— By Dave Walsh
CARY, N.C. — There will be a next stop for the Marshall men’s soccer team — a program-first appearance in the College Cup.
The giant-killing Thundering Herd (11-2-3) punched its ticket to college soccer’s Final Four with a 1-0 win over defending national champion Georgetown in one quarterfinal contest Monday at WakeMed Park Field No. 2.
In its previous match, Marshall eliminated No.1-seed Clemson on penalty kicks (7-6) after playing to a 1-1 draw in regulation and overtime.
Vitor Dias, who notched the decisive goal in penalty kicks against the Tigers, had the big setup this time for the game’s only goal against the Hoyas.
After a sneak through the box and run down the end line, Dias found Jamil Roberts alone near the right post, made the pass to him and Roberts sent the ball into the empty net in the 70th minute. At that time, it was the second shot of the match for Roberts and just third in the match for the Herd. For Roberts, it was his third goal of the year and 17th of his career.
Marshall will play North Carolina in one semifinal Friday at WakeMed Field. The Tar Heels beat fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Wake Forest, 2-1, in a later quarterfinal.
Georgetown, the No. 8 seed in the tournament, finishes 10-2-2.
“I think we struggled with the first twenty minutes just trying to get our legs back from the previous games,” Marshall coach Chris Grassie said. “But once we got into it and we sorted some things out tactically, I thought we were terrific. I thought that it was only ever going to be us that were going to win it. We were smart in how we put numbers forward when we did put them forward and the goal was terrifically well done from one side of the pitch to the other and back across. I was thrilled.”
Georgetown coach Brian Wiese said the Herd delivered when needed.
“Congrats to Marshall on a great performance, they’re a good team and really difficult to play against,” he said. “They don’t allow a lot of easy chances and it felt like both teams had just a few and they capitalized.”
Georgetown beat Virginia for the NCAA title in 2019 (penalty kicks). There was no tournament last year since the NCAA shutdown spring sports due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. This season didn’t start until February.
Underdog talk hasn’t worked against Marshall.
“This is the no asterisk, national championship game for us,” Grassie said. “We played the number one, we played last year’s champion and then UNC and Wake are two storied programs, whoever wins that one. But there are all great teams left. For us it is just another day. We will prepare the same way we did.”
Georgetown went hard for the equalizer down the stretch, but Herd goalkeeper Oliver Semmle and his defense were up to the challenge. The best chance for the Hoyas came at 89:19 on an in-closer header by Zach Riviera, but Semmle denied him.
“Toward the end, I knew they were going to throw crazy numbers forward and they are all skillful,” Grassie said. “It was a bit of a slog for the last eight or nine minutes there, but I thought the lads did really well.”
Both Semmle and Georgetown keeper Giannis Nikopolidis finished with two saves each.
Pittsburgh and Indiana will square off in the other national semifinal.
COVID-19 and all the protocols prompted the NCAA to have all 36 men’s teams consolidate play in Cary, North Carolina and surrounding areas. Being in one geographical location helps on travel and time needed to conduct the championships. It also allows for COVID-19 testing and setup.
The NCAA College Cups are Monday for men and women at WakeMed Soccer Park. Attendance at matches has been limited.