HUNTINGTON — The No. 6 Marshall men’s soccer team never got to the point where it played the kind of game it’s comfortable with, but still came away with a
HUNTINGTON — The No. 6 Marshall men’s soccer team never got to the point where it played the kind of game it’s comfortable with, but still came away with a 3-1 win over Robert Morris on Tuesday evening at Hoops Family Field in Huntington in front of 1,059 fans.
The Colonials (3-6-1) went toe-to-toe with the Thundering Herd (6-1-2) for much of the first half, even without creating a shot in the first 45 minutes, but a goal from Joao Souza in the 36th minute created some separation for Marshall, who shot eight times in the opening half.
Though ahead on the scoreboard, head coach Chris Grassie said it never felt like Marshall took control of the match as he would’ve liked them to.
“We just didn’t really grab the game and we didn’t really press well enough throughout the game,” Grassie said. “We didn’t control it. We made it (from) end to end. Obviously we created a lot of big chances but I’d rather have more control.”
That showed early in the second half when Robert Morris made an offensive push that created chances around the net for the Colonials, which led to their first shot attempt of the match with around 30 minutes left in the second half.
That half was largely controlled by the visitors, who seemed to control the pace of play and eliminate any big runs down the field for the Herd. The lead remained at 1-0 until the 83rd minute when Matthew Bell netted his eighth goal of the season to double the Herd’s lead to 2-0.
Bell capitalized on the pass sent in from the left side by Alex Adjetey, tapping it in front of the goal and sending it past Friedrich Petrelli, who played the full 90 minutes and made three saves in the loss.
“He’s got all the skill in the world but his brain just works quicker than everyone else,” Grassie said, “so that’s why he can get in those positions and score goals.”
But even that second goal didn’t allow the Herd to close things down in the final minutes of the match as less than two minutes later, the Colonials pulled back within a goal when Anass Hadran rocketed a shot past Oliver Semmle in the 85th minute, giving Robert Morris life.
But the player who helped manufacture the first goal of the night for Marshall set the final score in the 87th minute. Taimu Okiyoshi, who assisted on Souza’s first half goal, got one of his own to push the lead back to two for Marshall.
“He kind of does all the ballroom work to get us to the goal and then for him to get one tonight, I’m happy for him,” Grassie said.
The win extended Marshall’s unbeaten streak to seven games and was the 16th time since the start of last season that it has won a match after scoring first. Next up for the Herd is a Friday night road test at South Carolina as they return to league play.
