Marquette Invitational Begins Friday

Sept. 10, 2009

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MILWAUKEE - For the second straight year, the Golden Eagles will play host to the Marquette Invitational, which once again welcomes fellow BIG EAST member DePaul, along with Buffalo and UC Irvine. Tournament action begins at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11 at Valley Fields with DePaul vs. No. 8 UC Irvine. MU (1-1) will then face Buffalo (1-1) at 7:05 p.m.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, September 11
UC Irvine vs. DePaul, 5 p.m.
Buffalo at Marquette, 7:05 p.m.

Sunday, September 12
Buffalo at DePaul, noon (Chicago, Ill.)
UC Irvine at Marquette, 12:05 p.m.

INVITE HISTORY
This weekend marks the second year of the Marquette Invitational. Last year's tourney featured the host Golden Eagles, along with BIG EAST Conference member DePaul against the Ivy League's Columbia and Pennsylvania. DePaul picked up three points by opening with a 1-0 decision over Columbia, but Penn eventually took home the inaugural team trophy by defeating the Blue Demons, 2-0. MU played Columbia and Penn to scoreless draws to finish third with two points. Goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski, midfielder Matt Stummer and defender Billy Von Rueden represented the Golden Eagles on the all-tournament squad.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Buffalo opened the season this past weekend at the Nike Classic hosted by West Virginia. The Bulls defeated Pitt 1-0 in the opening contest before falling to the Mountaineers by the same tally with 55 seconds remaining in double overtime. In 20 seasons as head coach, John Astudillo has accumulated an overall mark of 176-154-33. He returns 13 letterwinners from a squad that went 12-4-4 last season and finished third in the MAC with a league record of 3-1-2.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday will be the first ever meeting between Marquette and Buffalo.

LAST TIME OUT
Drake, ranked No. 21 in the College Soccer News preseason poll, used a pair of second half goals to hand the Marquette University men's soccer team its first loss of the 2009 season this past Sunday, earning a 2-0 decision over the Golden Eagles (1-1) at Cownie Soccer Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. The Bulldogs netted the opening score in the 64th minute and capitalized on a PK four minutes later. MU?senior goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski had a season-high five saves.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Louis Bennett has high aspirations for his 2009 Marquette Golden Eagles as the fourth-year head coach returns 20 letterwinners from last year's squad, highlighted by nine returning starters. Senior goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski will anchor a defense that allowed 1.17 goals per match a season ago. Pyzdrowski, who statistically ranks among top goalkeepers to ever play between the posts at MU, recorded a collegiate-high four shutouts last year. Bennett also returns leading scorer Anthony Colaizzi, who tallied four goals in 14 games as a sophomore in 2008.