Golden Eagles Host No. 12 St. John's on Friday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's soccer team looks to bounce back from a non-conference loss to Saint Louis on Tuesday as the No. 12 St. John's Red Storm travels to Milwaukee for a BIG EAST battle.

St. John's enters with an 8-1-0 record (2-0-0 BIG EAST), while the Golden Eagles come into Friday's match with a 4-4-1 mark (1-1-0 BIG EAST). First touch is set for 7:03 p.m. Central time on Friday Oct. 4 at Valley Fields. The game will be shown live on the BIG EAST Digital Network.

Friday's meeting between MU and SJU will be the 10th all-time between the two programs. The teams have played in each of the past six seasons. The Golden Eagles have taken victories in each of the past two years against the Red Storm, including a decisive 4-0 win at Valley Fields last season.

MU is 3-0-3 in the past six meetings and hasn't dropped a game in the series since Sept. 21, 2008 (1-0 loss at Valley Fields).

STATS/STREAM:
Live stats will be available on GoMarquette.com while the game will be televised on the BIG EAST Digital Network through YouTube and Caffeine TV.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Marquette is 3-0-2 in the past five games against St. John's and have won the past two matchups in the series by a combined score of 5-0.
The Golden Eagles had two top-25 victories last year, including one at home against No. 13 Villanova. St. John's will be the first ranked team MU will play this season.
Three-time all-conference midfielder Luka Prpa scored his first goal of the season Tuesday night against Saint Louis. His penalty kick try was saved but he followed his shot and tapped in the rebound.
Freshman Christian Marquez earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week after scoring game-winning goals against both Wisconsin and Xavier last week. They were his first two goals of his career at MU.
Defender Patrick Seagrist leads the team with five assists in 2019.
15 different Golden Eagles have started in the first nine games and six have started every game.
Josh Coan netted his team-leading fifth goal of the season against Saint Louis Tuesday evening.
Lukas Sunesson and Christian Marquez scored their first goals of the season in a 2-0 win over UW.
Freshman keeper Jackson Weyman earned BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week after he posted his second clean sheet of the season last week at Wisconsin and held Xavier to one goal in a 2-1 win.

OPPONENT FORM:
ST. JOHN'S (8-1-0, 2-0-0 BIG EAST)
The St. John's Red Storm are led by Dr. David Masur, who entered his 28th season as the head coach in 2019. His career record at SJU is 363-153-89 and he's led the Red Storm to one national title (1996), four NCAA College Cups, and 20 NCAA tournaments appearances.

His 2018 team finished the season with a 7-8-3 record, bowing out in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament. SJU's best win last year came at No. 24 Georgetown on Oct. 27, when they took home a 1-0 win on the road. Dr. Masur is looking to bring his team back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013 this season.

SJU's top point-getters are Niko Petridis (11) and Tani Oluwaseyi (9), who are currently tied for the team lead with four goals each. Petridis is tied for the BIG EAST lead in points while both him and Oluwaseyi are tied for third in goals. As a team, the Red Storm have had 10 different players score this season and are second in the conference, behind only Georgetown, in goals (19).

SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette and St. John's have met nine times in the history of the two programs, with all of the matchups occurring between 2005 and 2018. The Golden Eagles are 3-0-2 in the past five matchups against the Red Storm, including a 4-0 victory last season when the two teams met in Milwaukee. MU also defeated SJU in 2017 in Queens, taking a 1-0 double overtime win. SJU hasn't beaten MU since Sept. 21, 2008, when they took a 1-0 overtime victory at Valley Fields.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
Head Coach Louis Bennett: "We're going to prepare as we always do. Tuesday's loss is behind us and we're completely focused on St. John's. We've absorbed what we've needed to, took the positive from the last game, and we're ready to get back to playing our game Friday night."

KEY POINTS:
COAN LEADING MU: Senior midfielder Josh Coan came into the Sept. 13 game against NIU without any points on the season. He quickly changed that, notching career-high's 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 also 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 (33), shots on goal (19), points (11) and goals (5).

SUNESSON BREAKS THROUGH AT WISCONSIN: After finishing second on the team with five goals in 2018, sophomore Lukas Sunesson struggled to find the net in his first six games this season. He posted a season-high five shots (two on goal) against Creighton but couldn't bury any of his opportunities. That changed in a 2-0 win at Wisconsin, however, as he outran the Badger defense down the left sideline and finished with his left foot to seal a 2-0 victory and score his first goal of the year.

MARQUEZ MAKES HIS MARK: Like his teammate and fellow forward Lukas Sunesson, Christian Marquez was able to score his first goal of the season on Sept. 24 at Wisconsin. The Berwyn, Illinois native volleyed a pass from Patrick Seagrist into the right corner of the net to score his first career goal as a Golden Eagle. 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.

WEYMAN EARNS SECOND BIG EAST HONOR: During his first week as the starting keeper at MU, Jackson Weyman earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for his performances. He accumulated his second weekly honor after leading the Golden Eagles to a 2-0 record on the road this past week. He posted his second clean sheet of 2019 with a 2-0 win (two saves) at Wisconsin Tuesday and allowed just one goal in a 2-1 win at Xavier on Friday evening. On Sept. 30, the conference named him BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week.

PRPA PUTS ONE HOME: Senior captain Luka Prpa, the three-time all-conference honoree who sits in the top-15 all-time at Marquette with 53 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 from Wind Lake, Wisconsin now has 18 career goals as a Golden Eagle.

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles will have a few days off before another non-conference home match on Tuesday, Oct. 8 against Green Bay at Valley Fields. First touch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be streamed on GoMarquette.com

TICKETS:
Tickets for all regular season home games are on sale. Single game tickets are priced at $5 while groups of fifteen-or-more are $2 per person. Single game and season tickets are available online. 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).

Marquette University Athletics

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Jackson Weyman

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