MSOC Ready to Take on Northern Illinois

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette men's soccer team won its spring 2021 opener in thrilling fashion with a 1-0 golden goal victory over Loyola Chicago on Wednesday evening. The Golden Eagles will look to follow their win up with another strong performance against the Northern Illinois Huskies on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 11 a.m. Central time. Live stream and stats will be on GoMarquette.com and Dan Avington (play-by-play) will be on the call.

In 2019, The Golden Eagles finished 8-9-1 and clinched their second straight BIG EAST tournament bid. MU had four All-BIG EAST selections, including a first, second and two third team selections. Two of the team's players, Patrick Seagrist and Luka Prpa, were selected in the first and second rounds, respectively, in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.

Head coach Louis Bennett will lead the Marquette men's soccer team for the 15th consecutive season in the spring of 2021. He has 92 career wins at the helm of MU and will attempt to become the second coach in school history to hit the 100 career win mark (Steve Adlard, 1992-05, 140 wins).

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

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Marquette head coach Louis Bennett won his 92nd game as MU head coach against Loyola (Feb. 3).
Golden Eagle alum Danny Jarosz ('18) joined the coaching staff last year and is entering his first year as an assistant coach. He played and started in 13 games during his time as a student-athlete.
The Golden Eagles return six starters and 15 letterwinners from their 2019 team.
MU adds 13 newcomers to the fold this season, including five forwards, three midfielders, four defenders and a goalkeeper.
One of those newcomers, freshman Beto Soto, scored the game-winning goal in overtime to beat Loyola Chicago. He received a through ball from Christian Marquez on the goal.
Departed seniors Connor Alba, Josh Coan, Luka Prpa and Patrick Seagrist were all named to All-BIG EAST teams last year. They also combined to score 48% (12-of-25) of the team's goals last year.
The Golden Eagles will have to replace 64.9% of their points (48-of-74) from a season ago.
MU went 8-2 in 2019 when outshooting its opponent and 6-2 when scoring first.
MU's leading returning scorers are Manuel Cukaj, Christian Marquez and Lukas Sunesson, who each netted three apiece in 2019. Alex Mirsberger (1 goal) is the only other rostered player to have scored a collegiate goal.
Goalkeepers Cedrik Stern (4-5) and Jackson Weyman (4-4-1) each started nine games in net in 2019. Weyman started the first game on Wednesday vs. LC, but Gannon University (Pa.) transfer Chandler Hallwood played the second half and overtime, saving three shots.

OPPONENT FORM:
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (0-0-0, 0-0-0 MAC)
Northern Illinois is led by fourth-year head coach Ryan Swan. Despite the loss of last season's leading scorer Jan Maertins to graduation, the Huskies return four of their top-five scorers, highlighted by twin brothers Anthony and Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais). Anthony tallied 15 points in 2019, with five goals and five assists, while Nick had 14 points via six goals and two assists.

Senior Alex Welch (Carmarthen, Wales/King's College Madrid) was NIU's fourth-leading scorer in the last campaign with 13 points (three goals, seven assists) while junior Miguel Maynez Jr. (El Paso, Texas/New Mexico) also cracked the top-five a year ago with seven points (three goals, one assist). NIU also returns sophomore Enrique Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Virginia) whose overtime goal against Milwaukee last season was voted the 2019-20 NIU Athletics Play of the Year.

NIU went 7-10-1 (2-3 MAC) in 2019. Sunday's trip to Marquette the season-opener for NIU and is the first of four non-conference games for NIU before the Huskies begin league play on March 6 at West Virginia. The conference slate takes on a whole different look this season with a 10-game double round-robin schedule, and no conference tournament.

SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette leads the all-time series against Northern Illinois 16-10-2. MU has won four of the past five and 10 of the last 12 in the series. The Golden Eagles won last year's matchup, 3-1, at Valley Fields. NIU struck first before MU scored three unanswered goals. Departed senior Josh Coan netted a brace, scoring both goals off free kicks.

LAST TIME OUT:
Freshman striker Beto Soto scored the golden goal 2:37 into the first overtime period to help the Marquette University men's soccer team open its spring 2021 campaign with a 1-0 victory over Loyola Chicago. Soto received a beautiful through ball from sophomore Christian Marquez and delivered a left-footed strike past Loyola's diving keeper into the lower left corner of the net, which prompted a raucous celebration from the MU bench.

KEY POINTS:
MU PICKED FOURTH IN BIG EAST MIDWEST DIVISION:

The Conference schedule will feature two geographic divisions this spring, with the Hoyas as the unanimous favorite in the East Division and the Bulldogs picked to win the Midwest Division.
The Marquette men's soccer team was picked to finish fourth in the Midwest Division in the BIG EAST Preseason Men's Soccer poll. Along with Butler, Creighton and Xavier were picked to finish ahead of MU in the Midwest standings.

2019 SEASON RECAP:

MU went 8-9-1 (4-5 BIG EAST) and made its second consecutive BIG EAST tournament trip in 2019. The Golden Eagles were the No. 6 seed and fell in the first round to Providence, 3-0. MU posted conference road wins at DePaul, Xavier and Villanova while defeating Butler at home. MU's top non-conference win came on Sept. 24 in a 2-0 win at Wisconsin.

FOUR GOLDEN EAGLES MAKE ALL-BIG EAST IN 2019:

Defender Patrick Seagrist (2G-7A) made the first team while Luka Prpa (1G-4A) made the second team. Leading scorer Josh Coan (6G-4A) and fellow senior Connor Alba (3G-3A) made the third team. All four graduated from Marquette and are playing professionally.

MLS SUPERDRAFT SELECTS PRPA AND SEAGRIST:

Seagrist was taken with the 10th pick in the first round by the New York Red Bulls while Prpa went in the second round to the Houston Dynamo with the 34th pick overall. These draft results marked the first time in program history that the Golden Eagles had two players drafted in the first two rounds of the SuperDraft in the same season.
Seagrist was the third Golden Eagle in program history to be drafted in the first round and the highest pick in program history at No. 10 overall. Prpa became the second former MU player to go in the second round, joining Calum Mallace, who was a second-round pick in 2012.
Seagrist and Prpa were the sixth and seventh players, respectively, to be drafted in the Louis Bennett era at Marquette.

MU BOASTS INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR:

This year's roster features players from England (3), Brazil (2), Germany (2), Italy (2) and Sweden (1), as well as six 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 typically displayed behind team benches during home matches at Valley Fields.

NEWCOMERS SET TO COMPETE:

Head coach Louis Bennett has announced 13 signees for the 2020 recruiting class. The group includes eight freshmen and five transfers. Positionally, the team adds five forwards, three midfielders, four defenders and a goalkeeper.
"We're losing several guys from a very successful senior class," Bennett said. "Our staff worked hard to find a bevy of talented players who we can develop to step in and fill some holes in our roster. We're excited about the talent and versatility of this group."
MU will be looking to replace six seniors from last season, including all four All-BIG EAST honorees. Griffin Jende (two goals) also departed.

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles host Saint Louis on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 4 p.m. Central time at Valley Fields. The game will be streamed on GoMarquette.com.

TICKETS:
As of now, no tickets will be sold for the spring 2021 season. Fans are not going to be permitted for home games inside the Valley Fields bubble for at least the first month of the season.

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).