Men's Soccer Defends Milwaukee Cup Title

Sept. 14, 1999

MILWAUKEE, Wis.

COMING UP THIS WEEK Coach Steve Adlard?s Marquette men?s soccer team (0-4) venture outside Conference USA with a pair of non-conference games with traditional rivals this week. The Golden Eagles meet crosstown foe UW-Milwaukee at Uihlein Field at 7:30 p.m. (CT) on Wed., Sept. 15, in a game originally scheduled to be played at 4 p.m. at UWM?s Engelmann Field. The Golden Eagles will be aiming to keep possession of the Milwaukee Cup, which they earned with last year?s 1-0 victory over the Panthers. Marquette then travels down I-94 for a battle with Northwestern on Sun., Sept. 19, at 4 p.m.

LAST WEEK Marquette had its 1999 Valley Fields debut spoiled by UW-Green Bay on Wed., Sept. 8, when the Phoenix stole a 2-1 overtime victory on Marquette?s home turf. The Golden Eagles controlled play for 80 minutes of action but struggled to finish scoring chances and UWGB?s Nick Lessard ended the game with a sliding goal only two minutes into the extra frame. Marquette then opened its Conference USA slate with a 2-1 road loss at UAB on Sun., Sept. 12. The game featured a similar story line as did the UWGB game: after allowing two early scores, the Golden Eagles took control of the game. UAB keeper David Clemente played strong, however, making six saves as Marquette could only cut the lead in half over the final 75 minutes of action.

UW-MILWAUKEE AT A GLANCE Head coach Louis Bennett?s Panthers have gotten a strong start off the blocks in 1999, as UW-Milwaukee is 4-0 after a 2-1 overtime win over Eastern Michigan on Sun., Sept. 12, in UWM?s Panther Invitational. The Panthers took the tournament title after also defeating Western Michigan the previous day. Senior midfielder Tony Colvin leads a balanced Panther attack with four points, while freshman keeper Chris Dadaian is 4-0 with three shutouts and a strong 0.24 goals against average. Now in his fourth season at UWM, Bennett has a record of 35-25-5 (.577) with the Panthers and overall. The Panthers hold a 20-4-2 lead in the series with Marquette, however, the Golden Eagles were triumphant in a 1-0 match at Valley Fields last season.

NORTHWESTERN AT A GLANCE Coming into this week, head coach Michael Kunert?s Wildcats were 0-3 this season with losses to Notre Dame, Western Illinois and Ohio State. Northwestern has struggled to generate much offense thus far, suffering a 5-0 loss to the Buckeyes in their Big Ten opener and scoring only one goal in the opening three games. Junior striker Jun Kim tallied that goal against Western Illinois. Matt Keeler, a 6-0 senior, is between the pipes for the Wildcats. He is currently 0-3 with 13 saves and a 2.67 GAA. Kunert is 104-184-29 (.379) in his 17-plus seasons in Evanston. Marquette won last season?s meeting in Milwaukee by a 2-0 score, giving the Golden Eagles a 14-4-1 series lead. The Wildcats play at Loyola Chicago and host Drake before welcoming the Golden Eagles.

HEAD COACH STEVE ADLARD Marquette?s Steve 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, Adlard has compiled a 78-61-14 (.556) mark. He led MU to its first-ever NCAA Tournament and C-USA regular-season title in 1997. Adlard 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 131-119-23 (.522) in 13 years. He is assisted by Bryan Mogford and Dan Holcomb.

IN THE POLLS Marquette is not ranked in any polls this week, however several Golden Eagles? opponents did garner national and regional recognition. Creighton, which comes to town on Oct. 3, earned the top spot in the NSCAA poll this week after its last-second win over Saint Louis over the weekend. The Bluejays are #7 in Soccer America. The C-USA rival Billikens dropped to #10 in the Soccer America poll and to #12 the NSCAA poll. Fellow league school Cincinnati made its 1999 debut in the Top 25, appearing at #25 in the NSCAA poll. Washington is #20 in the NSCAA and #16 by Soccer America. In the NSCAA Regional Rankings: Washington is #5 and Portland #10 in the Far West, Cincinnati, Oakland and UW-Milwaukee are #3, #7 and #8, respectively, in the Great Lakes, Creighton is #1, Saint Louis #3 and Memphis #7 in the Midwest, and South Florida is tied at #7 in the South.

ON THE HUNT Midfielder Andy Hunter (Swaffham, England / Hamonds) netted the first Marquette goal of 1999 against UW-Green Bay. The junior co-captain struck a 5-yard one-timer off a cross from classmate Jeremiah Bass to knot the game at 1-1 in the 29th minute. The 6-0 Hunter lends a commanding presence to the midfield and is combining with freshman Bryan Godfrey (Newburgh, Ind. / Castle) to give Marquette a formidable duo in the middle.

HEADERS Junior Marshall Morehead (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater Area) had a strong performance against UAB, tallying his first goal of the season and creating several scoring opportunities throughout the contest. Morehead has started all four games at striker and is tied for the team scoring lead.

BASS-O-MATIC Playing a swing position that was part defender, part outside midfielder, junior Jeremiah Bass (Racine, Wis. / Prairie School) showed last week why he has earned All-C-USA Third Team honors following the past two seasons. The 6-0 Bass exhibited a strong two-way game against the Phoenix and picked up his first point since his freshman season when he assisted on Andy Hunter?s goal. Bass has started three of the four matches this season.

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