Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer

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Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer
Founded1979 (1979)
UniversityMarshall University
Head coachChris Grassie (8th season)
ConferenceSun Belt
LocationHuntington, West Virginia, US
StadiumVeterans Memorial Soccer Complex
(capacity: 1,006)
NicknameThundering Herd
ColorsKelly green and white[1]
   
Home
Away
NCAA tournament championships
2020
NCAA tournament runner-up
2024
NCAA tournament College Cup
2020, 2024
NCAA tournament Quarterfinals
2020, 2024
NCAA tournament Round of 16
2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
NCAA tournament Round of 32
2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
NCAA tournament appearances
2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Conference tournament championships
2019, 2023
Conference regular season championships
2000, 2019, 2020, 2023

The Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. The Thundering Herd plays its home games at Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex in Huntington and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Sun Belt Conference (SBC).[2] Marshall fielded its first intercollegiate men's soccer team in 1979. The Herd are coached by Chris Grassie, who has a record of 100–37–25 and a national championship during his eight previous seasons at Marshall.

Seasons

Record table
Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Southern Conference[3] (1979–1996)
1979 Ed Saad 1–11–11–5–17th
1980 Ed Saad 3–14–00–8–09th
1981 Sam Hood 6–8–22–4–27th
1982 Jack Defazio 13–6–05–2–02nd
1983 Jack Defazio 10–10–04–2–02nd (North)
1984 Jack Defazio 12–5–02–4–03rd (North)
1985 Jack Defazio 10–7–13–3–03rd (North)
1986 Jack Defazio 5–11–21–4–05th
1987 Jack Defazio 4–14–00–5–06th
1988 Jack Defazio 1–13–10–4–05thSoCon First Round
1989 John Gibson 7–10–31–2–13rdSoCon Semifinals
1990 John Gibson 9–10–21–1–23rdSoCon Semifinals
1991 John Gibson 9–9–42–2–03rdSoCon Runners-up
1992 John Gibson 3–13–20–4–27thSoCon First Round
1993 John Gibson 5–15–12–3–15thSoCon Semifinals
1994 Scott Fischer 4–14–21–4–17thSoCon First Round
1995 Bob Gray 10–10–03–3–04thSoCon Semifinals
1996 Bob Gray 11–7–24–1–12ndSoCon Semifinals
SoCon Total: 123–187–2331–61–11
Mid-American Conference[4] (1997–2004)
1997 Bob Gray 9–10–34–2–14thMAC Quarterfinals
1998 Bob Gray 11–9–14–4–05thMAC Quarterfinals
1999 Bob Gray 9–11–13–3–14thMAC Semifinals
2000 Bob Gray 14–5–14–2–0T–1stMAC Semifinals
2001 Bob Gray 12–7–03–3–03rdMAC Semifinals
2002 Bob Gray 7–9–23–2–04thMAC Semifinals
2003 Bob Gray 6–13–02–4–0T–5thMAC Quarterfinals
2004 Bob Gray 10–7–33–2–1T–4thMAC Quarterfinals
MAC Total: 78–71–1126–22–3
Conference USA[5] (2005–2021)
2005 Bob Gray 8–9–24–3–25thC-USA Semifinals
2006 Bob Gray 4–10–21–6–19th
2007 Bob Gray 10–9–13–5–06thC-USA Semifinals
2008 Bob Gray 3–14–13–5–07thC-USA Quarterfinals
2009 Bob Gray 10–7–26–2–02ndC-USA Runners-up
2010 Bob Gray 9–5–43–4–17th
2011 Bob Gray 8–8–14–3–15thC-USA Quarterfinals
2012 Bob Gray 11–5–13–5–07th
2013 Bob Gray 2–11–60–6–310th
2014 Bob Gray 7–9–33–4–16thC-USA Quarterfinals
2015 Bob Gray 8–9–22–5–17thC-USA Runners-up
2016 Bob Gray 6–11–11–6–19th
2017 Chris Grassie 8–10–23–5–06th
2018 Chris Grassie 8–9–33–3–25thC-USA Semifinals
2019 Chris Grassie 16–3–35–1–11stC-USA Champions
NCAA Third Round
2020 Chris Grassie 13–2–36–0–11stNCAA Champions
2021 Chris Grassie 11–4–35–1–22ndC-USA Semifinals
NCAA Second Round
C-USA Total: 142–135–4055–64–17
Sun Belt Conference (2022–present)
2022 Chris Grassie 11–4–44–1–32ndSBC Quarterfinals
NCAA Third Round
2023 Chris Grassie 18–3–07–2–01stSun Belt Champions
NCAA Third Round
2024 Chris Grassie 15–2–74–0–52ndSun Belt Runner-up
NCAA Runner-Up
2025 Chris Grassie 12–4–56–2–13rdSun Belt Runner-up
NCAA Second Round
SBC Total: 56–13–1621–5–9
Total:398–406–90

