MU Begins Conference Play Friday Against Creighton

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's soccer team kicks off BIG EAST play on Friday, Sept. 20 at home against Creighton. The start time is set for 7:35 p.m. and is the second game of a doubleheader with the Marquette women's team.

MU played in the Milwaukee Cup across town at Engelmann Stadium on Tuesday evening, but fell to Milwaukee, 2-1. Josh Coan put the Golden Eagles up 1-0 in the first half with a fantastic finish in the 25th minute, but the Panthers stormed back and scored two goals off set pieces in the second half to win the game.

The Golden Eagles and Blue Jays will meet for the 16th team in the history of the programs on Friday evening. The teams have split the past three matchups, 1-1-1, but Creighton holds a 4-2-1 advantage since it joined the BIG EAST in 2013.

STATS/STREAM:
Live stats will be available on GoMarquette.com and live streaming will be available on the BIG EAST Digital Network, Caffeine TV and YouTube.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Marquette is 5-5-4 overall and 9-4-1 in BIG EAST home openers since joining the conference in 2004 .
Connor Alba (2nd Team), Luka Prpa (1st Team), Patrick Seagrist (1st Team) and Lukas Sunesson (Freshman Team) all returned this year after earning All-BIG EAST honors in 2018.
Freshman goalkeeper Jackson Weyman was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Sept. 2 after posting a 0.42 GAA in his first two games. He's 2-2-1 on the year with a .778 save percentage.
Josh Coan was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll this week after tallying a career-high five points (two goals, one assist) in Friday night's win over NIU. He leads the team with seven points.
Connor Alba notched his second goal of the year Friday. Alba is second on the team with five points.
Three-time all-conference midfielder Luka Prpa played 49 minutes against USF on Sept. 6 in his return from a foot injury. After sitting out Friday against NIU, he returned to the pitch against Milwaukee.
This will be the first of seven BIG EAST games that Marquette will have televised on the BEDN.
Five of the Golden Eagles' 17 games are against opponents either ranked or receiving votes in the NCAA's preseason top-25 poll. Georgetown (No. 3), St. John's (No. 9) and Xavier (No. 19) and are ranked while USF (19) and Villanova (3) are receiving votes.

OPPONENT FORM:
Creighton (3-2-1, 0-0-0 BIG EAST)
The Creighton Blue Jays are led by first-year head coach Johnny Torres. A two-time National Player of the Year and Creighton Hall of Fame selection, Torres spent the past 12 years on the sidelines in Omaha as an assistant before being named head coach on Nov. 12, 2018, replacing Elmar Bolowich.

A program with rich history and tradition, the Blue Jays have been to the NCAA Tournament nine times in the past 12 years. During that time, they've made two College Cup semifinals, three Elite Eight's and seven Sweet 16 appearances. Creighton won the BIG EAST regular season title last season with a 7-1-1 mark in conference play, but their season ended with a shootout loss to Marquette in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals.

Although CU lost leading scorer Sven Koenig (10 goals in 2018), it returns plenty of firepower from a season ago. Luke Haakenson and Ziyad Fares (two goals each) lead a strong group of returners into the 2019 season. Second Team All-BIG EAST Goalkeeper Paul Kruse, who posted a 0.636 goals against average in 2018 (10th nationally), could challenge for all-conference honors again this season.

SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette and Creighton have played 15 times in the history of the two programs and the series is split, 7-7-1. Friday's meeting, the 16th between the two BIG EAST foes, will be the first played in Milwaukee since 2017, when the Golden Eagles took a 4-3 decision. They played twice last year, both in Omaha, with Creighton winning the first and Marquette winning the second in penalty kicks (BIG EAST Semis).

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
Senior defender Patrick Seagrist: "It was unfortunate we couldn't bring the Milwaukee Cup back to Marquette, but we aren't focused on that anymore. We're focused on moving forward collectively as a group and starting BIG EAST play against Creighton tomorrow night. We need to be stronger defensively on set pieces and have better quality on finishing in the final third."

Senior midfielder Luka Prpa: "When it comes to conference play, it's like a fresh start. What's happened before this doesn't matter much. There are no easy games in the BIG EAST, so every team poses a new challenge and that's what we look forward to. The team is really excited and looking to start off on the right foot tomorrow night."

Senior forward Josh Coan: "We know we have to step up our game in BIG EAST play and try to finish as high as we can in the standings. We still have big goals for the season and want to make some noise in the postseason. We have to set the tone tomorrow night."

KEY POINTS:
COAN ON FIRE: Senior midfielder Josh Coan came into Friday's 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 leads the team in shots (22), shots on goal (13), points (7) and goals (3).

MIRSBERGER MAKES MAGIC IN THE MIDFIELD: After redshirting in 2018, redshirt freshman Alex Mirsberger has made his presence felt in the MU lineup this season. In addition to starting all three games at midfield for the Golden Eagles, the Brookfield, Wisconsin, native scored his first collegiate goal on Sept. 6 against South Florida. After teammate Patrick Seagrist made a run towards the endline, he dropped back a pass to Mirsberger, who calmly awaited at the edge of the box. He settled himself and ripped a goal from 25-yards out to tie the game in the 79th minute.

ALBA CONTINUES STRONG PLAY: Senior midfielder Connor Alba has been off to a hot start this season. He netted goals in MU's final two exhibitions and started off the regular season by scoring on a penalty kick and dishing out the game-winning assist in double overtime off a free kick. The Waukesha, Wisconsin, native has accumulated 35 points in his career and is tied for the team in 2019 with five points. He scored his second goal of the season to put MU ahead for good against NIU (Sept. 13).

SENIOR LEADERSHIP FROM SEAGRIST ANCHORS BACK LINE: Senior defender Patrick Seagrist has been as dependable as it gets in the first five games of the 2019 season. He's one of two field players to have been on the pitch for every single minute of action (Manuel Cukaj is the other). After tallying 12 points in his junior year on the way to all-conference honors, he leads the team with two assists this season.

BENNETT ROTATES STARTING LINEUP: MU has used five different starting lineups in its first five games of the 2019 campaign. 15 different field players have started games for Bennett's squad. Alba, Cukaj, Mirsberger, Seagrist, Wegner and Weyman are the six players who have started in every game. Clay Smith, a freshman defender from Chesapeake, Virginia, started his first career game against Milwaukee on Tuesday.

PROMOTIONS:
Marquette is hosting an 'Area 51 Night' at Valley Fields as part of a soccer doubleheader. The MU women's soccer team takes on Northern Illinois at 5 p.m. and men's soccer opens BIG EAST play against Creighton at 7:35 p.m. Fans will receive live updates on the 'storm' and may even spot an extraterrestrial in the crowd!

The doubleheader includes a specially branded stadium cup giveaway for the first 500 fans in attendance. A special truck featuring locally made beverages will be available before each match to those 21-and-older.

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. 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. For groups, call the ticket office at 414-288-4668.

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles will travel to Madison, Wisconsin on Tuesday, Sept. 24 to take on the Wisconsin Badgers at 7 p.m.

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).