Men's Soccer Concludes Homestand with Wis.-Green Bay
10/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Marquette finishes up three-game stand, then visits Providence
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MILWAUKEE ? With seven matches left in the regular season, Marquette takes on the first of three in-state non-conference opponents on Wednesday, October 12, hosting Wis.-Green Bay at Valley Fields at 7 p.m. With meetings later in the season against Wisconsin and Wis.-Milwaukee, Marquette has the opportunity to show off what it can do against its in-state rivals. It will be the 36th meeting all time between Marquette and Green Bay.
After the match-up with UWGB, Marquette goes on the road to return to BIG EAST play. The Golden Eagles visit Providence at 1 p.m. EDT in Providence, R.I. That meeting with the Friars will be the first between the two schools.
Through 10 matches, Wis.-Green Bay already has more wins than it did all of last season. Entering the Marquette contest at 6-4, Green Bay has one more win than its 5-11-2 mark of a year ago.
"Green Bay is clearly on the way up," head coach Steve Adlard said. "Their record is good, and their coach has done a nice job of building them, which makes it a challenge."
The Phoenix defeated Wright State, 3-2, in their most recent outing. Green Bay had lost two consecutive 1-0 matches prior to the win over Wright State. UWGB has upped its scoring efforts from previous seasons, owning an 18-12 goal advantage this season thanks to a 5-1 win over Cleveland State and three other three-goal matches. Josh Zimmerlan scored twice in the win over Wright State. Joshua Okoampa also scored a goal in that contest to increase his team leading total to six. Josh Loyd is the Phoenix?s regular goalkeeper. He has 39 saves and a 1.22 goals against average this season. He has just one shutout on the year.
"It's a big game for them," Adlard said. "They have played with a defensive mindset against us historically. They may not pack it in this year because they are starting to win and have some confidence in their abilities."
Providence is apparently a squad that is well conditioned. That fact is eveident in that six Providence matches have gone the full 20 minutes in overtime. The Friars have tied the majority of their contests, owning a 4-1-6 record. In fact, their one loss, a 3-2 decision at Connecticut, was in overtime. PC also has a tie to St. John?s one of the best beams in the country. Providence meets Brown on Tuesday night before hosting Marquette.
"Providence is obviously having a good run," Adlard said. "They haven't generated a lot of shots, but seem to be successful early and late. It seems to be a definite pattern of when they decided to push."
Eoin Lynch leads the team with seven goals on the year. Goalkeeper Chris Konopka has played in every minute of the PC matches. He has surrendured just 12 goals on the year and has three shutouts.
Adlard said he believes the large number of draws Providence has shows they have a steadiness to them, something that BIG EAST teams seem to have.
"At no point did it look like Pittsburgh was panicked (on Saturday night)," Adlard said. "Like all of these BIG EAST teams, they looked like they were used to the pressure. I suspect Providence is similar."
One of the main focuses for the upcoming matches will be goal scoring. Despite having a number of shots and good opportunities in recent matches, Marquette has not scored in three straight games.
"There has to be a point where we finish our chances," Adlard said. "Overall, our philosophy is sound, but we have to finish because when the day is done, that's what decides your fate."
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