The 2023 Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer team represents Marshall University during the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It is the 45th season of the university fielding a men's varsity soccer program. The Thundering Herd, led by seventh-year head coach Chris Grassie, play their home games at Hoops Family Field as members of the Sun Belt Conference.[1][2]
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 8 Marshall ‡ | 7 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 18 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19 UCF + | 6 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 4 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 3 West Virginia + | 5 | – | 1 | – | 3 | 17 | – | 3 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 James Madison + | 4 | – | 2 | – | 3 | 10 | – | 5 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kentucky + | 3 | – | 3 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia State | 3 | – | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | – | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | 3 | – | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | – | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Old Dominion | 2 | – | 6 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern | 1 | – | 5 | – | 3 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coastal Carolina | 1 | – | 6 | – | 2 | 3 | – | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: Sun Belt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Thundering Herd finished the regular season with a 14–2–0 record winning the Sun Belt Conference men's soccer regular season championship. This marks the first team championship Marshall has won in the Sun Belt Conference. The 14–2–0 record also marks the best regular season Marshall men's soccer has ever had.
Marshall continued their dominance into the Sun Belt Conference tournament where they got revenge on the two teams that defeated them in the regular season; Kentucky, and West Virginia. They ultimately won the Sun Belt tournament with a score of 3–2 against fierce rival West Virginia to clinch a spot in the NCAA tournament. This also marks the first tournament championship The Herd has won in the Sun Belt Conference.
Marshall made school history on November 13, 2023 as they laid claim to the No.1 overall seed in the NCAA men's soccer tournament during the selection show. Despite being the top seed overall, they would fall in the third round to Stanford.
Background
The season prior, Marshall finished 11-4-4 after losing in the third round of the 2022 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.[3]
Marshall was ranked 11th in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll and 2nd in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll.[4][5][6]
Roster
Updated August, 2023[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Schedule
| Date Time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | |||||||||||
| August 24* 7:15 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 11 | Oakland | W 4–0 | 1–0–0 |
Hoops Family Field (1,492) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| August 28* 7:15 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 11 | Wright State | W 5–0 | 2–0–0 |
Hoops Family Field (1,135) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| September 1* 7:15 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 5 | Xavier | W 3–0 | 3–0–0 |
Hoops Family Field (1,713) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| September 5* 6:00 pm, ACCN |
No. 2 | at Pittsburgh | W 3–1 | 4–0–0 |
Petersen Sports Complex (1,081) Pittsburgh, PA | ||||||
| September 8* 7:15 am, ESPN+ |
No. 2 | High Point | W 2–1 | 5–0–0 |
Hoops Family Field (2,135) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| September 12* 7:15 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 2 | Cleveland State | W 5–0 | 6–0–0 |
Hoops Family Field (1,579) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| September 16 7:00 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 2 | at No. 9 James Madison | W 3–1 | 7–0–0 (1–0–0) |
Sentara Park (1,119) Harrisonburg, VA | ||||||
| September 23 7:15 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 1 | No. 3 UCF | W 1–0 | 8–0–0 (2–0–0) |
Hoops Family Field (3,075) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| September 27* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 1 | at VCU | W 1–0 | 9–0–0 |
Sports Backers Stadium (995) Richmond, VA | ||||||
| October 1 7:00 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 1 | at Georgia Southern | W 3–1 | 10–0–0 (3–0–0) |
Eagle Field (391) Statesboro, GA | ||||||
| October 7 7:15 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 1 | Georgia State | W 2–0 | 11–0–0 (4–0–0) |
Hoops Family Field (2,042) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| October 13 7:15 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 1 | Coastal Carolina | W 6–1 | 12–0–0 (5–0–0) |
Hoops Family Field (1,861) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| October 18 7:00 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 1 | at No. 5 West Virginia Mountain State Derby |
