PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Matt Marcin scored in the 55th minute, tallying the game's lone goal, as Providence College defeated Marquette University by a final of 1-0 Saturday in a pivotal BIG EAST men's soccer match at Glay Field.

"I think that the nature of playing at Providence is that you have to come prepared for a team that smothers you," said MU head coach Louis Bennett, whose squad suffered its fifth one-goal loss of the season. "Tactically we were prepared. [Providence] didn't bring anything that surprised us. We knew what to expect. The disappointment was that the final little push, little spark, little bit of quality that we needed, wasn't there today."

A scramble in MU's offensive half led to a quick counter attack by the Friars, who used a minimal amount of touches to get the ball forward to Marcin. The Providence midfielder received the ball in the left corner of the box from teammate Daniel Fabian. From 15 yards out, Marcin turned and skidded the ball across the goal, inside the right post, for the decisive score.

Providence (6-6-3, 3-4-2 BIG EAST) picked up three points with the victory to jump ahead of the Golden Eagles (3-9-3, 2-4-3 BIG EAST) in the Blue Division standings. The Friars are currently in fifth place with 11 points followed by MU (9 points). Both squads have two matches remaining in the regular season, while seventh-place Seton Hall (6 points) plays tonight at Connecticut. UConn has already clinched one of six Blue Division spots in the BIG EAST postseason tournament.

Play was even throughout the rainy afternoon and shots were tied at four apiece through the first 45 minutes of the match. Marquette's first attempt came eight minutes in when senior Michael Greene headed the ball across the box to sophomore Anthony Colaizzi who brought the ball back across his body and sent a left-footed strike wide left of the goal.

A corner kick resulted in Marquette's lone shot on goal in the first half. Colaizzi sent the corner to the far side of the box where it was knocked back to sophomore Calum Mallace who slid and redirected the ball into the arms of the Providence goalkeeper.

Providence's most dangerous opportunity in the first period came at the 22:14 mark. A through ball found the Friars' Tim Ritter, who appeared to be wide open 10 yards in front of the net, but junior defender Matt Stummer came from nowhere to slide tackle the ball away past the endline to force a corner kick.

A more frantic pace ensued following the Friar's goal, as Providence looked to be anxious to build upon its lead while the Golden Eagles scrambled for the equalizer. MU tallied one more shot in the second half than it did in the first, but trailed Providence 12-9 in total shots at the end of the contest. Three different Marquette players placed shots on goal, compared to five shots on goal for Providence.

"At crucial times, Providence definitely stepped up and stopped us from playing," said Bennett. "If you could have been a spectator, you'd say 'this is an exciting game.' The irony of the whole thing is we became a little bit more tenacious and started to put some things together after they scored their goal."

Marquette returns to the East Coast this Wednesday, Oct. 28, to take on Connecticut before returning to Valley Fields to face Pittsburgh in the regular season finale next Saturday (Oct. 31).