Men's Soccer Battles Nationally-Ranked Billikens; Host UMKC

Oct. 26, 1999

MILWAUKEE -

COMING UP Coach Steve Adlard?s Marquette men?s soccer team (10-6-0, 5-2-0) closes out the Conference USA regular-season schedule this week, taking on #2 Saint Louis in St. Louis, Mo., on Wed., Oct. 27. The Golden Eagles and the Billikens are scheduled for a 7 p.m. (CT) kick off at the newly-named Robert R. Hermann Stadium, Saint Louis? new, on-campus facility.

Marquette then hosts regionally-ranked UMKC at Valley Fields on Mon., Nov. 1, at 7 p.m.. It will be senior night at the Valley, as the Golden Eagles salute seniors Jeremy Evans (Mesa, Az. / Phoenix JC), Chad Garofola (Arlington Heights, Ill. / Prospect), Ryan Taylor (Kansas City, Mo. / Rockhurst) and Nate Winkel (Richfield, Minn. / Richfield). The game was originally scheduled to be the last of the regular season for the Golden Eagles, however Marquette may still make up the game with Wright State that was suspended due to poor weather on Oct. 13.

LAST WEEK Marquette suffered its first shutout loss since Sept. 6 last week, falling at Oakland 3-0 on Wed., Oct. 20. The Golden Eagles struggled to get into the flow against a Golden Grizzly team that went into the game ranked fifth in the nation in shutout percentage. Oakland recorded its tenth shutout of the season against the Golden Eagles.

On Sat., Nov. 23, Marquette bounced back with a 3-1 victory over South Florida at the Valley that clinched the Golden Eagles at least third place in the league?s regular-season standings. Marshall Morehead (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater Area) continued to find the first-goal formula for Marquette, putting the Golden Eagles up late in the first half. After the Bulls came back to tie the score, Sean Reti (Brookfield, Wis. / Brookfield) netted a pair of goals to lead Marquette to its tenth win of the season. That total surpasses the Golden Eagles? victory mark from last season, when they went 9-11-1. The victory also marked the first time that Marquette had ever defeated South Florida.

SAINT LOUIS AT A GLANCE After reaching the lofty status of #2 in the national polls last week, Saint Louis (12-2-1, 5-1-0) was knocked out of the driver?s seat in the C-USA race with a 3-2 overtime loss at UAB on Sun., Oct. 24. Coach Bob Warming?s Billikens remain one of the strongest programs in the country, nonetheless. Warming is in his third season with the Bills and has a 42-12-6 (.750) mark. In 23 years overall, Warming has a 248-130-33 (.644) record. Saint Louis features a well-balanced offense led by senior midfielders Jason Mims and Jeff DiMaria, who lead Marquette with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Goalkeeper Paul Nagy, a 6-0 junior, is 12-2-1 with 52 saves, eight shutouts and a 0.64 goals against average (GAA). The Billikens have a 15-2 lead over the Golden Eagles in the teams? all-time series. Saint Louis has won the last four meetings, including a 2-1 overtime contest in Milwaukee last season.

UMKC AT A GLANCE In his second season in Kansas City, head coach Rick Benben has turned his Kangaroos around this season. Currently 10-4-0 after defeating Oakland 2-1 in overtime at home on Sat., Oct. 23, UMKC is now 6th in the NSCAA Midwest Region poll. The ?Roos are led by UAB transfer Erik Kuster, a senior striker who paces the squad with 24 points. Senior midfielder Mark Roennigke has tallied 19 points while junior forward Brandon Gibbs has added 18. Clint McDuffie and Beau Williams have split the minutes between the pipes, combining to register three shutouts, 62 saves and a 1.61 GAA. Also in his second year as a head coach on the collegiate level, Benben has steered the Kangaroos to a 16-16-0 (.500) mark during that span. The Golden Eagles have won both previous meetings with UMKC, including last year?s 3-0 decision in Kansas City.

HEAD COACH STEVE ADLARD When Marquette defeated South Florida this past Saturday, it marked the fifth season in head coach Steve Adlard?s eight in which the Golden eagles had reached double-digits in the wins column. He also led the Golden Eagles to an eight-game winning streak earlier this season, the longest in the program?s 36-year history. Adlard took his Golden Eagles to the C-USA semifinals for the third time in four seasons in 1998, when MU concluded the year with a 9-11-1 record . Now in his eighth season at the helm of the Golden Eagles, he has compiled an 88-63-14 (.576) mark. Adlard led MU to its first-ever NCAA Tournament and C-USA regular-season title in 1997. He is second on the Marquette winning percentage list and has led the Golden Eagles to winning seasons in five of the last six seasons. With Marquette?s victory against UW-Milwaukee on Sept. 30, 1998, he moved into second on the MU career wins list. A former goalkeeper for the British universities national team, Adlard previously was the head coach at UNC Asheville and Davis & Elkins. He is a 1972 graduate of Loughborough University in Loughborough, England. Adlard has an overall record of 141-121-23 (.535) in 13 years. He is assisted by Bryan Mogford and Dan Holcomb.

