(MARQUETTE COMMUNICATIONS) MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men’s soccer team closed out its first week of the 2026 season with a 2-0 defeat of Saint Mary’s on Sunday afternoon at Valley Fields. The Golden Eagles struck twice in the final 21 minutes to grab the win.
MU looked to jump out to an early lead for the second straight game, but Gabe Watkins’ first career goal in the seventh minute was disallowed following a review in which a foul was determined to have occurred in the build-up of the goal. The lengthy delay and result appeared to take the wind out Marquette’s sails.
The Golden Eagles’ offense got going in the final 20 minutes of the half where all six of their shots came, two form freshman Aiden Goldberg and a pair from Joey Buchanan just seconds apart from one another. MU was unable to break the deadlock as the the two sides headed into halftime.
Looking stagnant to start the second, and watching Saint Mary’s control play, three substitutions by Marquette in the 65th minute brought a change of pace. Less than five minutes later, one of those subs, Goldberg, went down in the box in a 1-v-1 situation with his defender. Following the next stoppage, the play was reviewed but it did not go the Golden Eagles’ way. However, the stoppage occurred as MU received a corner. On that corner, Mateo Stoka hooked in a cross that caught the head of Clayton Hamler. The senior knocked it down Tomiwa Adewumi. The freshman was able to to turn his defender and guide the ball off his chest inside the right corner of the goal in the 69th minute.
The Gaels continued to fire from deep, this time looking for an equalizer, but in the 87th minute, Drew Mullins was pulled down by his marker in the box. Mads Konrad Horgøien sealed the game by stepping up and drilling his shot center right as the Saint Mary’s keeper dove to his right.
NOTABLES
- Tomiwa Adewumi scored for the second straight game to open his Marquette career.
- Mad Konrad Horgøien netted his first goal of the year after leading MU last season with six.
- Mateo Stoka and Clayton Hamler recorded their first assists of the season.
- It was the fifth assist for Stoka, and second for Hamler, in their Golden Eagle careers.
- Cameron Simpson recorded his third career shutout, totaling four saves on the day.
- Rio Pehar and Liam Cahill earned their first career appearances.
UP NEXT
Marquette will face its first road test on Thursday as the team travels south to DeKalb, Illinois to face Northern Illinois. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT.
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