MILWAUKEE, Wis. – A pair of goals on each side of halftime helped lift Marquette to a 4-0 victory over the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team on Monday night at Valley Fields. 

"On the whole of the first half, we were pretty unlucky to be down two goals," said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. "I actually thought that we were pretty good for a large chunk of the first half. Ultimately, Marquette just made us pay for a couple of mistakes (in the first half). This was just a bad night for us. As long as the guys learn from some of the things I told them after the game, protecting the ball in certain areas of the field, as long as they learn those things we can chalk this one up as a learning experience and we ready to go on Friday."

Both teams had multiple chances in the opening 15 minutes of the contest. The first chance of the night came to NIU in the eighth minute when Marquette goalkeeper Mac Wheeler was unable to collect the ball near the top of the box where it fell to junior Luke Read (Ilford, England/Barking Abbey School), his chance was deflected out for a corner. 

Four minutes later, sophomore Nicholas Haas (Waukegan, Ill./Warren Township) crossed to freshman Christian Molina (Katy, Texas/Mayde Creek) inside the box and the Huskie freshman missed the target from 12 yards. 

Marquette had a trio of chances inside the opening quarter of an hour as Jan Maertins, Daniel Szczepanek and Danny Jarosz all had chances that missed the frame.

The Golden Eagles opened the scoring in the 19th minute as Maertins converted a cross from Luka Prpa, beating NIU junior goalkeeper Drew Donnally (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) at the near post as the shot just crossed the goal line to give Marquette a 1-0 lead. 

The pace of the contest slowed as the game reached the half-hour mark. In the 40th minute, Molina won a ball in midfield and found Haas, but his shot went just wide. 

Marquette doubled its advantage in the 43rd minute as Prpa converted from the penalty spot. After the Huskies were dispossessed at the edge of the box and then committed a foul, Prpa calmly slotted the penalty into the corner past Donnally as the Golden Eagles took a 2-0 lead just before the intermission. 

After the break, Molina had the opening chance of the second half as he went streaking down the wing and fired a shot high in the 53rd minute. 

The Golden Eagles scored a third goal as Connor Alba made a run along the top of the box until he found space to slot a shot into the corner past Donnally to give Marquette a 3-0 lead in the 55th minute. 

Marquette found the back of the net again in the 65th minute. A Golden Eagle corner was unable to be cleared by the Huskies and Jack Alberts found Prpa inside the box and he beat a helpless Donnally to give Marquette a 4-0 lead. 

NIU will continue its four-game road trip to begin the season next weekend as the Huskies travel to the State of Maryland. NIU will face Navy on Friday, Sept. 2, before visiting Maryland-Baltimore County on Sunday, Sept. 4.