The Seton Hall men's soccer team lost a close match in Milwaukee as a late 80th minute goal sealed a 2-1 victory for the No. 18 Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday night.
Marquette (10-4-2, 6-1-1) capitalized early on an opportunity when a ball was served out from the end line and ended up being an assist for a well-handled shot ripped right past Pirates' goalkeeper Julian Spindler.
The Pirates led in shot attempts after the first half 9-5 with two on net but did not really have any great looks. The team played very well defensively and was able to contain Marquette in the first half despite the one goal, an incredibly high and well placed shot that barely made it into the net.
Senior Max Garcia got the Pirates on the board early in the second half when he netted the team's lone goal in the 47th minute. Garcia picked off a centering pass coming from the left side of the field near the post and blasted a shot past Marquette goalkeeper Charlie Lyon. The goal was Garcia's fifth of the year. After that goal the team seemed to lose a little momentum.
Head coach Gerson Echeverry said he believed the team was tired after the first half.
"We exerted so much energy in the first half trying to keep the game close so in the second we started to get tired," Echeverry said.
The last goal and game-winner came late in the second half when a throw-in to the left side of the net could not be cleared by Seton Hall. A free ball off of a header was snatched by C. Nortey of Marquette who ripped a half-bicycle kick shot right past Spindler.
Redshirt junior Victor Manosalvas, who had a shot on goal in the game, said the team played well and it was just the one mistake late that cost them.
"We played well defensively, and overall, but just made that one mistake in the 80th minute," Manosalvas said. "We feel good about how we've played though with a lot of press defense."
Seton Hall's postseason hopes are still very much alive as they are locked in a three-way tie with Butler and Villanova for the final spot in the 2013 Big East Tournament.
Seton Hall will need at least a tie in its final regular-season game because Butler holds the tie-breaker.
The Pirates will host St. John's on Friday at Owen T. Carroll Field.
Thomas Zappia can be reached at thomas.zappia@student.shu.edu.
