Marquette University Athletics
Fans Enjoy 3rd Annual Fan Fest
8/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 16, 2009
MILWAUKEE -
In the midst of preseason training camp, the Marquette men's and women's soccer teams gave fans a glimpse of what to expect for the 2009 season with their third annual Fan Fest at Valley Fields Sunday afternoon.
The FREE event featured interactive stations including shooting, heading, juggling, penalty shooting, gladiator arena, soccer tennis, heading pendulum, egg in the nest, along with autographs from both men's and women's squads and food courtesy of Qdoba.
Fans were also treated to a sneak peak as to what each team will look like for the upcoming season as both squads took to the stadium field for intra-squad scrimmages.
Men's head coach Louis Bennett feels that this event is not only good for the public to see what Marquette soccer is all about, but also a learning tool for the team to promote the sport of soccer.
"Fan Fest is reaching out to the community, the soccer fans, Marquette fans and the kids we saw at camp during the summer to help them get a feel for what the upcoming season is going to be like. It's really good to see some of the kids that we worked with at camps this summer coming back. It builds awareness of our program," said Bennett. "We try to educate our guys on trying to promote your own sport especially because soccer is growing. You have to educate and promote the sport and the school. They enjoy that and are willing to do that."
Women's head coach Roeders agreed.
"It's always a great time down at Fan Fest at Valley Fields. The event keeps growing each year. Loyal fans and those who want to know what we are about have the chance to catch a glimpse of what to expect this season. I think any time you have the opportunity to interact with fans is great. We don't usually have this type of opportunity during the season because we are so focused on games. The structure of the event is more laid back. We had a couple girls from Fan Fest be our captains for the game which was nice. It's always great to see the smiles on the kids' faces. Who knows, seven or eight years down the road those same girls who were at Fan Fest could be part of our team one day," said Roeders.
The men's soccer team opened training camp on Friday, Aug. 14 and despite the short time spent together early on in training camp, Bennett is excited what he has seen from his team.
"They have come into training camp relatively well prepared. I really like what I see. We are more of a compact unit and very optimistic. The quality in practice will be replicated on the field. I'm excited."
The Blue Team prevailed over Gold Team after having to go to penalty kicks following a 1-1 tie. Paul Monsen got the Gold Team on the board first with his goal in the 53rd minute, and Amilcar Herrara evened the score with his strike in the 81st minute. In the shootout, the Blue Team edged the Gold Team, 4-2.
Meanwhile the women opened training camp on Aug. 7 and tied Wisconsin 2-2 in their lone exhibition game of the season Saturday night in Madison. The Golden Eagles officially open the season Sunday, Aug. 23 at Pepperdine.
In today's Blue versus Gold intra-squad scrimmage, the Blue team came from behind to defeat the Gold team, 2-1. Becky Ryan scored the Gold's quick goal in the first half, but the Blue Team used two second-half goals from Danielle Martens and Rachel Brown to secure the win.
"It's exciting time for us. We are just moving forward with our preparation for next week and the official start of the season. We have a week left of training to fine tune. We are excited about our talent level and our play and I think we were able to showcase some of that today," said Roeders.
