On an evening where Marquette men’s soccer (4-3-2, 0-3 Big East) needed to get back on track in more ways then one, not much went right for them.
Going into Friday night without a victory won or goal scored in conference play and coming off a 2-0 home loss against Seton Hall, the eventual 1-0 defeat to the Xavier Musketeers was the last thing the Golden Eagles had in mind.
“We know our performance was better than it was last week,” said Marquette head coach David Korn, “to not get rewarded with that in the scoreline is disappointing,”
Xavier (4-3-2, 1-1-1) were also coming to Valley Fields looking for their first three points of Big East play, tied with DePaul for third in the division after amassing a sole point against Providence.
Despite this dire need for both goals in the net and points on the table, neither team came close to a solid look in the first half, with only two shots apiece at the halftime interval.
It was in the 49th minute when the game’s entire landscape changed, as a Musketeers set piece was crossed in and tucked in to the back of the net.
While Marquette enjoyed the lion’s share of the ball in the first half, Xavier’s goal spurred a period of turnovers, opposition chances, and immense Musketeer pressure.
A 79th minute header from Joey Buchanan careened off and over the crossbar for Marquette’s closest and final chance, as Xavier’s tactics saw a stonewall defensive effort repel the Golden Eagles until the final whistle.
“That’s not the style we play, but they were doing it effectively, and for us, that’s just a challenge that you have to figure out,” Korn said.
Following this result, Marquette remains bottom of its division, with no goals scored and four against in conference play. The outlook on the Big East table leaves a lot to be desired from a Marquette perspective, including Korn, who wanted to see more clinical play on the offensive end.
“I think we had moments where we created really good half chances in small details for us,” Korn said. “We need to upgrade that and really make that a quality opportunity.”
In the upcoming week, a break from conference play against UIC Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CST offers a chance for Marquette to get back on the right page before the remainder of the conference slate.
This article was written by Eamon Bevan. He can be reached at eamon.bevan@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @EamonBevanMU.