No. 10 Marshall Men’s Soccer fought its way to a 2-2 draw against no. 12 High Point University Tuesday, Sept. 9, at Vert Stadium in a contest filled with late-game dramatics.
The physical contest saw a critical video review, two lead changes and three yellow cards all within the final 12 minutes of play. For Marshall, the contest marked the Herd’s third straight draw.
“We just need to get over the hump and turn some of these draws into wins,” head coach Chris Grassie said. “I can see how close we are to becoming the team we can be.”
After ceding a goal to redshirt sophomore Lukas Kamrath in the seventh minute, the Herd found itself trailing early, an uncommon situation. Despite Marshall’s best efforts to level the score, the Panthers did well to hold the Herd offense at bay.
That changed in the 79th minute, which saw a crucial swing go in the Herd’s favor thanks to video replay assistance.
What seemed like a sure breakaway goal to seal the contest for the home squad was quickly wiped away after the video assistant referee ruled a handball against a High Point defender on the initial volley inside the Panthers’ penalty box. High Point’s goal was taken off the board, and Marshall was awarded a penalty kick.
Marshall’s Thiago Apolinario lined up the ensuing penalty kick and buried it in the bottom left corner past goalkeeper Josh Caron. Instead of trailing 2-0, Marshall pulled even at 1-1.
Shortly after knotting the score up, Marshall captured its first and only lead of the night in the 85th minute. Apolinario notched his second goal of the evening, this time off a crossing assist from fellow junior Yasha Schaerer.
However, the Herd’s celebration was short-lived as High Point responded just over a minute later. Amaya Jefferson tallied his second assist of the night after threading a pass to Mo Guettel for the game-tying goal.
“I think we went toe-to-toe with one of the best programs in the country,” HPU head coach Zach Haines said following the match. “We expect to win big games against top teams, and everybody has bought into that.”
The contest ended in a 2-2 draw, but not before officials assessed yellow cards to Max Maneke, Joao Roberto and Desmond Mensah within the final five minutes of play. Five yellow cards were issued in total, four of them against Marshall.
The Herd (1-0-3) remains undefeated on the season and hosts UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, Sept. 14, at Hoops Family Field.
Ethan Peltier can be contacted at [email protected].
