— By David Walsh
The College Cup in Cary, North Carolina is the next stop for Marshall soccer.
The Thundering Herd earned the last spot in the field of four on Sunday with a 3-2 victory over SMU at Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium in Dallas. The game had been scheduled for Saturday night, but got postponed by heavy rain that made the grass pitch unsafe.
The Mustangs pressed over the closing stages for the tying goal despite being a man down when Daniel Escorcia got a red card at 85:04.
Ohio State is No. 1 in the nation and top seed in the College Cup. The Buckeyes have a semifinal date against Marshall next Friday at approximately 7:30 p.m.. In the other match, Vermont will take on No. 3 Denver at 5 p.m. ESPNU will televise the contests. Winners will compete for the title on December 16.
Marshall’s Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos continued his strong postseason run with a goal and two assists. His goal at 23:31 gave the Herd a 1-0 lead at the break.
Tarik Pannholzer 🤝 Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos#NCAASoccer x 🎥 ESPN+ / @HerdMSoccer pic.twitter.com/nPbwZIZjqq
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) December 8, 2024
Tarik Pannholzer made a nice run into the SMU zone, kept a rolling ball from going over the end line, spun around, came back and got past two defenders and found Rodrigues dos Santos for his 15th goal of the season and fifth in three tournament games.
Marco Silva made it 2-0 with a goal at 55:50. Rodrigues dos Santos spotted Silva open on the backside of the SMU back line and he scored goal No. 5 overall and first in two months.
SMU then started its comeback. Bailey Sparks, the top scorer for the Mustangs in goals and assists, found Milton Lopez open in the box, sent a lob pass over the Herd defenders and onto the foot of Lopez who got it past Marshall keeper Aleksa Janjic.
The Herd would go back up two goals when Pablo Simon, with an assist to Rodrigues dos Santos, took a pass and fired the shot home at 75:54.
The Herd extend their lead 🦬#NCAASoccer x 🎥 ESPN+ / @HerdMSoccer pic.twitter.com/ez3GcjJCtF
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) December 8, 2024
The Mustangs would press to get back in it and the Sparks-to-Lopez combination worked for a score at 82:25.
Later in the closing half, the Mustangs had to play a man down, but they kept the pressure on and Janjic stopped a header by Owen Zarnick in the 88th minute to secure his 11th win in the nets.
Marshall took seven shots with three on goal. The Mustangs had 11 with three also on goal.
Marshall, ranked No. 8 and seeded 13th, heads into a national semifinal with a 14-1-7 record. In its last trip there, the Herd won the 2020 national title with an overtime win over Indiana, completing a tournament that was played in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID pandemic and all the restrictions.
Rodrigues dos Santos knew the SMU facility well. He played at Memphis last year and scored a goal in a 2-1 loss. The American Athletic Conference’s player of the season would go on to transfer to Marshall for 2024. He has 15 goals for the Herd with 14 of the 15 coming over the last 16 matches.
Marshall was playing in its second Elite Eight and SMU its 14th.
The Mustangs have now scored in 41 straight matches. SMU, the No. 12 seed, finishes 12-3-6.