IN THE POLLS The Golden Eagles fell to seventh in the NSCAA Great Lakes Region ranking this week. In the remainder of the NSCAA Regional Rankings: Washington is #4 and Portland #6 in the Far West, Oakland and Cincinnati are #5 and #6, respectively, in the Great Lakes, Saint Louis and Creighton are tied at #2, while UMKC is #6 in the Midwest, and UAB is #5 in the South.

Marquette is not ranked in any national polls this week, however several Golden Eagles? opponents did garner national recognition. Creighton is #9 in the Soccer America poll and is #10 in the NSCAA poll. Wednesday?s opponent, Saint Louis, is #10 in Soccer America and #12 by the NSCAA. Portland is #15 in Soccer America and #25 in the NSCAA, while Washington is #16 in Soccer America and #19 in the NSCAA.

RETI FOR ACTION Three of Reti?s four goals this season have provided the game-winning score for the Golden Eagles. His latest came against South Florida on Saturday, when he finished a break-away to put Marquette up a goal just minutes after South Florida had knotted the score at 1-1. The winning score was almost identical to the goal Reti netted a week early to defeat #25 Cincinnati. The speedy sophomore ran around two USF defenders on to a long through ball from Andy Hunter, poked the ball past a diving Bulls keeper and then sent it into the back of an unprotected net. He later added an insurance goal with 18 seconds left on a blast from the right wing of the box. Reti has adapted well to a lineup switch from striker to wide attacking midfielder this season and is second on the team with 15 points on four goals and a team-high seven assists.

HEADERS Morehead is once again atop the C-USA scoring leaders this week 13 goals and 27 points. His 13th goal gave Marquette a 1-0 lead late in the opening half against South Florida this past Saturday. Slipping behind the Bulls defense, the junior striker took a nice feed from Mike Adrian and beat the USF keeper one-on-one to the back right of the net. The 27 points is the most by a Golden Eagle since Drew Watzka tallied 34 in 1996 and the 13 goals ties him for the third most in the program?s history. Depending on the continuance of the Wright State game, Morehead may already have 14 goals, as he had provided the lone score in the game before it was suspended in the 28th minute. He is one of three Golden Eagles to have started all 16 games this season.

ON THE HUNT Junior co-captain Andy Hunter (Swaffham, England / Hamonds) assisted on the Golden Eagles? first two goals and led a strong defensive effort against the potent Bulls? attack. He started the sequence for Morehead?s opening goal by serving a ball to Mike Adrian, who found Morehead behind the USF defense in the box. He then sent a long through ball from the midfield that Reti punched into the net for the game-winner. The 6-0 midfielder has started all 16 games this season and has provided a physical and emotional spark at the midfield. He has six points on a goal and four assists.

AROUND THE NET Mike Adrian (St. Louis, Mo. / SLUH) and Hunter tied Jeremiah Bass (Racine, Wis. / Prairie School) for third on Marquette?s scoring list with their assists against South Florida ? each of those three juniors has six points on the season ? freshman midfielder Bryan Godfrey (Newburgh, Ind. / Castle) continued his impressive debut season with a strong showing against the Bulls, tallying an assist for his fourth point of the year ? after registering the win by making five saves against USF, Greg Guglielmino (Mesa, Ariz. / Phoenix JC) is now 9-3-0 with four shutouts, 50 saves and a 1.24 GAA ? the Golden Eagle defense held the potent USF combo of Kevin Alvero and Brian Waltrip to only one point on two shots.

C-USA LEADERS Marquette has several players ranked among the C-USA statistical leaders. Morehead leads the league with 27 points and 13 goals, and is third with 42 shots. Reti is tied for eighth with 15 points, tied for third with seven assists and is tied for sixth with 32 shots. Guglielmino is fourth with a 1.24 GAA, seventh with 50 saves and tied for third with four shutouts.

Among the team leaders, Marquette is fourth with 74 points and 26 assists, fifth with 165 shots, and tied for fifth with 24 goals. On the defensive side of the ball, the Golden Eagles are fifth with a 1.46 GAA, tied for sixth with 57 saves and tied for fourth with four shutouts.

MARQUETTE SOCCER ON THE NET The Marquette men?s soccer website contains all of the most recent information on the Golden Eagles. Weekly media releases, current statistics and results, Conference USA standings and game stories and reviews can be found at: www.gomarquette.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Marquette assistant sports information director Josh Sutter at (414) 288-6980 or at: joshua.sutter@marquette.edu