Friday, September 6
Tampa, Fla.
6 p.m. CT
Marquette University
at
University of South Florida
MU Heads to South Florida for First Road Trip of 2019
9/5/2019 11:15:00 AM | Men's Soccer
The two teams haven't played since 2009
MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's soccer team heads on the road for the first time this season to take on University of South Florida on Friday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be played at Corbett Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
MU started off its season strong with a thrilling, 2-1, double-overtime victory in its season opener over UAB on Friday night but tied UC Davis on Sunday afternoon, 0-0. South Florida is 0-1-0 after falling 1-0 on the road to then No. 1-ranked Maryland.
Led by third-year head coach Bob Butehorn, the Bulls are looking to make it back to the NCAA tournament for the first time under his guidance. USF's last trip to the postseason came in 2016, when they made the first round of the NCAA Championships before losing to Florida Gulf Coast in penalty kicks.
STATS/STREAM:
Live stats will be available for the match on GoUSFBulls.com.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
South Florida (0-1-0, 0-0-0 AAC)
A historically strong program, South Florida has been a regular in the NCAA tournament in the past decade-plus. They've made nine of the past 12 NCAA tournaments, including Elite Eight runs in both 2008 and 2011. The Bulls haven't been back to the tournament since 2016, when former head coach George Kiefer left to coach NC State.
USF will miss its two top scorers from last season in Tomasz Skublak and Alex Zis, who combined to score 14 goals and tally nine assists. These departed seniors were either scored or assisted on 43.8 percent of the team's offensive production in 2018.
Junior defender Avionne Flanagan and sophomore midfielder Adrian Billhardt were named to the Preseason All-AAC team last month. Flanagan made second-team all-conference last year while Billhardt receives his first honor from the league. As a team, USF was picked to finish fourth in the AAC.
Upperclassmen midfielders Emilio Ycaza and Stephen Rudderham are the team's leading returning scorers. Each of them tallied three goals in 2018 and combined for four assists.
SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette and USF haven't played since 2009, when USF defeated MU, 2-1, in Tampa, Florida. The Golden Eagles' last win in the series came on Oct. 23, 2004, in a 1-0 victory on the road. The Bulls lead the all-time series 9-5-1 and have taken two of the past three matchups.
KEY POINTS:
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 33 points in his career. He leads the team and is tied for ninth in the BIG EAST with three points.
CUKAJ COMES UP CLUTCH: After missing all of the 2018 season because of injury, redshirt sophomore Manuel Cukaj didn't waste any time making his mark this year. In the Golden Eagles' first game of the year, Cukaj played all 107 minutes in a double-overtime thriller. In the 107th minute of action, he headed in the game-winner to beat UAB 2-1 off a free kick from Connor Alba. It's the second goal of his career and it helped him earn national honors as he was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week.
WEYMAN IMPRESSES IN GOAL, EARNS FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Redshirt freshman Jackson Weyman picked up his first victory in his first-ever collegiate start in net on Friday for the Golden Eagles. He notched five saves on six shots, including an excellent save to tip a shot heading towards the top left corner over the net in the 63rd minute. He also helped his team earn a clean sheet on Sunday against UC Davis. On Monday, the BIG EAST named him 'Freshman of the Week' for his performances.
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 Sam Thorton, who transferred from Gannon University (Pa.), has started the first two games at forward.
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 recorded 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.
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 here. For groups, call the ticket office at 414-288-4668.
UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles head back to Milwaukee to get set for a match on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7:05 p.m. against Northern Illinois.
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).
MU started off its season strong with a thrilling, 2-1, double-overtime victory in its season opener over UAB on Friday night but tied UC Davis on Sunday afternoon, 0-0. South Florida is 0-1-0 after falling 1-0 on the road to then No. 1-ranked Maryland.
Led by third-year head coach Bob Butehorn, the Bulls are looking to make it back to the NCAA tournament for the first time under his guidance. USF's last trip to the postseason came in 2016, when they made the first round of the NCAA Championships before losing to Florida Gulf Coast in penalty kicks.
STATS/STREAM:
Live stats will be available for the match on GoUSFBulls.com.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- MU returns 11 players who started games in 2018, including four who earned All-BIG EAST honors.
- 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 (80.8 percent) last year.
- Connor Alba, Louis Barraza, Luka Prpa, Patrick Seagrist and Lukas Sunesson all earned All-BIG EAST honors in 2018, marking the most Golden Eagles to garner all-conference honors in the last five seasons.
- Freshman goalkeeper Jackson Weyman was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for his performances this past weekend. He allowed just one goal and saved six shots for a 0.42 GAA.
- Redshirt sophomore defender Manuel Cukaj was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for his performances last weekend.
- MU is 2-7-1 in its last 10 road openers under Coach Bennett.
- Three-time all-conference midfielder Luka Prpa is working his way back from a foot injury and has a chance to make his season debut on Friday evening.
- 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. Georgetown (No. 6) and Xavier (No. 14) are ranked while St. John's and Creighton are receiving votes.
South Florida (0-1-0, 0-0-0 AAC)
A historically strong program, South Florida has been a regular in the NCAA tournament in the past decade-plus. They've made nine of the past 12 NCAA tournaments, including Elite Eight runs in both 2008 and 2011. The Bulls haven't been back to the tournament since 2016, when former head coach George Kiefer left to coach NC State.
USF will miss its two top scorers from last season in Tomasz Skublak and Alex Zis, who combined to score 14 goals and tally nine assists. These departed seniors were either scored or assisted on 43.8 percent of the team's offensive production in 2018.
Junior defender Avionne Flanagan and sophomore midfielder Adrian Billhardt were named to the Preseason All-AAC team last month. Flanagan made second-team all-conference last year while Billhardt receives his first honor from the league. As a team, USF was picked to finish fourth in the AAC.
Upperclassmen midfielders Emilio Ycaza and Stephen Rudderham are the team's leading returning scorers. Each of them tallied three goals in 2018 and combined for four assists.
SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette and USF haven't played since 2009, when USF defeated MU, 2-1, in Tampa, Florida. The Golden Eagles' last win in the series came on Oct. 23, 2004, in a 1-0 victory on the road. The Bulls lead the all-time series 9-5-1 and have taken two of the past three matchups.
KEY POINTS:
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 33 points in his career. He leads the team and is tied for ninth in the BIG EAST with three points.
CUKAJ COMES UP CLUTCH: After missing all of the 2018 season because of injury, redshirt sophomore Manuel Cukaj didn't waste any time making his mark this year. In the Golden Eagles' first game of the year, Cukaj played all 107 minutes in a double-overtime thriller. In the 107th minute of action, he headed in the game-winner to beat UAB 2-1 off a free kick from Connor Alba. It's the second goal of his career and it helped him earn national honors as he was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week.
WEYMAN IMPRESSES IN GOAL, EARNS FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Redshirt freshman Jackson Weyman picked up his first victory in his first-ever collegiate start in net on Friday for the Golden Eagles. He notched five saves on six shots, including an excellent save to tip a shot heading towards the top left corner over the net in the 63rd minute. He also helped his team earn a clean sheet on Sunday against UC Davis. On Monday, the BIG EAST named him 'Freshman of the Week' for his performances.
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 Sam Thorton, who transferred from Gannon University (Pa.), has started the first two games at forward.
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 recorded 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.
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 here. For groups, call the ticket office at 414-288-4668.
UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles head back to Milwaukee to get set for a match on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7:05 p.m. against Northern Illinois.
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).
Players Mentioned
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