Photo by: Austin O Connor
Herd overcame pair of deficits against Mountaineers to win title in Mountain State Derby
The No. 1 Marshall University Men’s Soccer team (17-2) captured the 2023 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Tournament Championship, 3-2, over the West Virginia Mountaineers (14-2-4) on Sunday at Hoops Family Field in front of a stadium and Mountain State Derby record crowd of 3,151 fans.
It was the second tournament title in program history joining the team’s 2019 C-USA tournament title with the 17th win of the season marking the most in a season in program history besting the 16 won during the same season.
“I think we saw two fantastic teams, who’ve battled each other all year,” Herd men’s soccer head coach Chris Grassie said after the win. “I thought they (WVU) had a trophy performance, but at the end of the day, I have to be super proud of our players. I thought they put tremendous effort in. It was z different type of game and intensity than we played all season.”
With the score tied 2-2 and less than 15 minutes on the clock, Taimu Okiyoshi flicked a pass to Rai Pinto, who flipped it over the WVU defense to Alvaro Garcia-Pascual.
“I think the assist is not just for me, it’s for the team,” Pinto said about his second assist of the tournament and being named to the all-tournament team. “I just do the last part. I think we need to give a credit to all of the team, not just me and Alvaro, because we work all week and every day for this. The coaches prepare us for every game, and we need to be ready for what’s going to happen.”
Garcia-Pascual, who tallied Marshall’s first goal of the match in the 25th minute an assist from Matthew Bell, chipped WVU goalkeeper Jackson Lee from just outside the 18-yard box, to score a brace and give MU its first lead of the match, 3-2. The eventual game-winning goal at the 76:33 mark earned the junior the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament award.
“I’m happy with the goal and the victory, but as coach said, there’s a lot to work on, we need to keep improving,” Garcia-Pascual said as the team looks to the NCAA Tournament. “It’s another win, but we’re focused on the next step, the big tournament. We want to be 100 percent there, here at home with the fans.”
After the goal, goalkeeper Gabriel Perrotta came up with a pair of big saves in the 82nd and 85th minutes to keep the Mountaineers off the board and seal the championship.
The Herd was trailing 2-1 in the first half when Aymane Sordo was subbed on 33:02 into the contest. The Brazilian wasted little time in getting involved as he took a pass from Garcia-Pascual and snuck a shot past Lee to tie the match, 2-2, at the 35:31 mark to bring Marshall back into the game.
The goal earned Sordo a spot on the all-tournament team along with teammate Alex Bamford with both joining Pinto and Garcia-Pascual.
Marshall outshot WVU 17-10 and had seven more corner kicks, 9-2.
NEXT UP
No. 1 Marshall awaits who it will face in the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Tournament during the selection show set for 1 p.m. on Monday.
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**Press release from Marshall University – HERDZONE – 11/12/2023 5:54:00 PM | Men’s Soccer