MU to Take on Villanova in Key Road Test

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's soccer team hits the East Coast for the second consecutive weekend when they travel to Pennsylvania to take on the Villanova Wildcats on Saturday, Oct. 19.

First touch from the Higgins Soccer Complex is set for noon Central time. Villanova will have live stats and a live stream available at Villanova.com.

Villanova will be looking to avenge last year's 3-0 loss to the Golden Eagles at Valley Fields, when they were ranked as the No. 13 team in the country. Connor Alba, Patrick Seagrist and Josh Coan tallied goals for MU in the win. The Wildcats (1-2-1 BIG EAST) lead the Golden Eagles (1-3-0 BIG EAST) by one point in the standings, so Saturday's game is a key matchup for both teams as they jockey for positioning in the BIG EAST.

STATS/STREAM:
Live stats and live stream will be available on Villanova.com.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Marquette scored six goals against Green Bay on Oct. 8, its first time scoring six goals in a game since a 6-0 win against Valparaiso on Sept. 3, 1994.
The Golden Eagles are 2-3 on the road this season. After dropping road tilts to USF and Milwaukee, they won two straight against Wisconsin and BIG EAST foe Xavier before falling to Providence Saturday.
MU has won four of its last eight road games dating back to 2018.
Redshirt junior Griffin Jende earned his first career start on Tuesday and scored the first two goals of his MU career. He was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll on Monday morning.
Defender Manuel Cukaj continued his breakout season Tuesday night, scoring two goals. He's tied for second on the team in goals (3) and sits in fourth place in points (6).
Senior defender Patrick Seagrist leads the team with six assists, and he tallied his first goal Oct. 8 against Green Bay.
18 different Golden Eagles have started in the first 12 games and three have started in every game.
Josh Coan netted his team-leading fifth goal of the season against Saint Louis on Oct. 1.
True freshman Christian Marquez netted his third goal of the year on Oct. 8. He earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Sept. 30 after scoring two game-winners against Wisconsin and Xavier.
Sophomore goalkeeper Cedrik Stern has started the past two games in net for MU after not playing in the first nine games. He's 1-2 on the year and tied a career-high with nine saves on Saturday night.

OPPONENT FORM:
VILLANOVA 8-4-1 (1-2-1 BIG EAST)
The Villanova Wildcats are led by 12th-year head coach Tom Carlin. In his 11-plus years as a head coach at VU, Carlin has led his teams to a combined record of 101-96-1. In 2016, he led 'Nova to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance after totaling a 10-7-3 record. That year they defeated nationally ranked Creighton and Boston College.

Last year, Carlin had the Wildcats out to a 4-1 start and a No. 13 ranking before they ran into Marquette, falling 3-0 at Valley Fields. The team went on to finish 7-8-2 (2-6-1 BIG EAST), narrowly missing out on the BIG EAST tournament.

This season, Villanova is led by senior midfielder Evan Vare and freshman standout Lyam MacKinnon. Vare leads the team in goals (3) while MacKinnon leads the Wildcats in points (8) and assists (4). Eight different players have scored goals for 'Nova this season.

SERIES HISTORY:
Villanova leads the all-time series between the two teams 4-2-1. Marquette's 3-0 win in last year's matchup was its first victory in the series since 2013. The Wildcats are 3-1-1 in the last five meetings between the two teams. They took a 3-1 victory last time the two teams met at Villanova in 2017. MU will be looking for its second win ever on the road against the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon and first since a 1-0 OT win on Oct. 5, 2013.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
Head Coach Louis Bennett: "Any chance we get to go on the road and pick up three points in the BIG EAST, it's a golden opportunity. At this time of the season, everyone is trying to pick up points and move up in the standings, so we'll certainly have our work cut out for us."

KEY POINTS:
COAN RANKS THIRD IN BIG EAST IN SCORING: Senior midfielder Josh Coan came into the Sept. 13 game against NIU without any points on the season. He quickly changed that, notching career-highs in points (5) and goals (2) in a game. He had a hand in all three goals, scoring two off set pieces and assisting on Connor Alba's goal in the 31st minute. He also scored the team's only goal in the Milwaukee Cup. He buried the game-tying goal vs. Xavier on Sept. 27 and netted his fifth goal of the year against Saint Louis (Oct. 1). He leads the team in shots (37), shots on goal (21), points (12) and goals (5). Coan ranks third in the BIG EAST in goals in 2019.

MARQUEZ MAKES HIS MARK: Christian Marquez scored his first goal of the season on Sept. 24 at Wisconsin. The goal, which put MU up 1-0 on UW, ended up being the game-winner as Marquez and his team were able to keep a clean sheet. He followed it up with another game-winner, this time at BIG EAST foe Xavier, in a 2-1 win on Sept. 27. On Sept. 30, he was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for his performances. Marquez scored his third goal of the year and added an assist in a 6-1 win over Green Bay.

PRPA ENTERS TOP-10 IN CAREER ASSISTS: Senior captain Luka Prpa, the three-time all-conference honoree who sits in the top-15 all-time at Marquette with 55 career points, netted his first goal of the 2019 season against Saint Louis (Oct. 1). The goal came off a rebound from a penalty kick when the keeper saved his PK attempt but Prpa hustled to the net for a second chance and tapped in his own rebound. The senior tallied two assists vs. Green Bay, giving him 19 in his career, putting him at No. 10 all-time at MU.

SEAGRIST RANKS SECOND IN BIG EAST IN ASSISTS: Senior defender Patrick Seagrist has been as dependable as it gets in the first 12 games of the 2019 season. He's been on the pitch for almost every minute of action (only sitting 52 minutes). After tallying 12 points in his junior year on the way to all-conference honors, he leads the team and ranks second in the BIG EAST with six assists this season. He also netted his first goal of the year Oct. 8 against Green Bay.

CUKAJ BREAKS OUT AGAIN: After missing all of the 2018 season because of injury, redshirt sophomore Manuel Cukaj didn't waste any time making his mark this year. In the Golden Eagles' first game of the year, Cukaj played all 107 minutes in a double-overtime thriller. In the 107th minute of action, he headed in the game-winner to beat UAB 2-1 off a free kick from Connor Alba. It's the second goal of his career and it helped him earn national honors as he was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week. Cukaj scored a single-game career-high of two goals on Tuesday against Green Bay and he's tied for second on the team with three goals in 2019.

JENDE EARNS NOD FROM BIG EAST: Coming into the Oct. 8 game against Green Bay, redshirt junior forward Griffin Jende had played just 79 career minutes at MU. Coach Bennett gave him the nod that night in his first career start, and he didn't disappoint. Jende scored the team's first and third goals of the game, leading the way in a 6-1 rout of the Phoenix. For his two-goal effort, the first points of his career, he was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll on Oct. 14.

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles will head back to Milwaukee to prepare for another BIG EAST opponent in the Butler Bulldogs. First touch is set for 7:03 p.m. at Valley Fields on Wednesday, Oct. 23 and the match will be televised by the BIG EAST Digital Network.

TICKETS:
Tickets for the two regular season home games are on sale. Single game tickets are priced at $5 while groups of fifteen-or-more are $2 per person. For groups, call the ticket office at 414-288-4668.

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).

Players Mentioned

Connor Alba

Josh Coan

Manuel Cukaj

Griffin Jende

Christian Marquez

Luka Prpa

Patrick Seagrist

Cedrik Stern

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