Marist men’s soccer lost in blowout fashion for the second consecutive match, falling 6-1 to Marquette on a sweltering Milwaukee afternoon.
Coming off a season-opening 4-1 loss at the hands of Wisconsin, Marist (0-2) entered the game in search of their first win. Led by first-year coach David Korn, Marquette (2-0) dominated the first-ever meeting between these two teams, with junior midfielder Mitchell Dryden leading the way with a pair of goals.
Marquette kicked off their season this past Thursday with a 2-0 victory over Drexel. In the win, Marquette only attempted one corner kick, a sharp dropoff from when the Golden Eagles averaged seven corners per match in 2023, which ranked seventh in the nation.
During the seventh minute, Marquette quickly dispelled any concerns about their corner kicks with flawless execution on their first of the match, resulting in a goal. Sophomore defender Ryan Amond sent in a dangerous pass freshman defender Jack Wandschneider to head the ball in to give Marquette a 1-0 lead.
A foul call on Marist sophomore forward Adam Rustami in the 23rd minute resulted in a Marquette free-kick attempt from further out on the right side. Amond lined up to execute another set piece, and he delivered a gorgeous ball that careened toward the penalty area and senior forward Abdoul Karim Pare missed the header.
The Golden Eagles doubled their lead on a broken-down play in the 27th minute. A yellow card on Marist senior midfielder Andrea Nguionza set up Marquette with a close-range free kick.
Once the free kick was sent in, junior midfielder Mitar Mitrovic and Pare each touched the ball before Justin Milanovic corralled the rebound and deposited it into the back of the net to put Marquette up 2-0.
Junior forward Lucas Nesthus nearly put the Golden Eagles up by three in the 34th minute, just missing a promising look. Nestes received the ball upfield before the Marist defense could fully reset, and sent a shot just past Marist graduate student goalkeeper Jamie Lowell’s post.
Marquette nearly struck again just before the half. Graduate student forward Tim Smith launched a shot from only a few yards out, but Lowell was up to the task, making a difficult lunging save to keep the Marist deficit at two.
History repeated itself in the 52nd minute as Marist ceded another goal off a deflection. After the Golden Eagles intercepted a Marist pass, Pare made an impressive advance, twisting through defenders while maintaining possession. As Pare charged towards the goal, his shot deflected, but Mitrovic collected the rebound to score Marquette’s third goal of the day.
Marist finally earned their first goal of the season in the 55th minute off a penalty kick. Marquette junior defender Kyle Bebej committed a handball near the end line, setting up Cunha for a penalty kick, which he deposited over the outstretched arms of Brink.
Dryden powered Marquette’s attack with a goal in the 68th minute. After working up the left flank, he poked the ball past Lowell to restore Marquette’s three-goal lead. Dryden nearly earned another minutes later by attempting a backward shot off a deflection, but his improbable shot attempt narrowly missed.
With only a few minutes remaining, Dryden assisted Nesthus on the left side for Marquette’s fifth goal of the day. Dryden was not done yet, collecting a garbage-time goal with only 31 seconds left to secure a five-point performance. All told, the Red Foxes were outscored 10-1 during their first two matches of the season.
Marist will travel back to New York looking to regroup from an unsuccessful two-game trip to Wisconsin. The Red Foxes will travel to Ithaca, NY next Saturday, Aug. 31 to take on Cornell at 5 p.m., before finishing their road trip with a match against West Point the following Thursday.
Edited by Marley Pope
Photo and Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
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