Herdzone

The Marshall women’s soccer team earned its first win of the 2017 season Sunday, defeating Gardner-Webb 1-0 in overtime at Hoops Family field.

Marshall dominated the stat lines in the first half. Mary Lawman led the team in shots with three and all of them were on target. Rene Ross and Jenna Zuzolo also added to the shot total by collecting 2 shots apiece. The Herd hit the bar two separate times throughout the first half as well. Marshall finished the half with nine total shots and three corner kicks.

The Thundering Herd once again managed to hit the post early in the second half, after Seltzer belted a shot from outside the box. Jordan Sackaris managed to get in behind the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ defense late in the game but her shot was answered by Keely Brown. Brown totaled nine saves through the first 90 minutes of the contest. Marshall totaled 19 shots after 90 minutes but to no avail as the Herd could not convert its chances. Lawman once again led the team in shots with five, Sackaris and Zuzolo each managed four at the end of regulation.

Marshall finally broke down the Gardner-Webb back line in overtime when Ross passed the ball through to Molly Preston who went on the finish her first goal of the year and the match winner in 91st minute of overtime. “To be honest I don’t really remember the whole thing. We knew what we had to do in overtime we had to win This was our first win of the season so it’s a pretty big moment we wanted to win. I got put in and I knew I had to get the job done. We were really focused on shooting a lot this game. It was an awesome experience.” Said Preston. Preston’s finish earned Marshall its first victory of the year.

Head coach Kevin Long applauded his team for their hard work after the game. “I think on Friday night we upped the pressure that we were putting on our opponents and that showed by us winning the higher up the field. I think that’s probably the biggest factor in getting more shots off then Dayton and today just dominating on that stat category as well.” Said Long. “We won the ball higher and it gave us a shorter field and we were able to go right to goal. We hit three posts early and thought they were great shots from dynamic players. I was pleased to see that effort.”

The Herd also managed to double their season high for total shots this contest, finishing the game with 21, 11 of which were on target. “I think we have done a better job defensively which is giving us better opportunities higher up the field to take the ball and create our chances. The first several games we didn’t get very many shots off at all,” said head coach Long “that was one of the bigger focuses that we wanted to emphasize in training.”

The Herd is back in action this Friday, Sept. 8, against the Ohio Bobcats in Huntington, W.Va at Hoops Family Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Kyle Curley can be contacted at [email protected].