Marquette Visits TCU in Men's Soccer

Oct. 24, 2001

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Marquette hits the stretch run of the season with a Conference USA contest against TCU. The Golden Eagles are fighting for postseason position and both teams need victories. Marquette is looking to secure a C-USA Tournament bid and TCU is fighting to earn a place among the top six teams in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles and Horned Frogs meet at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium on Oct. 26 at 3:30 p.m. in Fort Worth, Texas.

Marquette split its matches last week. The Golden Eagles handed Northwestern its 26th loss in the last two season by downing the Wildcats, 3-0. Marquette then played a quality match against Charlotte, but couldn't come away with the win, falling to the 49ers, 1-0.

With four C-USA contests left, the Golden Eagles are in better shape than a year ago when they didn't qualify for the Conference USA Tournament. However, Marquette does have a difficult schedule remaining with the Frogs, nationally ranked Saint Louis, South Florida and Cincinnati remaining. The top six teams of 11 qualify for the Conference USA Tournament, to be held, Nov. 15-18 in Tampa, Fla.

Scouting TCU

TCU is one of the more interesting teams in Conference USA. Head coach Dave Rubinson pulls double-duty, serving as head coach of both the men's and women's soccer teams at TCU. The Horned Frogs are finding life a little easier in Conference USA than in previous years. Last year, the Frogs had to battle with the likes of SMU, Creighton, Tulsa and Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference. The previous year, the Frogs tangled with SMU, Tulsa and San Jose State in the Western Athletic Conference.

While in a different conference for the third-consecutive year, TCU hasn't found life any easier. The Frogs are 4-7-1 and just recently picked up their fourth win of the year. TCU is, however, riding a modest two-game winning streak after beating East Carolina 4-2 and drubbing non-conference rival Centenary, 3-1.

Matt Chambers leads the team in goals with four. Nick Browne is the second in scoring with three goals. He is also the team leader in scoring on the football team with 46 points. Browne serves as the Frogs field goal kicker. Nick Baker and Bobby Montes also have two scores as well. Goal keeper Michael Lahoud has made 56 saves on the season.

In The Polls

The Golden Eagles have not cracked the top 25 all season, but several of its opponents have been successful in the top 25 rankings. C-USA opponents Saint Louis and UAB are third and 13th ranked respectively. Wis.-Milwaukee is also ranked in the poll at 23rd. SMU maintains its hold on the top spot in the country for the sixth straight week.

Regionally, Marquette dropped to the 10th spot in the Great Lakes after splitting contests last week. Indiana is the top ranked team followed by Wis.-Milwaukee, Ohio State, Michigan State and Akron.

More than Last Year

Six matches into the Conference USA season, Marquette has posted a 3-3 conference record. The Golden Eagles were 2-6 last year in conference play. Marquette still has four Conference USA contests remaining.

Game-Winning Group

In Marquette's seven victories, seven different players have scored the game-winning goal. Last season, three players had seven of the 10 game winners.

Adlard Claims 100th Win

With a 4-0 win against Valparaiso on Sept. 7, head coach Steve Adlard became the first Marquette men's soccer coach to reach the 100 victory plateau. Jerry Panek is second on the list with 97 wins. Adlard became the sixth coach to reach the 100 victory mark in Marquette history in the five team sports. He joined men's basketball coaches Bill Chandler (193-198), Al McGuire (295-80), Hank Raymonds (126-50) and Mike Deane (100-55) as well as Tat Shiley who won 380 times in volleyball as well as 111 times in women's basketball.

Offensive Explosion

Marquette has scored 24 times this season, with four coming in each match against DePaul and Valparaiso. The last time Marquette scored eight total goals in back-to-back matches was in 1994 when MU beat Penn State 3-1 and Ohio State 5-1.

During the course of the 2000 campaign, Marquette scored four or more goals three times. In the history of Marquette soccer, Marquette has scored four or more goals 73 times. In 1994 and 1985, Marquette had five matches with four or more goals. During that '85 season, MU had the five matches in succession.

Marquette is averaging 1.9 goals per game this season. Marquette scored 1.7 goals per game last season.

Defense Doing its Job

The Golden Eagles have allowed just 12 goals in their 13 matches. Sophomore goal keeper Adam Ubert (Hartland, WIs.) is amongst the league leaders with a 0.91 goals against average.

Balanced Scoring Attack

Five Marquette players have three goals this season, with eight different players scoring at one point during the year. Marquette has multiple goals from Chris Lee (6), Sean Reti (4), Jeff Gerlesits (4), Derek Gutierrez (3) and Eric Marshall (3). Zach McCallum scored two goals against Northwestern and is one tally away from joining the quintet at three scores.

Reti Named Preseason All-Conference

Senior forward Sean Reti was named to the preseason All-Conference USA team by a vote of the league's coaches. Reti, a three time all-conference performer, was the only member of the Marquette squad named to the team. Last season, Reti was second on the team in scoring with 14 points. He scored three goals and eight assists.

MU Picked Seventh in C-USA Preseason Poll

The Golden Eagles were selected seventh overall, tied with Cincinnati, in the preseason poll. Saint Louis was selected as the preseason favorite. UAB, Memphis, South Florida and Charlotte round out the top five.

Marquette was picked in a seventh place tie with Cincinnati. League newcomers TCU and East Carolina were labeled as ninth and 11th respectively.

2001 Statistical Leaders

Goals Chris Lee 6 Sean Reti 4 Jeff Gerlesits 4

Assists Mike Robards 4 Derek Gutierrez 4 Sean Reti 3

Points Chris Lee 14 Sean Reti 11 Derek Gutierrez 10 Jeff Gerlesits 9

Shots Chris Lee 38 Sean Reti 23

Game Winning Goals Jeff Gerlesits 1 Derek Gutierrez 1 Chris Lee 1 Eric Marshall 1 Zach McCallum 1 Sean Reti 1 Mike Robards 1

Saves Adam Ubert 52