Marshall Men’s Soccer kicked off the 2024 season at Hoops Family Field on Thursday night with 3-0 shutout against Cal State Fullerton. Marshall, coming off a 3-0 loss to Stanford in the third round of the NCAA tournament a season prior, came into the matchup ranked eighth in the nation.
The match marked the official debut of six new players for the Herd. Head Coach Chris Grassie commented on their performances after the game.
“They’re great players. It’s going to take them a while to get used to our style of play.” Grassie said.
Aggressive play from both teams resulted in a combined 15 fouls; ten that went against the Titans, and five against the Herd.
Marshall forward, Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, was cautioned with a yellow card in the first seven minutes of play. A total of four would be assessed through the night.
In the 16 minute of play, Titans midfielder Fernando Valenzuela was given a red card.
This would become a turning point in the game, as Cal State Fullerton was forced to play down a man.
Cal State Fullerton managed to limit Marshall’s scoring opportunities until the 38 minute, when Ayame Sordo tapped in a rebound that came off Titan’s keeper, Brandon Limes.
Marshall furthered its lead in the second half, when Alexander Stjernegaard and Takahiro Fujita assisted Aleksandar Vukovic on his first goal for the Thundering Herd in the 63 minute.
Less than seven minutes after Vukovic’s header, Ryan Holmes forced a Cal State Fullerton defensive error, deflecting off a defender’s head, leading to an own goal to make the score 3-0 in favor of Marshall.
The rest of the match went back-and-forth.
The Titans managed to get one last shot on net, stopped by Aleska Janic for his first save of the season.
“We definitely have some things to work on,” Coach Grassie said, “it’s great when you win, and then you still have some things to work on.”
Marshall looks to continue its momentum on the road, facing off against Xavier University at Corcoran Field.
The contest is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. In the meantime, you can find more sports coverage and analysis on WMUL’s website under the “Sports” tab.