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

2020 season

Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer plays its home games at Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex

In 2020, the Marshall Men's soccer team, coached by Chris Grassie, broke several records and made a historic run in the 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. After winning the Conference USA Regular Season championship, they received an automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. The team was unseeded going into the tournament; however, they beat #23 ranked Fordham University in the second round, upset #1 seed Clemson in the third round, beat defending national champions and #8 seed Georgetown in the quarterfinals, and beat North Carolina in the College Cup semifinals. The season was capped off with a OT golden goal win over #3 seed Indiana in the College Cup final, giving Marshall its first-ever NCAA Division I National Championship in men's soccer. It was also Conference USA's first-ever national championship in any team sport.[6]

Players

Current roster

As of 9 Sep 2024[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  IRL Dan Rose
2 DF  USA Rohin Kapila
3 MF  BRA Thiago Apolinario
4 DF  ENG Alex Bamford
5 MF  USA Ryan Holmes
6 DF  USA Aleksandar Vukovic
7 FW  BRA Lineker Rodrigues
8 MF  JPN Taimu Okiyoshi
9 FW  GER Tarik Pannholzer
10 MF  MAR Aymane Sordo
11 MF  ESP Pablo Simon
12 FW  BRA Joao Roberto
13 DF  USA Ethan Prescott
15 DF  JPN Takahiro Fujita
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF  BRA Felipe Santos
17 FW  CAN Loïc Sany Kong
18 FW  USA Haruhi Taneda
20 MF  DEN Alexander Stjernegaard
21 DF  FRA Théo Godard
22 FW  JAM Adrian Mahoney
25 DF  FRA Max Manéké
31 DF  POR Rai Pinto
32 FW  JPN Masaya Sekiguchi
33 GK  SRB Aleksa Janjic
36 GK  USA Eddie DeMarco
43 DF  BRA Braian Amaro
47 DF  USA Marco Silva
99 GK  JPN Eijin Magota

Rivalries

Mountain State derby

Marshall's biggest rivals are West Virginia, as the two sides are the only Division 1 men's soccer teams in the state. Both teams are members of the Sun Belt Conference for men's soccer, and matches between the two teams typically draw large crowds.

Record against Sun Belt opponents

Source: [8] [9]

OpponentSeries record
Coastal Carolina2–1–3
Georgia Southern5–4–1
Georgia State2–0–2
James Madison6–4–1
Kentucky22–22–6
Old Dominion9–6–1
South Carolina16–5–1
West Virginia8–17–4

Individual achievements

All-Americans

  • Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos - 2024 United Soccer Coaches First Team
  • Matthew Bell - 2023 Consensus All-American First Team
  • Morris Duggan - 2023 United Soccer Coaches First Team
  • Taimu Okiyoshi - 2023 United Soccer Coaches Third Team, 2024 United Soccer Coaches Second Team
  • Pedro Dolabella - 2021 United Soccer Coaches Second Team
  • Vitor Dias - 2020 Consensus All-American First Team, 2021 United Soccer Coaches Third Team
  • Nathan Dossantos - 2020 Top Drawer Soccer Third Team
  • Milo Yosef - 2019 United Soccer Coaches Second Team, 2019 Soccer America Second Team, 2022 United Soccer Coaches Second Team

Conference Players of the Year

Year Player Conference
2023 Matthew Bell Sun Belt
2022 Milo Yosef Sun Belt
2021 Pedro Dolabella C-USA
2020 Vitor Dias C-USA
2012 Daniel Withrow C-USA
2002 Byron Carmichael MAC
2000 Byron Carmichael MAC

Conference Coach of the Year

Source:[10]

Year Coach Conference
2020 Chris Grassie C-USA
2019 Chris Grassie C-USA
2009 Bob Gray C-USA
2005 Bob Gray C-USA
2000 Bob Gray MAC
1990 Dr John Gibson Southern Conference
1982 Jack DeFazio Southern Conference

Career goalscorers

Bryon Carmichael leads Marshall's goalscoring record, scoring 58 career goals.

