The No. 8 Marshall Men’s Soccer rallied three goals for the second half comeback against the Old Dominion University Monarchs in the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Quarterfinals. The game took place Sunday, Nov. 10, at Hoops Family Field in Huntington.
“It’s survive and advance time of the year, which is what we did,” head coach Chris Grassie said. “I think we played very well in spurts. I think handling the emotions after such a big game against WVU – you put a lot into that, and then there’s such a quick turnaround. ODU has probably been our two most difficult games here of the season. ODU caused us some problems. Very proud we got through it and figured it out.”
Marshall won against Old Dominion in the regular season 2-1 Sept. 29 in Huntington.
“I am so proud of the fight and character this group has shown all season,” ODU head coach Tennant McVea said following the match. “While the result hurts now, this group has come a long way. To my graduating players, thank you for everything you have given to this program.”
“We will get home, evaluate everything from this season and be better again next year,” McVea
said. “The staff are hungrier than ever to continue to pull this program forward. I thank them for everything they have sacrificed for me this year.”
In the 35th minute, Old Dominion’s Marcel Randolf ran up the middle of the pitch. Randolf then found his teammate Noah Madrigal, who fired a shot at the 18-yard line box past Marshall goalkeeper Dan Rose.
Rose made some key saves in the final few minutes of the first half to keep the score 1-0 ODU.
Since its goal, the Monarch’s led
the game for 40 minutes of game time until the 75th minute, when the ball got caught bouncing between ODU’s Owen Ruddy’s back and Lewis Redding’s arm, causing a handball penalty. Marshall’s Pablo Simon took the penalty kick and was able to thread the needle past ODU goalkeeper Micheal Statham, tying the game 1-1.
Just two minutes later, Joao Roberto fired a shot on goal, but hit the crossbar. The ball rebounded back to Roberto, who then was able to get the ball past Statham 2-1.
The Herd’s second half hot
streak did not stop there. In the 86th minute, after a shot from Marshall’s Loïc Sany Kong, had a shot saved by Statham. Linker Rodrigues dos Santos passed the ball to Rai Pinto. Pinto then made his fourth goal of the season, increasing Marshall’s lead 3-1.
In the 88th minute, ODU’s Micheal Eberle passed the ball to Evan Watt, who headed the ball in the goal getting the Monarchs back within one goal.
The final nail on the coffin for the Monarch’s came with the final minute of play when ODU shot the
ball off target as the clock hit zero.
Marshall heads to the Semifinals against the sixth seeded James Madison University Dukes. The Herd faced the Dukes in a 2-2 draw during the regular season on Oct. 5. The game will take place on Wednesday with the game scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Nate Harrah can be contacted at [email protected].
