The Thundering Herd Men’s Soccer continued its 2017 regular season fresh off head coach Chris Grassie’s 100th career win Sunday evening. The team had a quick turnaround match just 48-hours after their season opener at Hoops Family Field, which ended in defeat at the hands of Evansville University, 1-0.

Marshall found its offense stifled by the Purple Aces in the first half. The team managed just one shot in the first half and only one corner kick. The shot was registered by newly named starter Jamil Roberts.

Evansville totaled six shots, three of which were on target.

In the 38th minute, Purple Aces’ Ian McGrath noticed goalkeeper Ben Martinez off his line and rifled a 45-yard chip into the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead.

“You know we had three guys around him and I think we backed off of him a little bit at the halfway line, where we should have stepped up,” Grassie said. “You know Ben plays high and that’s a risk he’s going to take. I think he may have been a step too high as it turns out in that instance, but I thought we could have closed the ball at the source.”

The second half was reminiscent of the first. Marshall managed five shots, with only one on target through the final 45 minutes of the contest. The Herd goalkeeper, Ben Martinez, collected three saves in the loss.

Evansville led the stat lines in total shots 8-6 and corners 10-3. Evansville went on to win the contest 1-0.

“It’s a good learning experience, especially for the younger guys,” said junior defender John Pappas. “Coming off a good win, maybe a lot of people were expecting another comfortable win but it’s hard; Division I is tough, different teams, different styles and styles make games. It’s a tough game. We will have to come back next Thursday and hopefully prepare and get a win that game.”

The final foul count from the game was 32 total fouls.

“It definitely breaks the flow of the game, but I’m not going a loss on the ref. But, of course it hinders the flow of the game,” Pappas said.  “Of course, you want it called fair We thought we were on the losing end of a couple calls.”

The Thundering Herd continues its 2017 season this Thursday Aug. 31 against Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The last time Marshall met the Dukes was in the 2015 season in Pittsburgh. The Thundering Herd came away victorious by score of 1-0.

Kyle Curley can be contacted at [email protected].