Marquette University Athletics
Men's Soccer Defeats UWM in Shootout
4/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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April 15, 2007
MILWAUKEE - The Marquette men's soccer team defeated Wis.-Milwaukee in a shootout after playing to a scoreless tie at the Field Turf practice pitch at Valley Fields in spring play.
The Golden Eagles rebounded from a 3-0 loss to Kentucky two weeks ago with a solid defensive performance against the cross-town foe, UWM.
"We have to concentrate on being competitive and our last game we didn't compete," head coach Louis Bennett said. "We are getting across to the team as a whole that we expect them to compete. If that's the one building block we take away from the spring, then it's a positive for us."
Marquette's defense was the reason for success today. Bennett credited the tenacity of the team for the solid effort and the ultimate result. MU was playing with just 13 available field players. Four of which, Bennett singled out for keeping the Panthers out of the net.
"Certain players are showing that they can step up their level of performance. Tim Jallow and Matt Pyzdrowski showed promising games today. Duncan Silvert-Noftle is also having a good spring," Bennett said. "One of our try-out players, Mark Lemback, is also quietly becoming very difficult to play."
Marquette also had its share of offensive chances, two of which came in the first half and were nearly turned into goals. In all, MU was still short of scoring, but the defense continued to be the success story of the team.
"It was an up and down game and we had two of the best opportunities to win the game," Bennett said. "We had some very god chances. We have to just focus and take the momentum of a goal scoring situation right now."
In the shootout, Matt Pyzdrowski made two saves to give the Golden Eagles the final advantage after seven frames of penalty kicks after a very competitive 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, something that should carry over to fall play.
"That is not a bad Division I team we played today," Bennett said. "Every team we play in our conference is an upper level team. That competitive edge and bite to win games like this is something that we need to procure."
After a week of practicing in cold and snow, the team was happy to be able to play in good weather, despite having a short roster available.
"It's no surprise that the guys who have trained all spring and who haven't missed a practice are the ones that were able to play today," Bennett said. "It's OK to get tired. It's OK to get a cramp. But they have to establish that they can play at all times and represent the team with the highest level of competitiveness."
Marquette continues spring play action against Wis.-Parkside on Friday, April 20 at 6 p.m. and will play at 8 p.m. that same evening against Milwaukee Bavarians FC.
