By JOHN VRANCIC

Escanaba Daily Press

ESCANABA – The Bayside Soccer Club of Escanaba faced the difficult task of playing from behind Tuesday night, dropping a 5-1 decision to the Marquette Redmen.

Marquette’s Lehomm Pickard scored from inside the box just 70 seconds into the match.

Luke Pap then gave the Redmen a two-goal cushion on a rebound approximately four minutes later.

The Redmen (17-3-1) didn’t score again until late in the first half when Pickard converted on a left-angle shot from well beyond the box.

“I’m not very impressed with the way we played,” Marquette coach Dan Menze said. “We put the two in very quick, then we kind of relaxed.

“We did play well for periods, but we didn’t go to the ball and weren’t communicating. Give credit to Escanaba. They took us out of our game.”

Pickard appeared to have a scoring chance on a breakaway midway through the opening half. But Bayside’s defense stood tall, denying him the opportunity to take a shot.

“I felt our guys played a good match,” Bayside team manager Rebekka Bruce said. “Our defense played phenomenal and Tyler (Marenger) made some excellent saves. If it weren’t for that, things could have really been ugly.

“They (Marquette) are a fantastic team.”

Marquette hiked its advantage to 4-0 just five seconds before halftime when Riley Lindberg scored on a header.

Pickard completed a hat trick midway through the second half on a shot from the right side.

Senior Calvin Pinar’s shot from the doorstep got Bayside on the board with slightly more than 10 minutes remaining in the match, with freshman Adam Bruce drawing an assist.

“This was a good match,” Menze said. “We’re looking forward to the U.P. tournament (Saturday). Only, we need to get the kids focused and play the game it needs to be played.”