Marquette Soccer Tops DePaul on Senior Night, 2-0

MILWAUKEE – It was an emphatic end to the regular season and a satisfying Senior Night victory for the Golden Eagles, who dispatched DePaul, 2-0, en route to their fifth league win that earned the No. 4 seed in the BIG EAST Conference tournament and a quarterfinal home match on Saturday.

Marquette (7-8-1, 5-3-1 BIG EAST) received first-half goals from Grant Owens and Lukas Sunesson and earned the right to host fifth-seeded Xavier at Valley Fields on Saturday, Nov. 3. Kickoff is set for 7:05 p.m. Central time.

Cedrik Stern made his third start of the season and posted a nine-save shutout for his first-career clean sheet. The freshman started in place of the suspended Luis Barraza, who was issued a red card and sent off in the 47th minute against Butler on Sunday after trying to prevent a breakaway goal. He was honored pregame with his fellow classmates despite not being eligible to play on his senior night.

Owens, who has battled through injury throughout the 2018 season, made sixth appearance of the year one to remember on Wednesday. With his family members on hand to witness his final regular season game in a Marquette uniform, Owens connected on his first goal of the season and seventh of his career in the 20th minute to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead.

It's an early Golden Eagle lead as Grant Owens nets his first of the year and 7th of his career in the 20th minute! #MarquetteSoccer #BEfutbol pic.twitter.com/ESvqGruyDB
— Marquette Soccer (@marquettesoccer) November 1, 2018

Only 11 minutes later, Sunesson scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season to make it 2-0.

Lukas Sunesson puts the finishing touch on his fifth goal of the season as #MarquetteSoccer takes a two-goal lead! #BEfutbol #WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/U18BnBFrw7
— Marquette Soccer (@marquettesoccer) November 1, 2018

From then on, the Blue Demons (5-9-3, 2-5-2 BIG EAST) were held at bay the rest of the way with the exception of a squandered penalty try by Zack El-Shafei in the 54th minute. After a Marquette foul inside the penalty area, El-Shafei stepped up and ricocheted his try off the right post.

Marquette closed out the regular season with four wins in the last five matches and enters the postseason red hot. A lot of its success is owed to the defense, which recorded its fifth shutout of the season, surrendering just six goals while recording three shutouts over the previous eight contests.

Saturday marks the Golden Eagles' first home match in BIG EAST tournament play since 2012 when they defeated Cincinnati in the first round, 3-0, before eventually falling to Georgetown in the semifinal, 2-1, in double-overtime.

Details regarding ticket information for Saturday's quarterfinal match-up will be made public on Thursday, Nov. 1. The winner of Marquette-Xavier will go on to meet top-seeded Creighton on the road on Wednesday, Nov. 7.

Keep up with the Marquette men's soccer program through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteSoccer) and Instagram (@MarquetteSoccer) and `liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteSoccer).

That's four wins in the last five games for head coach @loobe21's squad. He talked with @BIGEASTdigital's @jennylynnfisch after the 2-0 win over DePaul on Senior Night. #MarquetteSoccer pic.twitter.com/Nx6mDIFfTr
— Marquette Soccer (@marquettesoccer) November 1, 2018