The No. 2 Marshall Men’s Soccer Team (7-0) beat the No. 9 James Madison University Dukes 3-1 in the Sun Belt Conference opener on Saturday, Sept. 16, in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Senior Adam Aoumaich initiated the scoring in the first half. In the 18th minute, he careened a ball off the post, and, soon after, in the 21st minute, Aoumaich snuck the ball past the goalie to push the Herd to a 1-0 lead and tally his third goal of the season.

The Herd started the second half by scoring two quick goals. In the 56th minute, Pablo Simon and Marco Silva strung together a pair of passes that found Matthew Bell, who launched the ball into the back of the net to tally his sixth goal of the season and make the lead 2-0.

Only three minutes later, Taimu Okiyoshi scored his first goal of the season with a shot off of his right foot which found the top corner of the net, pushing the Herd’s lead to 3-0.

Soon after Okiyoshi’s goal, in the 61st minute, Theo Goddard was given a red card, leaving the team to play with only ten men for the last 29 minutes of the contest.

The Dukes took advantage of the Herd being down to ten men in the 71st minute. Rodrigo Robles netted a goal to put the Dukes on the board, still trailing 3-1.

Matthew Bell acquired his second yellow card of the match in the 77th minute to take him off of the pitch.

Marshall held off the Dukes despite being down to nine men for the final 13 minutes of the game.

“You know, we definitely had to play against some adversity there tonight,” head coach Chris Grassie said after the win. “I think our guys handled themselves well under the circumstances. To come here with eight outfield players (nine men) and win against one of the top-10 teams in the country shows our caliber.”

The Herd will take on No. 5 University of Central Florida in its SBC home opener Saturday, Sept. 23, at Hoops Family Field.