MARQUETTE KEEPS THE MILWAUKEE CUP!

Well, it certainly was dramatic.

On a night when not a lot was going right for ya boy here (Lynx blew a 20 point lead, Blackhawks lost their preseason opener, Cubs blew a 6-1 lead), Marquette men’s soccer provided a note of positivity by coming up with a 3-2 victory against Milwaukee, thus keeping the Milwaukee Cup in their possession for a program record fourth straight year…….

….. although for a second there, they were contributing to the problems.

Okay, for longer than a second, as the match was scoreless at the half and Milwaukee was outshooting Marquette 7-5 and outdoing them in shots on goal, 2-1, as well. The lack of a goal didn’t last much into the second half, as Grant Locker was standing by out in front for a Gabe Anguil pass.

Quite appropriate that Locker got a goal here, as it was his goal a year ago that provided the 1-1 draw and kept Marquette in possession of the Cup. Through the early minutes of the second half, Marquette had a 3-1 shots advantage on the Panthers, turning things around from how the first half went…. right up until the 58th minute.

Not a wonder strike from Ryan Berghauer or anything, just a seeing eye ball that avoided a Marquette defender foot and had just enough inside the post to go in while avoiding a dive from MU keeper Marten Brink to keep it out of the net. Okay, so, 1-1 is fine, Marquette keeps the Cup on a draw, don’t do anything silly….

…. like turning away the original corner kick by the Panthers, then allowing Milwaukee to regain possession and get the ball to Pavle Ivkovic for a shot which hits the frame and allows Jack Wagner to redirect it into the net in the 78th minute for a 2-1 lead.

Just don’t do that specific thing that did, unfortunately happen.

Thankfully, Mads Horgoien cared even less for that development than I did, and so he did this in the 80th minute, less than two minutes after Wagner’s goal:

That one was called on ESPN+ as assisted by Antonio Costabile, so he’s the one with the cross in, and that’s Kyle Bebej with the touch to Horgoien for his second goal with the Golden Eagles.

Okay, cool, tied back up again, just hold this together with masking tape and prayers for 10 minutes and take the Cup back to campus OR TRISTAN RONNESTAD-STEVENS CAN SCORE HIS FIRST CAREER GOAL TO WIN THIS THING.

It’s Mateo Stoka with the corner kick that leads to touches from Gabriel Miranda and Mitchel Dryden who get the official assists (sorry, Mateo) in the 83rd minute. After seven minutes of an elaborate game of keep away (and yellow cards at the horn for the Marquette coaching staff for barking at the fourth official at midfield), that’s a 3-2 victory for Marquette, moving them to 4-1-2 on the season!

What a wild game, and that’s before mentioning that it’s also Milwaukee’s first home loss since November 2023.

And yet, somehow, not the wildest Milwaukee Cup ever, shouts to Sebastian Jansson.

Up Next: With that mid-week detour over, Marquette returns to Big East action this weekend when they host Seton Hall on Saturday, September 27th. First kick is set for 7pm Central in the Valley, and you can stream the match for free on the Marquette athletics YouTube page/channel. The Pirates are 3-2-3 this season after taking a 3-1 loss at home to Princeton on Tuesday night, but they did beat Providence in their Big East opener last weekend.