The Thundering Herd men’s soccer team won its home opener 2-1 over the undefeated Butler Bulldogs at Hoops Family Field Friday night in Huntington, W.Va.

“I knew it was going to be a good test for us,” head coach Chris Grassie said. “It was a fantastic performance for the Thundering Herd as they fought and played an emotional game.”

The win improves the Herd’s record to 2-0-1 on the year as the Bulldogs drop to 2-1-0.

Junior Jamil Roberts scored both of Marshall’s goals with one in each half. His first goal was not only this first of the game but was his first of the season. Roberts now has eight goals in his Marshall career.

“Now he is the upper classman and the older guy on campus,” Grassie said. “That has led him to knowing his role and how to exploit defenses along with maturity.”

The Bulldogs started off the game with swarming defense that troubled the Thundering Herd early, but Marshall controlled the first half of the contest by keeping possession of the ball on the Bulldogs side of the field.

It was the Herd that got on the scoreboard first when Roberts recorded his first goal of the season off of a free kick in the 17th minute.

Marshall had plenty of other opportunities in the first half, but the Bulldogs sophomore goalkeeper Gabriel Gjergji had two saves one of which was a fingertip stop off of a shot from senior Illal Osmanu in the 30th minute.

Marshall’s redshirt junior Paulo Pita also had a good first half securing three saves helping his team hold the Bulldogs scoreless in the first half.

The Butler Bulldogs came out of gate in the second half playing more physical and faster and tied the contest up in the 50th minute when senior forward Brandon Guhl poked it through Pita’s legs.

It did not take Marshall long to get recapture the lead as mid-fielder Pedro Dolabella assisted Roberts to score his second goal of the night that sunk into the bottom left corner of the net.

The Herd’s defense never let up and continued to play strong until the final whistle blew. Pita ended the night with five saves one of which was a full body extension.

Marshall returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m., as they take on the East Tennessee Buccaneers at Hoops Family Field.

Brigham Warf can be contacted at [email protected].