Marshall Men's Soccer Defeats Eastern Illinois 2-1 with Late Goal

Herd Men's Soccer Head Coach Chris Grassie remarked that the team was not at their best. "We were playing down a gear tonight in between two big conference rivalry games. We kind of played within ourselves a little bit tonight, but we're definitely on the trajectory to be a great team," he said.

Marshall started the match aggressively, taking five of the first six shots. Ramado Pierre-Louis recorded the first shot on target, which was saved by EIU goalkeeper Kai Odagiri in the 28th minute.

Yurij Obert made a crucial save for the Herd in the 37th minute against a shot from Nolan Getzinger. Just before halftime, Haruhi Taneda's shot was saved, leading to a corner kick. The ball bounced off Goncalo Machado's head and was finished off by Joshua Nugent, who scored his fourth goal of the season to equalize at 1-1 in the 41st minute.

In the second half, Eastern Illinois pulled even with a goal from Keiden Green in the 61st minute. As the match progressed, the Herd had several close opportunities before Joao Carvalho delivered an over-the-top pass to Carl Romberg. Romberg took a touch toward the center of the box and scored the game-winner with just 4:30 remaining in the game.

Marshall outshot Eastern Illinois 15-10 overall, with a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal.

Marshall will host the West Virginia Mountaineers on Sunday in the Mountain State Derby at Hoops Family Field.