MSOC to Celebrate Senior Day Saturday vs. Butler

MILWAUKEE – The No. 21 Marquette men's soccer team is set to celebrate senior day on Saturday prior to its home game against the Butler Bulldogs. First touch from Valley Fields is set for 4 p.m. Central time and GoMarquette.com will provide live stats and streaming coverage. Dan Avington (play-by-play) and Michael Gallo (analyst) will be on the call.

The Golden Eagles (7-1-1, 4-1-1 BIG EAST) are off to their best start to a season since the 2012 BIG EAST championship season (started 12-0). MU has a chance to clinch one of two spots in the BIG EAST Midwest Division to make the conference tournament with a win or tie on Saturday.

Junior striker Lukas Sunesson is in the midst of a breakout season, leading the team and ranking second in the BIG EAST with five goals. He's joined up front by budding star Beto Soto, a freshman from Tomball, Texas who's scored three goals (two game-winners) in 2021. Junior midfielder Zyan Andrade has been a breath of fresh air as well, netting two game winning goals and dishing out two assists.

Butler (2-5-2, 2-1-2 BIG EAST) is looking to make a push for one of the division's two postseason spots as well. BU can finish as high as first if it wins its final three conference games. The Bulldogs are currently in third behind MU and Creighton.

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 99th win on Wednesday.

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 98th game as the Marquette University head coach against DePaul on Wednesday night.
The Golden Eagles have won seven of their first nine games for the first time since 2012 and the second time in Coach Bennett's tenure.
MU is 9-2-3 in the last 14 overtime games under Coach Bennett.
Lukas Sunesson (5 goals, 1 assist) has already set a new season-high in points (11).
Chandler Hallwood has been spectacular in net for Marquette. Twice he's been named BIG EAST Keeper of the Week and he ranks second in in saves (38) and first in save percentage (.864).
Newcomers have accounted for five of Marquette's 13 goals. Beto Soto has three of those goals while Zyan Andrade has two. Returners Sunesson (5), Cukaj (2) and Mirsberger (1) have the others.
Seven of Marquette's nine games in 2021 have gone to overtime. MU is 5-1-1 in those games.

OPPONENT FORM:
BUTLER (2-5-2, 2-1-2 BIG EAST)
Butler was predicted to be winner of the BIG EAST Midwest Division, which was voted on by the league's head coaches and announced last month. The Bulldogs had two players named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team in sophomore Wilmer Cabrera Jr., and senior Rhys Myers. The Bulldogs are led by 10th-year head coach Paul Snape.

Cabrera was the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2019, after scoring eight goals and starting in every game. Junior Jack Haywood was All-BIG EAST third-team in 2019 after tying for conference high in assists. Butler won its first game of the year against DePaul two weeks ago in a 5-0 thrashing.

Cabrera leads BU with three goals this season. He's also one of three Bulldogs to tally two assists, which leads the team.

In 2019, the Bulldogs went 4-4-1 in regular season conference play. They advanced to the semifinals in the BIG EAST Tournament, before falling in penalty kicks to Georgetown.

SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette holds the edge in the all-time series, owning a 6-5-1 record against Butler. MU defeated the Bulldogs 3-2 last year at Valley Fields to pull ahead in the series. Lukas Sunesson scored a goal along with teammates Patrick Seagrist and Josh Hancock in the victory. MU also won the last matchup in Indianapolis, 2-1, in 2018. The two teams tied, 0-0, on March 10 in Indianapolis.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Marquette men's soccer team defeated DePaul 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday. Alex Mirsberger headed in the game-winning goal to send the Golden Eagles into an emphatic celebration. Defender Manuel Cukaj scored his second goal of the year in the first half.

KEY POINTS:
MU OFF TO BEST START SINCE 2012 SEASON:

The Marquette men's soccer team (7-1-1, 4-1-1 BIG EAST) is off to its best start since the 12-0 start to the 2012 BIG EAST Championship season.
The Golden Eagles have needed extra time for three straight 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 Sunday, 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.
MU also holds a 3-1 win over DePaul (March 6), a 2-1 win over Xavier (March 17), a 0-0 draw with Butler (March 10) and a 2-1 overtime win against DePaul (March 24).
The Golden Eagles are 5-2-2 in their past nine overtime games under Bennett.

CUKAJ AND POSARELLI TO BE HONORED ON SENIOR DAY:

The two Marquette seniors who will be honored on Saturday against Butler are defenders Oliver Posarelli and Manuel Cukaj.
Posarelli, who transferred from Montana State in 2018, has been a key player on the backline since coming in. He played in all 19 games in 2018 before missing all of last year because of injury. He's started in every game this season and earned Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week honors on Feb. 15.
Manuel Cukaj is a redshirt junior who will be honored on Saturday. Cukaj has started in 32 of the 33 games he's played at since coming to MU. He's scored six career goals and has two assists. He scored the game-winner against Xavier on March 17 and netted another vs. DePaul (March 24).
Both have played key roles in the last two seasons, leading MU to consecutive conference tournament appearances, including the 2018 BIG EAST Championship game.

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 second goal of the year in the Feb. 20 loss to Creighton. He then went on two net a brace in a 3-1 win at DePaul.
The junior added to his total with his team-leading fifth marker of the year to open the scoring in a 2-1 win over Xavier. He also tallied his first assist in a win at Creighton on Saturday.

ANDRADE COMING UP BIG:

San Francisco transfer Zyan Andrade has been a key part of Marquette's nine-game start to the season. He ranks third on the team in goals and second in assists with two each.
Both of his goals were overtime game winners (vs. SLU, Feb. 13 and at CU, March 20). He never scored in two seasons at San Francisco.
Andrade provided the free kick that led to Mirsberger's header in overtime to beat DePaul on March 24.

CHANDLER HALLWOOD IS A GAME-CHANGER AT GOALKEEPER:

Sophomore keeper Chandler Hallwood has made his mark in his first nine games at MU. The Gannon University transfer is 6-1-1 with 38 saves, an .864 save percentage and a 0.67 goals allowed average.
He was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week on Feb. 15 and March 22. He's helped keep four 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.
He tied his career-best with seven saves against Xavier (3/17). He had three more saves in a win over DePaul at home (March 24).

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles conclude the regular season at Xavier on Saturday, April 10 at noon 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).