L 2–5 | 12–1–0 (5–1–0) |
Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium (3,147) Morgantown, WV | ||||||
| October 22 4:30 pm, ESPM+ |
No. 1 | Kentucky | L 0–2 | 12–2–0 (5–2–0) |
Hoops Family Field (3,099) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| October 27 7:00 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 6 | at Old Dominion | W 2–0 | 13–2–0 (6–2–0) |
Old Dominion Soccer Complex (548) Norfolk, VA | ||||||
| October 31 7:15 pm, ESPN+ |
No. 4 | South Carolina | W 2–0 | 14–2–0 (7–2–0) |
Hoops Family Field (1,714) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| Sun Belt Tournament | |||||||||||
| November 5 3:00 pm, ESPN+ |
(1) No. 4 | (8) Old Dominion Quarterfinals |
W 2–0 | 15–2–0 |
Hoops Family Field (1,790) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| November 8 7:00 pm, ESPN+ |
(1) No. 1 | (5) Kentucky Semifinals |
W 3–0 | 16–2–0 |
Hoops Family Field (2,176) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| November 12 1:00 pm, ESPN+ |
(1) No. 1 | (3) No. 5 West Virginia Finals |
W 3–2 | 17–2–0 |
Hoops Family Field (3,151) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| NCAA Tournament | |||||||||||
| November 19* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ |
(1) No. 1 | Cal Baptist Second round |
W 3–0 | 18–2–0 |
Hoops Family Field (2,959) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| November 26* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ |
(1) No. 1 | (16) No. 22 Stanford Third round |
L 3–0 | 18–3–0 |
Hoops Family Field (3,042) Huntington, WV | ||||||
| *Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. | |||||||||||
Awards and honors
| Recipient | Award | Date | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Bell | SBC Offensive Player of the Week | Aug. 29 | [10] |
| Marco Silva | SBC Offensive Player of the Week | Sept. 5 | [11] |
| Matthew Bell | SBC Offensive Player of the Week | Sept. 19 | [12] |
| Adam Aoumaich | SBC Offensive Player of the Week | Sept. 26 | [13] |
| Pablo Simon | SBC Offensive Player of the Week | Oct. 17 | [14] |
| Alexander Stjernegaard | SBC Offensive Player of the Week | Nov. 2 | [15] |
| Gabriel Perrotta | SBC Defensive Player of the Week | ||
| Matthew Bell | SBC Player of the Year | Nov. 3 | [16] |
| Matthew Bell | SBC Offensive Player of the Year | ||
| Morris Dugan | SBC Defensive Player of the Year | ||
| Gabriel Perrotta | SBC Goalkeeper Player of the Week | ||
| Matthew Bell | SBC First-Team All-Conference | ||
| Morris Duggan | SBC First-Team All-Conference | ||
| Gabriel Perrotta | SBC First-Team All-Conference | ||
| Taimu Okiyoshi | SBC Second-Team All-Conference |
Rankings
| Week | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| United Soccer[17] | 11 | 5 | 2 | 2 (3) | 1 (7) | 1 (8) | 1 (7) | 1 (7) | 1 (8) | 6 | 4 | 1 (8) | N/A | |||
| Top Drawer Soccer[18] | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | |||
References
- ^ "Chris Grassie - Men's Soccer Coach". Marshall University Athletics. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "NCAA Statistics". stats.ncaa.org. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ MetroNews (November 28, 2022). "Marshall suffers 1-0 loss at Indiana in third round of NCAA Tournament". WV MetroNews. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "NCAA DI Mens Rankings – National | United Soccer Coaches". Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "NCAA Men's Soccer Preseason Top 25 Rankings announced". SoccerWire. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ CREASY, LUKE (August 14, 2023). "Marshall men picked second, land two on All-SBC preseason team". The Herald-Dispatch. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Men's Soccer Roster". Marshall University Athletics. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Men's Soccer Schedule". Marshall University Athletics. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Marshall's Bell and James Madison's Nikolai Tabbed as Sun Belt Men's Soccer Players of the Week". Sun Belt Conference. August 29, 2023.
- ^ "Marshall's Silva and UCF's Bubb Garner Sun Belt Men's Soccer Player of the Week Honors Honors". sunbeltsports.org. Sun Belt Conference. September 5, 2023.
- ^ "Marshall's Bell and South Carolina's Alexander Secure Sun Belt Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". Sun Belt Conference. September 19, 2023.
- ^ "Marshall's Aoumaich & Georgia Southern's Martinez Earn Sun Belt Men's Soccer Player of the Week Distinction". sunbeltsports.org. Sun Belt Conference. September 26, 2023.
- ^ "Marshall's Pablo Simon and James Madison's Enrique Garcia Barelles Garner Sun Belt Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". sunbeltsports.org. Sun Belt Conference. October 17, 2023.
- ^ "Marshall Sweeps Final Sun Belt Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". sunbeltsports.org. Sun Belt Conference. November 2, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Sun Belt Men's Soccer Awards and All-Conference Teams Announced". Sun Belt Conference. November 3, 2023.
- ^ "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
- ^ "College Soccer National Ranking". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.