Marquette Soccer Set for Sunday's BIG EAST Final at #19 Georgetown

MILWAUKEE -- Marquette pulled off another epic penalty-kick victory, its second-straight, to advance to the BIG EAST Championship final for the first time since winning the tournament in 2013. The opponent: Georgetown, which defeated Providence, 4-0, in the other semifinal on Wednesday. Sunday's final is slated for a 1:07 p.m. Central time start and will be televised on FS2.

Luka Prpa has five goals in his last seven games, including the equalizer on Wednesday. His goal in the 25th minute was his 17th career goal and 51st career point in his 50th cap and it came less than 2 minutes after Creighton took a 1-0 lead. Neither side scored after that and, once again, penalty kicks decided a winner. Luis Barraza, who finished with eight saves in regulation/overtime, stopped two of the first four Creighton attempts. Marquette also missed two of its first four as well and neither side would miss again until the Bluejays hit the bar in the 12th round. MU's Josh Coan then finished it off in style with low right-footed strike inside the left post.

Marquette battled Georgetown to a scoreless draw at rain-soaked Valley Fields back on Sept. 29, and it ignited the start to this incredible run to the title game. In the 52nd minute, MU freshman Alan Salmeron was issued a red card for a hard tackle, causing Marquette to go a man down for the final 58 minutes. MU didn't allow a goal the rest of the way in earning an important BIG EAST point.

The winner of Saturday's final claims the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, which starts with first-round action beginning on Thursday, Nov. 15.

OPPONENT FORM
GEORGETOWN (11-4-3, 6-2-1 BIG EAST)
The Hoyas make the championship final as a No. 2 seed following their convincing win over Providence where Ethan Lochner scored twice in the second half on goals just 33 second apart to blow the game wide open in the 80th minute. They're outscoring their opponents, 30-14, this season with two victories over ranked teams (9 Duke, 14 Creighton) and an early season draw vs. 10 Stanford. Derek Dodson leads the Hoyas with 19 points on nine goals, while Giannis Nikopolidis is 8-4-3 in goal with a 0.75 GAA and seven shutouts.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
ALL-TIME SERIES: Sunday marks the 17th time between both teams with the Hoyas leading the all-time series 12-1-3 dating back to their first-ever meeting in 2005. Georgetown is unbeaten in the previous 11 meetings, which includes six one-goal results and three draws. Two draws came in the previous two matches played at Valley Fields, including this season. Down a man for the final 58 minutes, the Golden Eagles were able to hold Georgetown scoreless to salvage a point in league play.

This marks the third meeting in league tournament action for both teams. The previous two meetings each resulted in Georgetown victories, a 2-1 double-overtime semifinal win in 2012 and a 2-1 quarterfinal triumph in 2014.

BIG EAST TOURNEY FEVER: The Golden Eagles are now 5-5-2 all-time in the BIG EAST Championship, advancing to the final for the second time since joining the league in 2006 and first since 2013 when they earned the program's only BIG EAST Championship title.

MARQUETTE'S MAGICAL RUN: Marquette has scratched and clawed its way to the 2018 BIG EAST Championship final after advancing on 21 combined rounds of penalty kicks to get past fifth-seeded Xavier (7-6) at home and top-seeded Creighton (10-9) on the road. Prior to this year, the Golden Eagles had just one match in its 55-year history go to penalty kicks and it was a 2002 semifinal round loss to Cincinnati in the Conference USA tournament.

FIVE EARN ALL-BIG EAST HONORS FOR MARQUETTE: Senior Luis Barraza was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year and joined juniors Luka Prpa and Patrick Seagrist on the first team. Junior Connor Alba was a second team honoree, while Lukas Sunesson garnered All-Freshman Team honors. It was the third-straight all-league honor for Prpa, while the others each earned their first.

KEEPER TANDEM EARN WEEKLY HONORS: Freshman Cedrik Stern earned BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honors after filling in for the suspended Luis Barraza in the regular season finale, making nine saves and recording his first career victory and clean sheet in a 2-0 win over DePaul. Barraza's performance in Saturday's BIG EAST quarterfinal against Xavier also garnered some recognition. His six saves, plus another in the final round of penalties, earned him TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week honors. It was his first career national weekly honor.

MARQUETTE PAYS TRIBUTE TO STEVE ADLARD: Marquette's winningest coach in program history, Steve Adlard, passed away in his sleep on Tuesday, Sept. 18, succumbing to his long battle with cancer. He guided the Golden Eagles to 140 victories in 14 seasons (1992-2005) and a pair of Conference USA regular season titles, including the 1997 team that earned the first NCAA tournament berth in program history. He was named the Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 1993.

Steve was instrumental in making Valley Fields what it is today and was instrumental in establishing the Marquette women's soccer program. He even recruited the first class to take the field in 1993. Steve was more than just a coach on the field. He was a mentor to many individuals and a gifted teacher of this beautiful game. He will be missed. May he rest in peace.

Marquette will honor Coach Adlard by wearing a black armband for the remainder of the season.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: Head coach Louis Bennett and his staff continue to attract talent from all over the world as evidenced by the host of international representation on the roster. This year's roster features players from England, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, as well as eight different states. The flags of all nation's represented by this year's roster are displayed behind both team benches during home matches at Valley Fields.