MILWAUKEE – Carson Pridie finished the evening with eight saves – including several of the spectacular variety – but the Milwaukee men's soccer team suffered a tough 1-0 loss to Marquette at Valley Fields.
In the 52
nd all-time battle for the "Milwaukee Cup", the Golden Eagles (6-2-1) took advantage of a turnover and found a way to get a lone goal against the Panthers (4-4-2) and hand the visitors a frustrating loss.
"Carson had a great performance tonight," head coach
Kris Kelderman said of Pridie. "He made a couple of really good saves. It's unfortunate that our attack couldn't help the guy out."
Following a fairly even opening 15 minutes, Marquette took advantage of a turnover near midfield and had numbers going the other way. Pridie came out to challenge but was unable to stop the lone goal of the night at the 16:01 mark.
"We dug ourselves a hole," Kelderman said. "No disrespect to Marquette by any means, but the goal was a big mistake on our part. We turned the ball over in our own half. It was just a very bad mental error and it's upsetting because that shouldn't have been done at this point in the season and it cost us."
Pridie put together a brilliant performance, making a handful of eye-opening stops to keep the deficit at one. He made a diving stop of a close-range header in the 53
rd just out of the break. In the 57
th minute, he had the presence of mind to stay with a play, making another full-out save on a breakaway chance. The ball popped up into the air and Pridie was able to corral it while laying on his back before it crossed the goal line.
The MKE offense controlled the possession down the stretch and had Marquette appearing to be trying to just hold on, but could not find quality chances for the equalizer. One of the best came on the 63
rd minute, when
Jack Bretzmann got a piece of a kick after charging the Marquette keeper. It went right to
Felix Huwiler, only to see his header go agonizingly inches wide of the far post and out for a goal kick.
"In the second half I felt the momentum shifted a little bit to our favor as far as the run of play goes," Kelderman said. "All that's missing was that goal. You get a goal and all of a sudden, you know, it changes everything."
The Golden Eagles had five of the first six shots on the evening, with the MKE attack picking up significantly after the goal.
AJ Wild had a good look at a header in the 20
th minute and Bretzmann got a great chance on a run into the box in the 28
th. The shot was saved and the ball was loose, with the MU defender narrowly winning the foot race to the possible goal.
"I tried to get after the group at halftime, being down a goal, pick it up a notch, be more aggressive, attack a little bit more," Kelderman said. "I thought the second half improved. I thought we played much better, noticeably better in the second half than we did in the first half. I thought we picked up the tempo a little bit. We had more possession, a little more movement in our attack but obviously we couldn't get the tying goal."
Pridie was just as good in the first, making a great reactionary save after a combination of passes in box in the 37
th minute, knocking the short shot up and over the crossbar with one hand.
For the match, Marquette earned advantage of 15-9 in total shots, as well as 9-3 in shots on goal. The home side edged out the corner kick tally as well, 6-5. Wild and Bretzmann paced the offense with two shots apiece.
Up next, the Panthers return to Horizon League play Saturday, hosting Cleveland State. Game time at Engelmann Stadium is set for 1 p.m.
