Marquette University Athletics
Marquette University
IPFW (exh.)
Men's Soccer Ties IPFW, 0-0
8/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 17, 2006
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - In its second exhibition contest of the three preseason match-ups, the Marquette men's soccer team played to a 0-0 tie against IPFW in the IPFW Soccer Showcase. It was MU's second 0-0 tie of the exhibition season. Previously, the Golden Eagles drew with Northwestern.
Contrary to Saturday's contest with Northwestern in which MU had just two shots on goal, the Golden Eagles created opportunities against IPFW, recording eight shots. Despite not scoring, head coach Louis Bennett was pleased with the advancements made in the offense, however, he stressed that he is not ready to settle for chances.
"We're a work in progress," Bennett said. "We were looking for more offensive output and we got that with eight shots. We had five or six more go through the goal mouth. It's a process we have to go through and this in this game we started to create our chances. Now, we have to work on converting our chances."
In IPFW, Marquette was facing a more physical team than it faced against Northwestern. According to Bennett, Marquette was able to keep up with the aggressiveness of the Mastadons.
"It was good for our guys to see how to adjust to a team that plays as physical as IPFW played," Bennett said. "We will certainly see teams that are physical and have soccer skill as the year goes on."
Senior midfielder Bryan Dahlquist returned to the lineup after missing Saturday's exhibition. According to Bennett, he stepped up and played well.
"Dahlquist took on a leadership role that was missing with our captain, Matt Soper, being out to injury," Bennett said. "He brought a good sense in the midfield."
Also encouraging was the fact that Marquette did not allow a goal in its second straight contest. Senior goalkeeper Marc Dettmann made three saves in the match.
"Dettmann didn't have a lot to do for most of the night, but all of the sudden he had to make two very important saves," Bennett said.
Dettmann played all 90 minutes. He will cede the goal to freshman Matt Pyzdrowski for the final exhibition contest.
In all, Bennett was able to come away with positives from the contest and come away with things to work on.
"Overall, this is another step to laying down a solid foundation for Marquette soccer," he concluded.
MU will conclude its exhibition schedule with a contest at Northern Illinois on Saturday, August 19 at 4 p.m. Marquette begins its regular season on Friday, August 25 at Loyola (Ill.) at 7:30 p.m.