Rank Player Years Goals[11]
1 Byron Carmichael 1999–2002 58
2 Andy Zulauf 1981–85 39
3 Greg Ogle 1982–1985 28
Scott Laskowitz 1983–1986
5 Milo Yosef 2019–22 27
6 Tom Jackson 2009-12 26
7 Pedro Dolabella 2017–21 23
8 Matthew Bell 2022-23 20
9 Jamil Roberts 2017–20 19
10 Ryan LaPointe 1989-1993 18
David Vollmer 1988-1991

Former Herd players in the professional ranks

MLS SuperDraft Selections
YearPlayerSelectionRoundMLS Team
2025 [12] Lineker Rodrigues Dos Santos 29th 1st Round Real Salt Lake
2025 [10] Takahiro Fujita 87th 3rd Round Orlando City
2025 [10] Aleksander Vukovic 89th 3rd Round Real Salt Lake
2024 Morris Duggan 67th 3rd Round Minnesota United
2024 Matthew Bell 16th 1st Round Real Salt Lake
2023Oliver Semmle41st2nd RoundColorado Rapids
2022Nathan Dossantos46th2nd RoundOrlando City
2022Vitor Dias86th3rd RoundVancouver Whitecaps
2021Jamil Roberts77th3rd RoundSporting KC
2020Paulo Pita24th1st RoundLos Angeles FC
2013Daniel Withrow66th4th RoundColumbus Crew
2006Jeremy Ashe46th4th RoundChicago Fire
2003Byron Carmichael60th6th RoundKansas City Wizards
Active Professional Players
Player Current team Current league Former team
Gabriel AlvesTormenta FC USL League OneBirmingham Legion FC, Rhode Island FC
Adam Aoumaich Union Omaha USL League One n/a
Matthew Bell Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer n/a
Vitor DiasHFX Wanderers FC Canadian Premier LeagueSt. Louis City SC 2, Sporting Kansas City II
Pedro DolabellaNorth Carolina FC USL ChampionshipRochester New York FC, Union Omaha
Nathan DossantosCharleston Battery USL ChampionshipPittsburgh Riverhounds
Morris Duggan Minnesota United Major League Soccer n/a
Álvaro García PascualSevilla FC La Ligan/a
Collin Mocyunas Tormenta FC USL League One n/a
Taimu Okiyoshi Rhode Island FC USL Championship n/a
Illal Osumanu Pittsburgh Riverhounds USL Championship Union Omaha
Jamil RobertsTruro City FC National League SouthPeninsula Power FC, Tormenta FC, Sporting Kansas City II, Chattanooga Red Wolves
Lineker Rodrigues dos SantosReal Salt Lake Major League Soccern/a
Max SchneiderIndy Eleven USL ChampionshipSt. Louis City SC, St. Louis City SC 2
Oliver Semmle Philadelphia Union Major League Soccer Louisville City FC
Milo YosefLexington SC USL League OneFC Tulsa
Retired Professional Players and Other Notable Alumni
Player Former teams
Jeremy AsheChicago Fire
Travis BrentHeracles Almelo, Almere City FC, Harrisburg City Islanders
Phillip BuffingtonMississippi Brilla, Harrisburg City Islanders
Byron CarmichaelWilmington Hammerheads, Ocean City Nor'easters
Sterling FlunderPittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Bijan GlostonGuam national football team
Taly GoodeKansas City Wizards
Kolby LaCroneCleveland City Stars, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, Louisville Lightning, Dayton Dutch Lions
Jan-Erik LeinhosLouisville City, One Knoxville SC
Paulo PitaNorth Carolina FC
Eddy PrughBodens BK, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, Skellefteå FF
Avneet ShergillSalgaocar F.C.
John DanieleRoyal Racing FC Montengee, UC La Estrella, CD Diter Zafra
Daniel WithrowColumbus Crew, MLS Pool Goalkeeper, Portland Timbers, Portland Timbers 2
Anthony VirgaraPittsburgh Riverhounds SC

See also

References

  1. Marshall University Brand Guidelines (PDF). Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  2. "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  3. SoCon Record Book, pp. 5–11
  4. MAC Record Book, pp. 27–31
  5. CUSA Record Book, pp. 1–6
  6. "Unseeded Marshall tops IU for first soccer title". ESPN.com. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  7. 2024 roster at herdzone.com
  8. "Marshall Thundering Herd Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF).
  9. "2025 Men's Soccer Schedule - Marshall University Athletics". herdzone.com. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
  10. "Men's Soccer Record Book - Marshall University Athletics" (PDF). herdzone.com. Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  11. Marshall Record Book, p. 8
  12. "Three Herd Men's Soccer Players Selected in 2025 MLS SuperDraft - Marshall University Athletics". herdzone.com. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
General
Footnotes