MSOC Set for Matchups against UAB and UC Davis

MILWAUKEE – Marquette opens its 56th season in program history on Friday, Aug. 30 at 7:05 p.m. against the UAB Blazers at Valley Fields. The Golden Eagles will take the pitch again less than 48 hours later in a matchup with UC Davis in a Sunday matinee.

Led by 14th-year head coach Louis Bennett, MU returns 14 letterwinners and 10 starters from a team that went 7-9-3 (5-3-1 BIG EAST) and made it to the BIG EAST Championship game. Eight newcomers, including five transfers and freshmen, were brought in to complement a talented group of returners.

MU went 6-3-1 at Valley Fields last year, including a 2-2-1 record against non-conference competition. The Golden Eagles, who are set to take the pitch at Valley Fields nine times this season, will do so twice this weekend.

STATS/STREAM:
Live streaming and live stats will be available for the match on GoMarquette.com.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

MU returns 11 players who started games in 2018, including four who earned All-BIG EAST honors.
Luis Barraza, Luka Prpa and Patrick Seagrist made First Team All-BIG EAST last year, marking the most Golden Eagles to make first team all-conference since 2014.
Taby, Sweden-native Lukas Sunesson made the BIG EAST All-Freshman team in 2018, making it the eighth-straight year MU has had a first-year player earn the honor.
The top five goal scorers from 2018 all return for the Golden Eagles this season. They combined to score 21 of the teams 26 goals last year.
Eight newcomers enter the MU program this fall, including three transfers and five freshmen.
Division II transfer Sam Thornton, who scored a conference-best 11 goals last year, started the final two exhibitions at forward and tallied the game-winning goal against the Milwaukee Torrent on Sunday.
Seven of MU's nine BIG EAST matches in 2019 will be streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
Four of the Golden Eagles' 17 games are against opponents either ranked or receiving votes in the NCAA's preseason top-25 poll.

OPPONENT FORM:
UAB (6-9-3, 2-5-1 Conference USA in 2018)
The UAB Blazers, led by first-year head coach Jeff Kinney, are coming off a season that saw them go 6-9-3 (2-5-1 C-USA). 2018 was a season marked by overtime matches, as six of UAB's 18 games (33.3%) went to extra time. The Blazers went just 1-3-2 in those games.

UAB returns 17 players from last year's team, including six seniors and 2018 Conference USA All-Freshman Team honoree Blake White. Losing five of their top seven scorers, Kinney brought in 15 newcomers this season, including seven transfers and eight freshmen. The Blazers return 12 of their 22 (54.5%) goals from last season.

Kinney, who helped lead Va. Tech to three-straight NCAA tournament appearances as an assistant coach, will look to get UAB back to the postseason for the first time since 2014.

SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette and UAB will be meeting for the 20th time in the history of the two programs on Friday evening. The Blazers currently lead the series 10-9-0, winning the past two matchups. MU and UAB haven't played since 2004, however, and the Golden Eagles last win in the series came in 2002 in a 2-1 overtime victory at Valley Fields.

OPPONENT FORM:
UC Davis (11-4-5, 3-3-1 Big West)
Entering his 23^rdseason as the head coach at UC Davis, Dwayne Shaffer has had an extended run of consistent success with the Aggies. Since leading the transition of UCD to Divison I in 2007, Shaffer has helped his team earn three NCAA tournament bids, including two in their first couple years in the Big West.

Last season, UC Davis won 11 games for the second time in as many seasons. Like Marquette, UCD made it to the conference tournament championship game. They fell in a shootout, missing the NCAA tournament by just one game.

This season, the Aggies return eight of their top 10 scorers and 25 of their 27 (92.5%) goals. Senior Adam Mickelson lead the team with 14 points (four goals, six assists), while fellow senior Dylan Wood and sophomores Robert Mejia and Andy Velasquez scored three goals each in 2018.

SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette and UC Davis have never previously met.

KEY POINTS:
MU PICKED FOURTH, SEAGRIST AND PRPA EARN PRESEASON HONORS: Marquette's fourth-place selection by the coaches was bolstered by a pair of Golden Eagles on the preseason All-BIG EAST team, senior midfielder Luka Prpa and senior defender Patrick Seagrist. A Wind Lake, Wisconsin native, Prpa was an All-BIG EAST First Team selection in 2018, earning all-league accolades for the third time. He scored six goals and six assists for 18 points. Seagrist, who hails from Streamwood, Illinois, was also an All-BIG EAST First Team honoree in 2018 and was BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week four times last season.

GOLDEN EAGLES GO UNBEATEN IN EXHIBITION PLAY: After battling to a 0-0 draw in the exhibition opener against Loyola Chicago, MU posted 2-1 victories in home games against No. 9 Notre Dame and the Milwaukee Torrent, a local semi-pro team. Senior forward Connor Alba scored goals in each of the final two friendlies while newcomers Christian Marquez and Sam Thornton netted one apiece. In the three games, the Golden Eagles outshot their opposition 47-27.

TRANSFERS HOPE TO MAKE AN IMPACT: The Golden Eagles added three new transfers in the offseason to bolster a strong group of returners in 2019.

Luca Cardamone, a junior from Ascoli Piceno, Italy, is expected to help the team's depth on the backline. He played his first two seasons at Bethel University (Ind.).
Nick Guido, a sophomore forward out of Matthews, N.C., played sparingly for South Carolina in his freshman year. Guido will compete for playing time at the forward position.
The third transfer is Sam Thornton, a Rotherham, England native who led the PSAC with 11 goals last year at Gannon University (Pa.). He started the past two exhibitions and scored the game-winning goal on Sunday against the Milwaukee Torrent.

KEEPER POSITION OPEN AS SEASON BEGINS: Sophomore keeper Cedrik Stern is the only returning player on the roster with starting experience in goal. He played in five games in 2018, starting four, and went 1-3 overall. He made 19 saves last year and posted a .704 save percentage. Redshirt freshman Jackson Weyman has also come on strong, splitting time with Stern in each of the past two exhibition matches.

MU BOASTS INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: This year's roster features players from England (2), Germany (2), Italy (2) and Sweden (1), as well as seven different states. Head coach Louis Bennett has shown he can bring players from all around the world to MU. The flags of all nations represented by this year's roster are displayed behind both team benches during home matches at Valley Fields.

NEWCOMERS SET TO COMPETE: Although the Golden Eagles return 11 players with significant starting experience in 2019, several newcomers have impressed in the early exhibition matches. Overall, 12 newcomers, including two transfers and 10 freshmen, have stepped on the pitch thus far for MU. Freshman forward Christian Marquez scored his first career collegiate goal in an exhibition win over Notre Dame on a header from the right side of the box. Junior transfer Sam Thorton, who started the past two exhibitions, netted the game-winning goal in a 2-1 exhibition triumph over Milwaukee Torrent.

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles head to Florida to take on the University of South Florida Bulls on Friday, Sept. 6. The match is set for a 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT start.

TICKETS:
Tickets for all regular season home games are on sale now. Single game tickets are priced at $5 while groups of fifteen-or-more are $2 per person. Season tickets are $45 and include admission to all games as well as an exclusive Marquette Soccer scarf.

Single game and season tickets are available online here. 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).

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Players Mentioned

Connor Alba

Luis Barraza

Luca Cardamone

Nick Guido

Christian Marquez

Luka Prpa

Patrick Seagrist

Cedrik Stern

Lukas Sunesson

Sam Thornton

Jackson Weyman