The Marshall Men’s Soccer Team lost to the WVU Mountaineers 5-2 on Wednesday, Oct. 18, in the Mountain State Derby, ending the Herd’s historic 12-game undefeated streak.

Going into Wednesday’s matchup, Marshall had only conceded five goals on the season–the Mountaineers matched that total in just 90 minutes.

“It’s just one of those games. Everything went badly for us–slips, falls and deflected goals. You name it, it happened,” head coach Chris Grassie said. “That happens to the best teams. I told the guys it happens to Man City. It happens to Liverpool. It happens to Brighton.” 

Grassie went on to say, “No blame on the guys. I’m super proud of them all season. We’ve had 12 games where everything has gone our way, and one game that doesn’t go our way doesn’t mean anything. We can still win the conference.”   

“It’s all in our hands,” he said.  “We take care of business; we’ll be champs. The last time we lost here, we won a national championship. So, for me, as long as this defeat hurts enough to let it be fuel for the fire, we’ll be fine.”

The Herd struck first in the sixth minute on a goal from Matthew Bell after a well-placed pass from Adam Aoumaich.

WVU answered back in dominant fashion, netting three goals in the 11th and 12th minutes of the contest. Marcus Caldeira accounted for two of those goals to push his season total to 12.

Morris Duggan netted the Herd’s second goal of the match in the 18th minute after a corner kick from Alexander Stjernegaard.

Duggan’s goal gave the Herd life; in the final moments of the first half, Joao Roberto chipped the ball over Mountaineer goalkeeper Jackson Lee, which looked bound for the net. A WVU defender soared in, cleared the ball out of the goal to negate the would-be goal and zapped any momentum that the Herd could’ve gained.

WVU continued its dominance on the pitch in the second half, netting two more goals and holding the Herd scoreless in the final 45 minutes.

Goalkeeper Gabriel Perrotta accounted for four saves on nine shots.