MSOC Hosts Xavier on Wednesday Morning

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette men's soccer team heads back home after a two-game road swing to take on the Xavier Musketeers. First touch is set for 11 a.m. Central time at Valley Fields on Wednesday, March 17.

GoMarquette.com will once again provide live stats and a live stream. Patrick Reed (play-by-play) will be on the call.

The Golden Eagles (4-1-1, 1-1-1 BIG EAST) will look to build off their strong start to the season on Wednesday and make a move in the BIG EAST standings. MU has outscored its opponents 7-3 through six games and has gotten scoring contributions from six different players. Junior striker Lukas Sunesson is in the midst of a breakout season, leading the team and ranking second in the BIG EAST with four goals. He's joined up front by budding star Beto Soto, a freshman from Tomball, Texas who's scored two game-winning goals already in 2021.

Xavier (3-4-1, 0-2-1 BIG EAST) comes into the game looking to win its first conference match of the spring while MU is looking to move up into third place in a heated Midwest Division race.

Head Coach Louis Bennett looks to push towards being the second coach in school history to hit the 100-career win mark (Steve Adlard, 1992-05, 140 wins), by clinching his 96th win on Wednesday.

STATS/STREAM:
Head to GoMarquette.com for live stats and video. Follow our Twitter page @MarquetteSoccer for live in-game updates.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Marquette head coach Louis Bennett won his 95th game as the Marquette University head coach against DePaul on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles have started the season 4-1 for the first time since 2012 and the second time in Coach Bennett's tenure.
MU is 7-2-3 in the last 12 overtime games under Coach Bennett.
Lukas Sunesson was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll (March 8) after netting a brace at DePaul.
Chandler Hallwood was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the week (Feb. 15) and Zyan Andrade was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll and College Soccer News Team of the Week (Feb. 15).
Oliver Posarelli was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Men's Team for the Week (Feb. 16).
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.
MU has won its first three games in 1-0 overtime thrillers. First, freshman Beto Soto scored the game-winner from Christian Marquez in the season-opener over Loyola Chicago. Lukas Sunesson was the hero vs. NIU, netting the winner off an Alex Mirsberger cross. Zyan Andrade scored the golden goal against on a left-footed strike off a loft from Alex Mirsberger against Saint Louis.
MU returns six starters and 15 letterwinners from their 2019 team. They also added 13 newcomers.
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.

OPPONENT FORM:
XAVIER (3-4-1, 0-2-1 BIG EAST)
Xavier head coach Andy Fleming recently announced his contract extension through the end of the 2023 season. He has a 109-66-32 (.604) overall record in 11 seasons with the Musketeers, leading the program to four NCAA Tournaments during that stretch.

The Musketeers return four of their six leading scorers from the 2019 season. Karsen Henderlong ranked second on the team with seven goals (three game-winning goals) to go along with one assist. Noah Boffo added eight points (two goals; four assists), while Taylor Crull chipped in two goals.

XU played its first six matches on the road this season. The Musketeers also played three matches at the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Ind. The team finished 8-8-1 (3-6-0 BIG EAST) in 2019.

SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette holds the edge in the all-time series, 7-3-1. MU won the first four games of the series, one which began in 1987. The Golden Eagles have also gone 3-1-1 in the past five games, including a 2-1 come-from-behind win in Cincinnati last year. Josh Coan and Christian Marquez netted the goals for MU. The last time the two teams played in Milwaukee was on Nov. 3, 2018 in the BIG EAST tournament quarterfinals. After being tied 2-2 in regulation, MU won 7-6 in PK's.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Marquette men's soccer team tied the Butler Bulldogs 0-0 on Wednesday afternoon in Indianapolis. For the fifth time in six games, MU (4-1-1, 1-1-1 BIG EAST) found itself in an overtime battle. For only the first time this season, the Golden Eagles had a game end in a draw.

MU strikers Lukas Sunesson (2 shots) and Beto Soto (3 shots) combined for five shots, four of which came on goal. Redshirt freshman defender Jonathan Robinson had two late scoring chances as well, with one of his shots sailing wide and the other being blocked by a Bulldog defender. Goalkeeper Chandler Hallwood kept his fourth clean sheet in six games, saving seven shots.

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 Butler 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.

MU STARTS OFF 2021 WITH THREE OVERTIME VICTORIES:

The Golden Eagles have needed extra time for their three victories to start the spring 2021 season. All three games against Loyola Chicago, Northern Illinois and Saint Louis were tied 0-0 before being decided in the first overtime period.
Freshman striker Beto Soto was the hero in game one, taking a through-ball from Christian Marquez for a left-footed strike past the diving keeper.
Junior Lukas Sunesson netted his ninth career goal to defeat Northern Illinois on Feb. 7, taking a one-touch goal off a marvelous cross from Alex Mirsberger five minutes into the first overtime.
Junior midfielder transfer Zyan Andrade scored his first career goal in a win over Saint Louis on Feb. 13 MU's first win over the Billikens since 2002.
MU finally met its overtime match against Creighton on Feb. 20, falling 2-1 in the 105th minute.
The Golden Eagles are 3-2-2 in their past seven overtime games under Bennett.

SUNESSON MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF:

A junior from Taby, Sweden, Lukas Sunesson is Marquette's most productive returning scorer in 2021. In 2018 he had five goals, which put him second on the team. His performance as a freshman earned him a spot on the BIG EAST All-Freshman team and he made an appearance on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
Last year, he played in all 18 games and tied for second on the team with three goals to go along with one assist. This spring he has huge goals he wants to accomplish and he's well on his way to hitting them.
Sunesson got on the board with his first goal of 2021 after a one-touch goal off a cross from Mirsberger sealed MU's victory over NIU on Feb. 7. He scored his team-leading second goal of the year in the Feb. 20 loss to Creighton. He then went on to net a brace in a 3-1 win at DePaul.

SOTO MAKING A STATEMENT:

A freshman from Tomball, Texas, striker Beto Soto has taken the BIG EAST by storm in 2021. He's scored two goals in six games thus far, both of which were eventual game-winning goals.
His first one came in the season opener against Loyola Chicago as he scored the Golden Goal to help MU win 1-0 in OT. His second was a free kick that curled inside the right post to put MU up 2-1 on March 6 at DePaul. He's started in every game and is tied for the team lead with 11 SOG.

CHANDLER HALLWOOD STANDING OUT AT KEEPER:

Sophomore keeper Chandler Hallwood has made his mark in his first six games at MU. The Gannon University transfer is 3-1-1 with 25 saves, an .893 save percentage and a 0.52 goals allowed average. He was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week on Feb. 15. He's helped keep three clean sheets.
He saved a career-high seven shots on Feb. 20 against Creighton. Although he gave up two goals, his seven saves still helped him earn BIG EAST Honor Roll accolades.
Hallwood earned his third weekly honor from the league this week. He tied a career-high with seven saves in a 0-0 draw at Butler, keeping his fourth clean sheet of the year.

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles travel to Creighton for a game on Saturday, March 20 at 1 p.m. Central time.

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).