Men’s soccer blanked 3-0 by Akron

Just one week away from the end of the regular season, Marquette men’s soccer (6-6-4, 2-3-2 Big East) needed to take three points of its own.

The Golden Eagles had not won a match since September 28th against Butler, and their last two matches ended in draws.

No. 24 Akron (10-3-3, 7-0-0 Big East) ended Marquette’s draw streak at two, as it flaunted its top of the midwest table power in a 3-0 defeat Saturday night in the Valley.

“Credit to Akron, I think they’re a very good team,” head coach David Korn said. “Our response by the guys after going down was really good, I thought there were moments we were really brave. There’ s small details that make a big difference when you play teams at that level. And for us, we just have to perform a little bit better in some areas.”

Outshot and outscored

A cross sent into Marquette’s box in the 12th minute found the head of Akron senior forward Emil Jaaskelainen and was directed into the back of the net. The nation’s leading goal scorer would find success again in the 75th minute for Akron’s final goal of the night.

In the 61st minute, another cross connected with senior midfielder Wan Kuzri Wan Kamal. Questions were raised over whether he was offsides, but a VAR review confirmed that it was not.

“On another day, if we defend better higher up the field, I don’t think they’re open for that chance,” Korn said. “At the end of the day, we have to trust the referee.”

Marquette was outshot 14-6 Saturday night. Even if an offensive play was generated, the Akron press triumphed over.

“I thought there were moments we strung together really good sequences, generated some good attacks,” Korn said. “In the end, there might have been three or four times they cleared balls off the line; their goalkeeper makes an unbelievable reaction save. And I think if our execution in a couple of those moments is different, the scoreline could be different.”

Emotions take over

The Golden Eagles are no stranger to a little physicality, and tonight was no different.

After going down 2-0, the heat of emotions started to rise for Marquette.

In the 69th minute junior midfielder Mitar Mitrovic was booked. A minute later it was senior forward Karim Abdoul Pare. And one minute after that, it was junior midfielder Gabe Anguil.

“From what I’ve seen in the past, sometimes as a team you can get emotional and guys are being silly taking fouls,” Korn said. “I didn’t feel like that. If anything, I thought there were other times in the game that without taking yellow card, we needed to have a little bit more kind of stick and fight.”

Up Next

The regular season finale will take place at Valley Fields Saturday against Creighton (8-5-3, 3-3-1 Big East). The match is scheduled for 1 p.m. CST.

“We’re close to them in the standings, so you’re talking about securing a berth in the Big East tournament,” Korn said. “More than anything, just excited to have one more game because I’d feel bad if this was our final game of the regular season. So we want to keep adding days, we want to play in the postseason, and we’re really excited for one more game.”

This article was written by Sofie Hanrahan. She can be reached at Sofia.hanrahan@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @SofieHanrahan MU.