The No. 6 Marshall Men’s Soccer drew in its penultimate regular season game against the University of Kentucky Wildcats, making their season record 9-1-5 and 4-0-4 in conference play. The game took place Friday, Nov. 1, in Lexington, Kentucky.
“I thought we battled really well tonight,” head coach Chris Grassie said. “Kentucky away in a rivalry game is always tough, but I thought we were unlucky not to win it. I’m very proud of the guys.”
Before the game started, the Wildcat’s hosted a ceremony for Senior Night featuring their four seniors.
In the 23rd minute, Marshall’s Taimu Okiyoshi lined up for a free kick. After the kick, the ball found Aleksandar Vukovic at the other side of the box. He headed the ball toward Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos who shot the ball past Wildcat’s goalkeeper Casper Mols to give Marshall the lead 1-0 in the first half.
This was the team-leading ninth goal for Rodrigues dos Santos and his eighth in his last nine matches.
In the first half, the Wildcats’ lead in offense seven shots to the Herd’s four, but Marshall’s goalkeeper, Dan Rose, was able to get several key saves in the first half to keep Marshall’s lead going into
the second half of the match.
In the 68th minute, Kentucky’s Oliver Stavdel foundhis teammate, Josh Gordan, wide open on the right side of the pitch. Running towards the goal, Gordan sidekicked the ball to Logan Dorsey, who fired the ball past Rose to even the match 1-1.
Dorsey was the NCAA Player of the Week and the SBC Offensive Player of the Week and had four goals, including a hat trick, in the span of two games.
In the 78th minute, Kentucky’s Eric Onos found himself open in the midfield and fired a shot on goal, but Rose was able to save it, keeping the tie.
Kentucky finished the second half with six shots to Marshall’s five.
Ever since 2005, Marshall and UK feature an all-time series record is 12-8-5 in favor of UK.
With this draw, The Herd has guaranteed a top seeding in the Sunbelt Conference Tournament and is able to host the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
“If we win at home, we win the championship; you can’t ask for better chance than that when trying to win trophies,” Grassie said. “I feel good about our chances.”
After the game against West Virginia University, the Herd will start the post season with the Sun Belt Championship as the Herd looks to repeat back-to-back. The SBC championships will begin on Nov. 10 with the finals match on Nov. 17.
Nate Harrah can be contacted at [email protected].
