MSOC Takes on Providence in BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's soccer team earned its second straight BIG EAST tournament bid on Wednesday evening after defeating DePaul on the road for the first time since 2002.

To clinch MU's postseason ticket, Seton Hall lost to Villanova, which catapulted the Golden Eagles into the No. 6 seed at the conference championships.

Head coach Louis Bennett and the Golden Eagles are set to take on the No. 3-seed Providence Friars at 11 a.m. CT Saturday at Chapey Field in Providence, Rhode Island. The Friars have won six of their last seven games and most recently defeated the No. 8-nationally ranked St. John's Red Storm 2-0 on Wednesday evening. It's win or go home for these two teams in Saturday's BIG EAST tournament quarterfinal clash.

STATS/STREAM:
Live stats will be available on Friars.com while the BIG EAST Digital Network will provide live streaming coverage. Mike Mancuso and John Fanta will call the game while Megan Caffrey will be the sideline reporter on BEDN. Fans can watch the match on Caffeine TV, YouTube or through Twitter.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Marquette head coach Louis Bennett won his 91st game as MU head coach against DePaul (Nov. 6).
The Golden Eagles are 4-4 on the road this season, marking the first time since 2013 they've won more than three games away from home in a season.
MU is 8-2 this season when outshooting its opponent and 6-2 when scoring first.
Seven Golden Eagles are up for all-conference honors, including Patrick Seagrist for defensive player of the year and Christian Marquez for freshman of the year.
Senior defender Patrick Seagrist leads the team and conference with seven assists.
Josh Coan netted his team-leading sixth goal of the season on Saturday against Seton Hall.
Four Golden Eagles are tied for second place on the team in goals, as Connor Alba, Manuel Cukaj, Christian Marquez and Lukas Sunesson have netted three apiece.
Lukas Sunesson made the BIG EAST Honor Roll after posting a season-best three points in a 3-2 win over Butler on Oct. 23. He also scored the game-winning goal at DePaul on Nov. 6.
Luka Prpa has 21 career assists, which puts him at a tie for No. 8 all-time in school history.
Sophomore goalkeeper Cedrik Stern has started the last eight games in net for MU, going 4-4.

OPPONENT FORM:
PROVIDENCE 12-5-0 (6-3-0 BIG EAST)
The Providence Friars are led by eighth-year head coach Craig Stewart. In his 10-plus years as a head coach, Stewart has led PC and Franklin Pierce (for three seasons) to six NCAA tournament appearances.

Last year, Stewart led his team to its fifth BIG EAST semifinal appearance during his tenure, including his fifth winning season at the school. They fell 4-0 Georgetown in the semis, putting their record at 10-7-2 on the year. This season, Providence started the year 6-4 before coming on strong and winning six of its past seven games. The Friars most recently defeated No. 8 St. John's on Nov. 6 and they've won their last four BIG EAST games. PC's last loss was Oct. 19, when they lost 2-0 at DePaul.

The Friars are led by senior midfielder Joao Serrano, who leads the team with 14 points and six assists while also chipping in four goals. Paulo Lima leads the team in goals scored with six on the year, including one in each of the past four games.

SERIES HISTORY:
Providence leads the all-time series 9-4-2 against Marquette. The Friars are unbeaten in the past six matchups dating back to 2014, going 4-0-2 in those games. The two teams met in Rhode Island on Oct. 12 of this year and PC came away with a 2-0 win. Last year, PC squeaked out a 1-0 win over MU. The Golden Eagles took four consecutive matchups in the series from 2011-13 but haven't defeated coach Stewart's team since.

MU BIG EAST TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
2018: Defeated Xavier in the quarterfinals (7-6 PK's) and No. 17 Creighton in the semifinals (10-9 PK's) before losing to Georgetown in the BIG EAST championship, 2-0.

2014: Lost to No. 8-ranked Georgetown in the quarterfinals (2-1).

2013: Defeated Butler in the semifinals (1-0 in OT) and Providence for the conference title (3-2).

2012: Defeated Cincinnati in the first round (3-0) and No. 12 Louisville in the quarterfinals (2-1). Lost to No. 4 Georgetown in the semifinals (2-1 in 2OT).

2011: Lost to No. 15 Louisville in the quarterfinals (1-0).

2010: Defeated St. John's in the first round (3-1) before losing to No. 12 Notre Dame in the quarterfinals (2-1).

2009: Lost to No. 13 USF in the first round (2-1).

KEY POINTS:
FOUR GOLDEN EAGLES MAKE BIG EAST HONOR ROLL: Four MU men's soccer players have been named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll this season. Josh Coan earned the first nod on Sept. 13 after scoring two goals in a win over NIU. Griffin Jende made it on Oct. 14 after his brace against Green Bay and Patrick Seagrist earned the honor on Oct. 21 after a stellar defensive effort in a win over Villanova. Finally, Lukas Sunesson made the honor roll after tallying a season-best three points in a 3-2 BIG EAST win over Butler.

SEVEN GOLDEN EAGLES UP FOR ALL-BIG EAST AWARDS: Last season, Luka Prpa and Patrick Seagrist were named First Team All-BIG EAST while Connor Alba made the second team and Lukas Sunesson earned an all-freshman team nod. All four are up for nomination again this year in addition to defender Manuel Cukaj and forwards Josh Coan and Christian Marquez. Seagrist is one of nine candidates for BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, while Marquez is on the short list for top freshman in the conference.

COAN HAVING BREAKTHROUGH SENIOR YEAR: Senior forward Josh Coan is atop numerous offensive statistical categories for his team in 2019. He leads MU in shots (55), shots on goal (31), points (16) and goals (6). He's also tied for second on the team in assists. The Indianapolis, Indiana native also ranks in the top five in the BIG EAST in shots, shots on goal and points.

SUNESSON COMES THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH: Lukas Sunesson scored his third goal of the season in a critical 1-0 win at DePaul on Wednesday afternoon. The sophomore striker out of Taby, Sweden has tallied three points in his last four games dating back to Oct. 23. He had an assist and the game-winning goal against Butler.

PRPA MOVES TO NO. 8 ALL-TIME AT MU IN CAREER ASSISTS: Senior captain Luka Prpa tallied his fourth assist of the season in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Seton Hall. It was his 21st career assist at MU, which puts him in a tie for eighth all-time in school history for career assists.

SEAGRIST TIED FOR BIG EAST LEAD IN ASSISTS: Senior defender Patrick Seagrist has been as dependable as it gets in the first 15 games of the 2019 season. He's been on the pitch for a team-high 1,484 minutes of action. 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 seven assists this season. He's also scored two goals in the past five games and ranks second on the team in points (11).

BENNETT ROTATES STARTING LINEUP: MU has had a plethora of starting lineups in its 17 games this season. 21 different field players have started games for Bennett's squad. Alba and Seagrist are the only players who have started in every game.

SCHEDULE TESTING GOLDEN EAGLES: Three of the Golden Eagles' 17 games this season were against opponents ranked in the current NCAA top-25 poll. Georgetown (No. 3), St. John's (No. 8) and UC Davis (No. 24) are the ranked teams MU has played this season.

UP NEXT:
If MU can advance past the Friars, they'll advance to the BIG EAST tournament semifinals, which will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The winner of this game takes on the No. 2 seed St. John's Red Storm on the road. MU fell 4-0 to St. John's at Valley Fields on Oct. 4.

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).