MSOC Set for BIG EAST Semis vs. Pirates

MILWAUKEE – The No. 16/17 Marquette men's soccer team is set to compete in its third straight BIG EAST tournament after winning the BIG EAST Midwest Division. MU will take on No. 12/11 Seton Hall, the No. 2 seed in the East Division, on Thursday, April 15. First touch is set for 2:30 p.m. Central time and the BIG EAST Digital Network will provide streaming coverage. Daniel Greaser (play-by-play) and Thomas Helfrich (analyst) will be on the call.

The Golden Eagles (8-1-1, 5-1-1 BIG EAST) are off to their best start to a season since the 2012 BIG EAST championship season (started 12-0). MU is one of four teams to make this year's tournament, joining No. 2 Georgetown, the 2019 national champion, and Creighton, the second seed in the Midwest Division.

MU is led by junior striker Lukas Sunesson, who leads the team and ranks third in the BIG EAST with six 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.

Seton Hall (7-1-3, 5-1-2 BIG EAST) is in the midst of a breakout season too. The Pirates took care of business in non-conference, dispatching of LaSalle and Fairleigh Dickinson. Their only loss was in OT to No. 2 Georgetown. SHU holds league wins over St. John's (twice), Nova, Providence and UConn.

STATS/STREAM:
The BIG EAST Digital Network will provide live streaming while live stats will be available for the match on GoMarquette.com.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Marquette head coach Louis Bennett won his 99th game as the Marquette University head coach against Butler on March 27. He would be the second MU coach to reach 100 wins (Steve Adlard) with a win over Seton Hall.
MU is making its eighth appearance in the BIG EAST tournament since 2009. Overall, MU is 5-7-2 with one BIG EAST tournament title (2013).
The Golden Eagles have won eight of their first 10 games for the first time since 2012 and the second time in Coach Bennett's tenure.
MU is 10-2-3 in the last 15 overtime games under Coach Bennett.
Lukas Sunesson (6 goals, 1 assist) has already set a new season-high in points (13).
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 (41) and save percentage (.872).
Newcomers have accounted for five of Marquette's 14 goals. Beto Soto has three of those goals while Zyan Andrade has two. Returners Sunesson (6), Cukaj (2) and Mirsberger (1) have the others.
Eight of Marquette's 10 games in 2021 have gone to overtime. MU is 6-1-1 in those games.

OPPONENT FORM:
SETON HALL (7-1-3, 5-1-2 BIG EAST)
The runner-up in the BIG EAST's Eastern Division, the Seton Hall men's soccer team is enjoying its highest national ranking in over 20 years as they made it up to the No. 11 spot in last week's United Soccer Coaches Poll. As a team, Seton Hall is one of 13 schools with four or more Top 100 RPI wins on the season.

Led by head coach Andreas Lindberg, the Pirates lead the BIG EAST with six shutouts overall and four clean sheets in-conference. Between the pipes, senior goalkeeper Andreas Nota (Rome, Italy) is on pace to break the Seton Hall single season record for Goals Against Average at 0.597, good enough for sixth in the nation amongst keepers who have played in at least 10 games.

Junior CJ Tibbling leads SHU with four goals, which is fourth in the conference. Sophomore James Boote has picked up four assists in his last five games for five helpers on the season. That total leads the BIG EAST and is good for 11th in the nation. Senior JP Marin is not far off Boote's trail with four assists and two goals totaling eight points to his credit. Like MU, SHU hasn't played since March 27.

SERIES HISTORY:
Marquette and Seton Hall are tied up in the all-time series with a 6-6-3 record. The Pirates have taken three of the past four in the series, including last year's 2-1 victory over the Golden Eagles on senior night at Valley Fields. MU's last win over Seton Hall was a 4-2 decision at the Valley in 2017. The two teams have never met at a neutral site. MU's longest winning streak in the series is four from 2010-13.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Marquette men's soccer team defeated Butler 1-0 in overtime on March 27. Lukas Sunesson scored the game-winner on a penalty kick after Beto Soto was illegally taken down in the box. All-BIG EAST keeper Chandler Hallwood saved three shots in the win.

KEY POINTS:
MU OFF TO BEST START SINCE 2012 SEASON

The No.16/17 Marquette men's soccer team (8-1-1, 5-1-1 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 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), a 2-1 overtime win against DePaul (March 24) and a 1-0 win over Butler (March 27).
The Golden Eagles are 6-2-2 in their past 10 overtime games under Bennett.

CARDIAC KIDS CONTINUE TO COME UP CLUTCH IN OVERTIME

Marquette has won a nation-best six games in overtime this season. Eight of its 10 games in total have had to go to OT. MU is 6-1-1 in extra time this season.
For its six game-winning goals in overtime, Zyan Andrade and Lukas Sunesson have scored two apiece while Alex Mirsberger and Beto Soto each scored one.

MARQUETTE HISTORY IN THE BIG EAST TOURNAMENT

The Golden Eagles are making their eighth appearance in the BIG EAST tournament, all since 2009. Overall, MU is 5-7-2 with one BIG EAST tournament title (2013).
Last year (2019), MU fell 3-0 to Providence in the quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed. In 2018, MU defeated Xavier (7-6, PK's) and Creighton (10-9, PK's) in penalty kicks to advance to its first conference title game since 2013. The Golden Eagles fell 2-0 to Georgetown in the title game.
MU won the 2013 BIG EAST title, defeating Butler 1-0 in overtime in the semifinals and Providence 3-2 in the final.

MU STAYS RANKED FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT WEEK

The Golden Eagles entered the national conversation on March 16, coming in at No. 25 in the United Soccer Coaches rankings.
Since then, they have gone 4-0 as a ranked team and have moved up as high as No. 16 in the country in the TopDrawerSoccer rankings, where they have remained for the past two weeks.
MU hadn't been ranked for five straight weeks since the 2013 season.

SUNESSON MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF IN 2021:

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 then team-leading 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 went on to net the game-winning penalty kick goal on March 27 in overtime against Butler. He also has one assist.

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles will play the winner of No. 2 Georgetown and Creighton in the BIG EAST title game on Saturday, April 17 at 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. ET if they defeat Seton Hall on Thursday.

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).