— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall did its part Tuesday night to claim a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular-season soccer title with in-state rival West Virginia.
The Thundering Herd blanked Old Dominion, 3-0, in the finale to secure its share of first with the Mountaineers, since they were also victorious Tuesday night, 2-0, at James Madison.
Both Marshall (10-2-4) and WVU finish 6-1-2 in Sun Belt play for 20 points. The Mountaineers are the No. 1 seed in the SBC Tournament based on goal differential against common opponents.
Both teams will be home the first two rounds of the tournament, but if the two win twice, the finale would be in Morgantown.
When the game ended, fans in the crowd of 2,267 at Hoops Family Field/Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex went onto the turf to watch the players receive the Sun Belt trophy and celebrate the accomplishment.
“Fantastic,” Marshall coach Chris Grassie said. “We executed the game plan. They have a good team, have their own style, introduce a lot of chaos and we managed it very well. I’m happy with the guys. I’d have taken this at the beginning of the season. It’s been a journey. A pretty good performance. I’m proud of it.
“This is the best we’ve played the last part of the season. Eighteen new guys, three back from injuries. It takes time to jell. This is very rewarding. All the credit to the players. They worked hard for this. Celebrate then we start over. Every game’s a knockout. We’ve been playing that way.. Rising to the challenge. This group does need a bit of a challenge.”The scenario now is lose and go home. That’s the challenge.”
Carl Romberg scored in the 24th minute to give the Herd a 1-0 lead. He struck again in the 57th minute to double the advantage.
Luka Lukic tallied a goal in the 83rd minute to cap the scoring and end Old Dominion’s season as the Monarchs missed out on the eight-team Sun Belt Tournament by finishing ninth in the 10-team league.
Grassie isn’t surprised by the way Romberg emerges in big situations.
“He’s very composed in the box,” Grassie said. “He’s a very good thinker. Keeps his wits about him in the box waiting for the moment.”
Romberg said he’d enjoy the moment, then start looking ahead to the postseason.
“I’m a small guy. I need to make smart decisions,” Romberg said. “Got a little lucky they found me. I’ve got to be smarter. Fake them out, definitely got a pretty good first step. A good friend of mine is a goalie and he said the thing is to get the shot on goal at first. The goalie needs to make the save. Worked so far.”
Herd goalkeeper Alan Horrocks made four saves for the clean sheet.
It was the sixth straight win for Marshall, which extended its unbeaten streak to seven matches.
“Super proud of the team,” Romberg said. “Everybody stepped up in different games. I thought we had a good team. We just needed to get over the hump. Now it feels like we’re rolling.”
WVU and Marshall are the sites for the first two rounds of the tournament.
On Sunday at Marshall, it’s the No. 2 Herd against No. 7 Kentucky and No. 3 UCF against No. 4 South Carolina. The winners meet in the semis one week from Wednesday.
In Morgantown, it’s top seed WVU against No. 8 Georgia Southern and No. 4 James Madison against No. 5 Coastal Carolina. Winners advance to their seminal Wednesday.
If seeding held, WVU would welcome Marshall in the Sun Belt Championship on November 15. The Mountaineers and Herd battled to a 1-1 draw in Huntington back on September 27.
Romberg’s not thinking that far ahead.
“Enjoy this and tomorrow morning focus on the conference tournament,” he said. “Now it’s win or go home. At the end of the day we have to rise up to the challenge. This is their season, this is our season. How do I approach that (MU possibly making the finale against WVU)?” It’s good for the state of West Virginia. You kind of know we’re probably going to play them twice in a year. Not thinking ahead. One game at a time.”