Golden Eagles Resume BIG EAST Competition at Xavier

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's soccer team heads back on the road this weekend against BIG EAST foe Xavier. The game is set for 6 p.m. Central time at the Xavier Soccer Complex. Both the Golden Eagles and Musketeers are coming off mid-week road wins against Wisconsin and IUPUI, respectively.

Both teams are looking to get on track in BIG EAST competition, as MU dropped its opener on Friday against Creighton, while XU dropped its match against St. John's. The Musketeers were ranked as high as the No. 19 team in the country until this week, but they're still receiving votes (18) in the U.S. Soccer Coaches Poll.

Friday's meeting between MU and XU will be the 11th all-time between the two programs, dating back to 1987. Coach Bennett's teams taken three of the last four matchups with the Musketeers, including a thrilling victory in penalty kicks in last year's BIG EAST quarterfinals at Valley Fields.

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

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

MU has won two of its last three BIG EAST road games and three of its last six road games overall.
The Golden Eagles are looking for their first win at Xavier since they took a 1-0 victory on Sept. 28, 2013.
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.
Three-time all-conference midfielder Luka Prpa played a season-high 58 minutes Tuesday night against Wisconsin in his first start of the season.
Lukas Sunesson and Christian Marquez scored their first goals of the season in a 2-0 win over UW.
Defender Patrick Seagrist tallied two assists against the Badgers and leads the team with four in 2019.
15 different Golden Eagles have started in the first three games and six have started every game.
Josh Coan was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll Sept. 16 after tallying a career-high five points (two goals, one assist) in a win over NIU (Sept. 13). He leads the team with seven points.
Connor Alba notched his second goal of the year against NIU. He's No. 2 on the team with five points.
Freshman keeper Jackson Weyman earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week after the first two games of the season (Sept. 2). He posted a 0.50 GAA and went 1-0-1 in the first weekend of 2019.

OPPONENT FORM:
XAVIER (4-2-1, 0-1-0 BIG EAST)
The Xavier Musketeers are led by 10th-year head coach Andy Fleming. The winningest coach in XU history, Fleming holds a career record of 102-57-31. In his 21 years as a coach, his teams have only experienced two losing seasons and in his first six seasons at XU (2010-2015), his teams have won at least 10 games each year.

The Musketeers are coming off a 6-7-6 2018 season and saw their postseason run end at the hands of Marquette in the BIG EAST quarterfinals. XU is 4-2-1 so far in 2019 and was ranked as the No. 19 team in the country in the NCAA U.S. Soccer Coaches Poll up until this week. They started the season with a 2-0 win over then No. 3 Akron, who made it to the College Cup Final last season, to garner national attention.

XU is led by Sergi Samson (five goals, one assist) and Karsen Henderlong (five goals), who have combined to score 10 of the team's 13 goals on the season (76.9 percent). Freshman Noah Boffo leads the team with three assists so far in 2019.

SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette and Xavier have met 10 times in the history of the two programs, with their first meeting taking place in 1987. The Golden Eagles lead the overall series 6-3-1 and have won three of the past four matchups.

Xavier has won the past two meetings in Cincinnati, however, taking 1-0 victories in both 2017 and 2015. Coach Bennett and company will be looking for their first win at the XU Soccer Complex since Sept. 28, 2013. MU won both matchups at Valley Fields between the two in 2018.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
Head Coach Louis Bennett: "We got back to playing our brand of soccer on Tuesday at Wisconsin and we were dead set on that. We want to continue playing our game on Friday at Xavier and try to come back with another road win. In the big picture, road wins are crucial and we have to try and get another one tomorrow night."

Senior forward Josh Coan: "I think the team has a good mentality going into this game. We took some positives and learned from our mistakes last week and showed that against Wisconsin. We're feeling confident and ready to keep the momentum going."

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 leads the team in shots (26), shots on goal (15), points (7) and goals (3).

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.

SENIOR ANCHORS BACK LINE: Senior defender Patrick Seagrist has been as dependable as it gets in the first seven games of the 2019 season. He's been on the pitch for almost every minute of action (only sitting eight minutes). After tallying 12 points in his junior year on the way to all-conference honors, he leads the team with four assists this season.

BENNETT ROTATES STARTING LINEUP: MU has used seven different starting lineups in its first seven games of the 2019 campaign. 16 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 Sept. 17.

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles head home to prepare for two games at Valley Fields next week. They'll host Saint Louis on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. and No. 9 St. John's on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7:03 p.m.

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.

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).