Men' Soccer to Kick-Off 2005 Season
9/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Golden Eagles visit Ohio State for matches against Big Ten teams
Click here for game notes in PDF format.
Like their counterparts on the women?s side, the Marquette men?s soccer team opens up the 2005 regular season taking on a pair of teams from the Big Ten conference.
The men, however, venture on the road for their season openers. The regular season begins for the men on Friday, September 2 at 7:30 p.m. EDT at Ohio State.
The Golden Eagles finish up their two-match trip to Columbus by taking on Penn State at noon EDT.
For the third time in series history, Marquette will meet Ohio State, ranked 18th in the NSCAA preseason poll. Marquette owns wins in both meetings, but this is the first time the two teams have met since the 1997 season.
"From a historical perspective, Ohio State has been a bit of a roller coaster. They were good last year, not so good the year before, and good the year before that," head coach Steve Adlard said. "Our history with them goes back to 1997, when we won 1-0, but a lot has changed since then and we are mindful of that."
Ohio State is coming off a very successful 2004 campaign. The Buckeyes advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago and finished the season with a 12-7-2 mark. Ohio State returns a trio of adept goal scorers to their 2005 squad. Ruan Kustos and Kevin Nuget each scored five times a season ago. Taylor Korpieski is the top returning scorer on defensive minded team, combining his four goals with eight assists last year.
"They have lost their two exhibitions and haven't found their formula," Adlard added. "We know a lot of their players. Their style is tight on defense. Historically, if they go up 1-0, that's a big score for them. We are mindful that if we go down a goal, it will be stressful to get back in the match."
Following the Ohio State contest, Marquette meets Penn State, ranked 23rd in the NSCAA poll. Penn State head coach Barry Gorman is in his 18th year at the helm of the Nittany Lions and has a strong team returning for 2005. The 2004 Lions were 10-4-8 and were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on a shootout after a 1-1 tie with Tulsa.
Junior forward Simon Omekanda is the top returning scorer for Penn State. He scored six goals and five assists on 21 shots last season. He has senior midfielder Brian Delvin assisting in the attack. Delvin recorded three goals and five assists last season.
"They have a lot of good returning players," Adlard said. "They will be a very good team, and this will be as tough of a two-game stretch as we will have."
Marquette may benefit from Penn State playing a difficult opponent prior to its match with Marquette. Penn State plays eighth-ranked New Mexico as part of the tournament on Friday.
The tough slate to open the season will prepare Marquette for what's to come in BIG EAST play. In the preseason national rankings, three BIG EAST teams are ranked, including St. John's which checks in at no. 5.
"Give the fact that we always want to play strong teams, this is a nice start for us," Adlard said. "This is great preparation for the BIG EAST."
Despite the tough competition, Adlard feels his team is ready after a strong set of preseason contests.
"I like our plan and the ways our boys our playing right now," Adlard said. "The only elements we can't control is the way the ball rolls and we hope it rolls our way a little bit. This is a good step for us."
Marquette is coming off a 1-0-1 preseason mark in which it tied Northern Illinois and beat DePaul, 3-0.
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