Marshall men鈥檚 soccer returns to the NCAA Tournament looking to repeat history
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (BVM) — The Marshall University Thundering Herd men鈥檚 soccer team is headed back to the postseason just six months after it won the first national championship in program history. Back in May during an NCAA Tournament that was pushed from the fall to the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Herd were unheralded underdogs coming into the tournament as an unseeded team out of the small Conference USA. This time however, Marshall won鈥檛 sneak up on anybody as the team was given the No. 14 overall seed in the tournament when the field was announced on Nov. 15.
鈥淲e gotta defend our title, we鈥檙e the champs until somebody takes it from us,鈥� Head coach Chris Grassie . 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what it鈥檚 going to be all about so it doesn鈥檛 really matter where we鈥�re seeded, we just got to play our best and we know we can beat anybody in the country.鈥�
It鈥檚 dancing time! 馃Μ X
— Marshall University Men's Soccer (@HerdMSoccer)
The Herd are well deserving of an at-large seed despite losing in the semifinals round of the C-USA Tournament to Florida Atlantic University on Nov. 12. Marshall currently sits at 11-3-3 on the season, but have lost their last two games heading into the tournament which is a complete change of momentum from their last appearance when they rattled off eight straight victories en route to the national title.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 good, every once in a while it鈥檚 good to get knocked down as long as you either win or you learn and move on,鈥� Grassie said. 鈥淚 think we will get back to that and use that as fuel on the fire, push the anger down and let it drive us as we go.鈥�
Although the team lost senior leader and national championship game hero Jamil Roberts to the MLS鈥� Sporting Kansas City, the Herd were able to return most of their contributors from the championship roster. Strong returning players include senior Vitor Dias, who assisted on the championship golden goal, and senior goalkeeper Oliver Semmle, the C-USA Goalkeeper of the Year last season.
Another returner, midfielder Pedro Dolabella, took a huge step forward as the second team All-C-USA member last season became the C-USA Player of the Year, Offensive MVP and Co-Midfielder of the Year, which he shared with Dias, this season after leading the Herd and the conference in scoring with 10 goals and 26 points. It is the second consecutive year a Thundering Herd team member has earned the conference鈥檚 player of the year honor after Dias won it during the 2020 season and the third consecutive season a player won the Offensive MVP as Dias won in 2020 and redshirt junior Milo Yosef won it in 2019.
鈥淥ur mindset right now is putting in the work throughout this week and working harder,鈥� Dolabella . 鈥淩ight now, we just want to play the next game. The ring ceremony is great obviously it鈥檚 good remembering what we did and that we鈥檙e national champions. We鈥檝e done it already and we can do it again.鈥�
In addition to Dolabella, senior center back Nathan Dossantos also won a major C-USA award as he was named the conference鈥檚 Defensive MVP. He is the first player in Marshall history to win the C-USA Defensive MVP award.
鈥淲e pride ourselves on having a high standard in terms of our performances on the field,鈥� Dossantos . 鈥淔or a lot of our guys we鈥檙e looking at the last time we鈥檙e going to be putting on this jersey and we want it to be five games. We want to go the distance and go to Cary again and end up in North Carolina and I think that鈥檚 enough motivation to push us through these next couple of weeks.鈥�
In total, four Herd players earned first team C-USA honors — Dias, Dolabella, Dossantos and Yosef — while four others were named second team in Semmle, senior right back Jan-Erik Leinhos, senior midfielder Vinicius Fernandes and junior midfielder Max Schneider.
While the team may not surprise anyone this tournament season, the burden of any previous national champion, they do have the players and ability to make another run for a title. Having a roster filled with players who have gone through the experience before as well as a coach who has seen nothing but success during his tenure in Huntington in Grassie, the Herd have plenty of potential to run the table and repeat.
鈥淢ost of the guys on the team were a part of the national championship,鈥� Dolabella 鈥淗ow much more experience can you get on a team that won it and everybody returned except Jamil? We all know how it feels. We all know what it takes to win it all and we need to earn it. 鈥� I think our team can definitely do that.鈥�
It won鈥檛 be easy and defending a title usually never is, as the Herd found out in their loss in the conference tournament, but if there was any team designed to repeat a championship it鈥檚 this young, yet experienced Marshall squad.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have this anger in our eyes, this hunger to get back there,鈥� Dolabella 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 played at home the last two games and at home we鈥檙e so strong and so powerful and we feel the energy…we鈥檙e excited to get all this extra strength from the outside and put it all in the game and get past this round and onto the next one.鈥�
Being a top 16-seeded team, Marshall earned a first round bye and will face the winner of Marist and Providence in the tournament鈥檚 second round at Hoops Family Field at 1 p.m. on Nov. 21.
Ring SZN
馃拲
— Marshall University Men's Soccer (@HerdMSoccer)
