Men's Soccer Falls to No. 14 Connecticut, 1-0

Oct. 19, 2006

MILWAUKEE - It was the final home game for seven Marquette men's soccer seniors, but the Golden Eagles came up short against the 14th ranked Connecticut Huskies, 1-0.

The contest was the last at Valley Fields for Matt Blouin, Marc Dettmann, Bryan Dahlquist, Bennett Lafferty, Nathan Sabich, Matt Soper and Rob Walton. Head coach Louis Bennett lauded the senior class for their hard work and determination in what has been a difficult season for Marquette (1-14-1, 0-10 BIG EAST).

"Today, I saw progress. I also saw progress out of a senior class that has shown a lot of character this season," Bennett said. "The successes that we will have in the future will have started with this group. They've kept it together all season, even though the results haven't been what we've wanted. They have shown admirable qualities in everything they've done this season."

Despite the effort put in by the seniors -- and the rest of the team -- the Golden Eagles fell victim to a timely strike by Connecticut (10-4-2, 8-1-1 BIG EAST). Marquette kept the potent Connecticut attack in check for much of the game, limiting the Huskies to just one shot in the first half. Connecticut came out more aggressive in the second half, recording seven shots.

The Huskies' goal came in the 51st minute on a situation that the Golden Eagles struggled to clear. O'Brian White moved a free ball in the box to his left and Julius James got a foot on the ball and placed it above MU keeper Matt Pyzdrowski.

"UConn was in a situation where they believed they were going to score," Bennett said. "Maybe we could have tidied up the situation, but it was a case of an individual taking advantage of an opportunity."

The loss put an end to the home part of the schedule. Marquette wasn't able to win at home this season, going 0-7. While that may have seemed like the recipe for a long year, Bennett said that was not the case.

"It hasn't been a long year because we haven't had situations where players have come unraveled," he said. "No one has been happy with the results, but no one has shown a lack of loyalty to what we are trying to do."

For the first time since the early part of the season, Bennett donned his more familiar shirt and tie look on the sideline as opposed to sweats and soccer cleats.

"It is the last home game of the year and I wanted to show that there has been progress," he said.

The Golden Eagles have one more contest on the schedule before the season is wrapped up. Marquette finishes its season on Saturday, October 21 at Georgetown at 1 p.m. EDT.

"Now we go into our last away game of the season looking for even more progress," Bennett said. "We are going to go into it, as we go into every game, preparing to win. Every time we have taken the field this season, the determination and effort have been there and our next game will be no different."