Men's Soccer Team Resumes Action

Sept. 20, 2001

Marquette hopes to find the same success it had before the postponement of last week's matches. The Golden Eagles were coming off 4-0 wins over DePaul and Valparaiso.

Matches scheduled for last week were shifted due to the events that occurred in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. MU originally had matches slated for Sept. 14 at UAB and Sept. 16 at Evansville. The matchup with UAB, a Conference USA tilt, has been rescheduled for Sept. 28 at 2 p.m. in Birmingham. To accommodate that match, Marquette moved its contest with Wisconsin back a day to Sept. 26. Kickoff is still set for 7 p.m. in Madison, Wis. The Golden Eagles matchup with Evansville will likely not be made up. Both teams are searching for ways to hold the match, but scheduling conflicts for the remainder of the season will likely force the cancellation of that match.

Scouting San Francisco

Marquette and San Francisco will be meeting for the first time. Buck Shaw Stadium on the campus of Santa Clara University will be the host for this neutral site match, the first in the Santa Clara adidas Classic.

Like Marquette, San Francisco has not played in almost two weeks. The Dons last outing was a 1-0 win over Oregon State on Sept. 9. San Francisco is 3-1 with additional shutout wins over Cal State Stanislaus (4-0) and San Francisco State (3-0). The Dons were blanked by UCLA, 4-0.

Josh Eansen leads the team in scoring with 12 points. Goal keepers Conor McNulty and Scott Spaulding have split time evenly. McNulty holds a 0.00 goals against average.

Scouting Santa Clara

The Broncos hold an even 2-2 record coming into this weekend's tournament. They will meet Long Island before tangling with MU. Santa Clara last played Sept. 9, losing to UCLA 2-1.

For Santa Clara, defense is a key to victory. The Broncos have scored just three goals on the season, but have allowed only four. Goalkeeper Rusty Johnson is a driving force on the team, recording 13 saves on the year with a 0.91 goals against average.

In The Polls Marquette continues to work its way toward being ranked. The Golden Eagles spent much of the first half of the 2000 season in the NSCAA top 25, but started out the year scratching to get in. While Marquette is out of the rankings, two of its opponents are in the poll. C-USA opponents Saint Louis and UAB are ranked fourth and eighth respectively. SMU holds the top spot after moving up two spots from no. 3.

Regionally, Marquette does not find itself in the 10 ranked schools in the Great Lakes region. Indiana is listed as the best in the Great Lakes.

Offensive Explosion

Marquette has scored eight goals in its last two matches, 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. In 1984, Marquette scored four or more eight times during the season.

Team LEE-der

Marquette freshman Chris Lee (Lenexa, Kan.) leads the Golden Eagles in goals and points in 2001. Lee scored his first point of the year on the game-winning goal against DePaul, feeding Derek Gutierrez.

Against Valparaiso, Lee scored two goals - the first two of the match - to start Marquette on its way to a 4-0 win. Lee has eight points on the year.

Teammates Resume Connection

On the Marquette roster, three sets of high school teammates have continued their role as teammates in college. One pair has already showed that it might be a valuable tandem in the 2001 season, the other trio proved its worth many times in 2000.

In the 4-0 win over DePaul, sophomore forward Derek Gutierrez (Overland Park, Kan.) scored on a feed from Chris Lee (Lenexa, Kan.) for their first career college connection. Lee later added a goal of his own. In high school, the tandem was part of state championship season in 1999.

Three other players spent their high school days at Milwaukee-area soccer power Brookfield East. Senior Sean Reti (Brookfield, Wis.), sophomore Tony Walby (Brookfield, Wis.) and freshman Danny Mullin (Brookfield, Wis.) served as members of that squad. This trio teamed up four years ago to earn a state championship. Walby and Mullin were also on the state title squad three years ago. Last season, Reti scored three goals and eight assists while Walby scored three goals and added six assists in their first season reunited as teammates.

Reti Named Preseason All-Conference

Senior midfielder 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.