to create an opportunity."

The teams went into the halftime break tied at one after the Braves knotted the score. According to Bennett, the goal was created on a defensive error.

"Even though we have experience in the back, we are in a new system and we had some misplays," Bennett said. "That happened on their first goal when their central midfielder slipped through our defense to our goalkeeper."

After making several halftime adjustments, the two teams went at it for 45 minutes, with Marquette becoming more aggressive on the offensive end.

"In the second half, I was pleased with the chances we created," Bennett said. "It's not about goal scoring, but about creating familiar chances at this point. We created the opportunities to score, and we can work on finishing in our practices."

One player that was aggressive in the offensive end was junior midfielder Rob Walton. Traditionally a defensive midfielder, Walton was moved to a more forward-thinking midfielder with successful results.

"Rob Walton as an attacking, outside mid was a positive," Bennett said. "He was a player that supplied our corners and he had two good strikes in the second half."

Another defensive lapse allowed the Braves' second goal. A long ball into the Marquette defense set up Bradley's second score.

"They knocked it long and it seemed like our players got their feet caught up and had to play catch up," Bennett said. "We fought to get back into position, and we had someone dive in and they got the second goal."

After the Braves took the lead, Marquette became the aggressor until the game ended. MU created chances in late in the half to tie, but fell short.

Despite the loss, Bennett said there were positives in his first test against another school as Marquette head coach.

"To go up against a team that is NCAA Tournament tested, I think we definitely came away with some positives," Bennett said. "I was pleased with our fitness and conditioning."

He said he was also pleased with the play of the goalkeepers, considering the goal keeper position is comprised of three walk-on players, Marquette students who joined the team after the conclusion of the 2005 season.

The game against Bradley also gave Bennett and his staff a chance to see the team in full game situation. The Golden Eagles can't stage those type of situations in practice based on the fact that the team has just 16 players on the spring roster.

"We have to practice in small pictures and the spring games give us the only true chance to see the team in 11 v 11 situations," Bennett said. "It wouldn't be as hard if the players were accustomed to the system. It's harder on the staff than the players, since we have a harder time evaluating in the smaller pictures."

What the game also does is give the staff more of a focus for future practices.

"We now have a true idea of what we look like in full team situations," Bennett said. "We can go back into film and practices and show them what they need to do to improve."

Overall, the first game served as a measuring stick for the rest of the spring and ultimately the fall.

"I'm pleased with the way things went against Bradley," Bennett added. "We weren't very, very good, but we were never very, very bad either."

The Golden Eagles play again on Saturday, April 1 in Chicago as part of a three-team tournament. Marquette will take on Carthage Collage at 11:30 a.m. and Loyola (Ill.) at 1 p.m. at Loyola Soccer Park in Chicago. Each game will consist of two 35 minute halves.

"We'll be tested because we have a small team," Bennett said. "But we will have the opportunity to see different situations and continue to define our style."