There were only two points separating Marquette men’s soccer (6-5-3, 2-2-1 Big East) and Xavier (4-5-5, 1-2-2 Big East) in the Big East midwest division table coming into Saturday.
This late in the season where every match and every point could be the decider of a team’s position for playoffs, the Golden Eagles could not afford a loss if they wanted to keep their second place position.
Even with a man down early in the first, Marquette’s resiliency along with Xavier’s inability to convert on shots earned them a 0-0 draw.
Physicality ensues
In the 21st minute, midfielder Matthew Iriarte was his first yellow card of the game. Almost six minutes later, the dagger was delivered as the sophomore received his second yellow and send-off.
This was the second time Marquette would be playing with 10 men this season. Back in September against UIC, senior midfielder Justin Milovanov was sent off in the 70th minute.
The booking would be far from the last flashes of yellow in the match. A total of seven yellow cards were issued, four booked for the Golden Eagles and three for the Musketeers.
Despite this, Marquette was able step up to challenge of playing almost 70 minutes on the road with 10 men.
Staying alive
The Musketeers held possession for most of the match as the Golden Eagles constantly turned over the ball on offensive breaks.
Even with this advantage, Xavier failed to make any conversions on goal. It outshot Marquette 18-6, but with only five of those reaching target. First year goalkeeper Marten Brink had five saves that kept the Golden Eagles kicking as well.
Marquette still took the offense strong even though they were bogged down on the defense. They had seven corners, and had half of their six shots on goal.
Even without a goal to take all three points, the Golden Eagles harrowing fight throughout the second was enough to take away one point and keep second place in the table.
Up Next
Marquette will travel down I-94 to face DePaul Wednesday. The match is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. CST.
This article was written by Sofie Hanrahan. She can be reached at Sofia.hanrahan@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @SofieHanrahan MU.