Marquette men lose to Notre Dame

October 9, 2009
MILWAUKEE - The Marquette men's soccer team fell to Notre Dame, 2-0, at Valley Fields Wednesday night despite holding the Fighting Irish to zero shots on goal in the first half. With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 2-6-2 overall and 1-3-2 in the BIG EAST.

Notre Dame (6-4-1, 4-2-0 BIG EAST) rebounded from just four shots in the first half to tally 11 shots in the final period, including seven shots on goal.

Notre Dame's Tamba Samba had two shots on goal in 21 minutes of play. Samba scored the game-winner for the Fighting Irish at the 47:54 mark for his first goal of the season. The senior forward collected the ball from the right side of the six-yard box and finished far post past MU senior goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski.

Bright Dike, whose six goals coming into the contest was tied for the most goals in the BIG EAST, added to his total in the 55th minute. Sophomore Brendan King crossed the ball from the left side and found Dike open in the middle of the box, who put a head on it from eight yards.

Head coach Louis Bennett's squad outshot the Fighting Irish in the first half, 5-4, but couldn't maintain the momentum in the second half, finishing seven shots behind Notre Dame, 15-8, at the end of regulation.

Marquette sophomore Amilcar Herrera, senior Michael Greene and freshman Andy Huftalin tallied two shots apiece for the Golden Eagles, while freshman Ryan Robb and classmate Adam Lysak were the lone MU players to record shots on goal. Robb, who made his first career start Wednesday night, played all 90 minutes for the Golden Eagles.

Marquette played the Fighting Irish close in the first half, with Herrera's shot in the 25th minute from the left corner of the box flying over the crossbar after he took a few touches to free himself from the Notre Dame defense.

Robb took the lone shot on goal of the first half for either team in the 41st minute when he put a foot on the ball from the top of the box and forced senior goalkeeper Andrew Quinn to save the low shot.

The shutout was Quinn's first of the season. Pyzdrowski tallied five saves for the Golden Eagles, while Quinn added two for Notre Dame.

In a matchup of experience, seven Notre Dame seniors saw action and just one freshman played, while Marquette started three freshmen and subbed two more in. Sophomore Calum Mallace, who leads the team in goals and points, and junior Anthony Colaizzi -- last year's leading scorer -- were forced to watch action from the sidelines because of cautions from prior games.

The Golden Eagles travel to Seton Hall on Saturday, Oct. 10 before returning to Valley Fields for back-to-back home games against Bucknell and Georgetown. Play against Bucknell begins at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
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