Score: No. 15 Marshall 3, VCU 1
Location: Huntington, W.Va. / Hoops Family Field
Records: VCU 0-3-2, Marshall 2-0-2
THE SHORT STORY
VCU men's soccer scored in the seventh minute against the No. 15 nationally ranked Marshall, but the Thundering Herd overcame the early deficit with three unanswered goals to remain unbeaten on the season. The Rams fell 3-1 on the road on Sunday.
PITCH-SIDE
- Graduate student midfielder Ty Johnson scored the first goal of his career
- Freshman forward Kimarly Scott had four shots and a pair of shots on goal, both career highs
- Fabian Garita, Theo Drennan, Pedro Salmon and Jordan Cheetham played the full 90 in the field
- The teams were even with four shots on goal apiece, but VCU was outshot 13-9
- Marshall made three saves to VCU's one
- Three different Marshall players accounted for the Thundering Herd's goals
HOW IT HAPPENED
- VCU opened the game with an early strike as Ty Johnson challenged a Marshall defender and goalkeeper, making a run to the goal in the seventh minute for the Rams' 1-0 lead
- The Thundering Herd had a response in the 15th minute from leading scorer Thiago Apolinario for a 1-1 tie heading into the halftime break
- Coming out of the half, Marshall took its first lead of the game in the 49th minute
- VCU looked to replicate Wednesday's late-game heroics as Scott laid a shot on Yurij Obert in Marshall's net, but the goalkeeper staved off the Rams' game-tying attempt
- The Rams entered the 90th minute trailing by just a goal, but Marshall managed to find the back of the net with :14 seconds on the clock to make it 3-1
SCORING MOMENTS
7' | VCU 1, Marshall 0 – Ty Johnson
15' | VCU 1, Marshall 1 – Thiago Apolinario; Goncalo Machado
50' | Marshall 2, VCU 1 – Joao Roberto
90' | Marshall 3, VCU 1 – Carl Romberg
QUOTABLE
"We are going to stay focused on the same journey that we've been focused on. We made another significant step forward, even without training much between the game with High Point and tonight. I thought the first 45 minutes were the best and most effective half we have had this year. Had we gone in to the break up by two or three goals, I think it would have been fair based on the clear chances we created. With that said, although there was good progress, when you play games at this level you can be punished in moments when you have small details that aren't right, and that's exactly what happened to us a few times defensively tonight. The general concepts and ideas are coming along really well, but the consistency of small details need some work to get us to our capacity. I'm very proud of the group overall and I'm excited about where this team can get to if we stay on this path," Giffard said.
UP NEXT
VCU will play its home opener at the VCU Athletic Village on at 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11 against UCF, who is receiving votes in the most recent United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll. All home matches at the Athletic Village feature free admission to fans. For more information, click
here.
