Marshall University Athletics
Men's Soccer Claims Third Win Against Cleveland State
10/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Men's Soccer Claims Third Win Against Cleveland State
10/10/2003
- Box Score
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Kirk Gibson (Allen, TX) scored his team-leading third goal of the year to help the Herd notch their third win of the season, 2-0 against the Cleveland State Vikings at Krenzler Field.
Gibson scored on an assist from Firas Al-Samarraie (Malmoe, Sweden) just over a minute into the game. Jeremy Ashe (Cinnaminson, NJ) added the second goal for Marshall at the 21 minute mark. It was his first goal of the year and was assisted by Michael McDonald (Luton, England) .
This was the type of fast start that Herd Coach Bob Gray was looking for. "It was important for us to get off to a quick start. Our offense played a lot better and we were able to get a lead and hold onto it, this is a big road win for us."
After the second goal was scored, the defense stepped up their play and preserved the win and shutout for goalie Chris McKinney (Princeton, WV) . McKinney made five saves to earn the shutout.
"Our defense played great tonight," Gray said, "our back four, Mike Bourassa (Victoria, Canada), Graham Prather (Richmond, VA), Paul Dirou (Nelson, New Zealand) and Mike Barbera (Huntington, WV) have been doing the job on the defensive end."
The team now heads to Buffalo for a conference match on Sunday. Coach Gray knows the importance of this game. "I hope this win will catapult us to the next level," Gray said, "if we can continue playing the way we did tonight, I think we can be very tough in Buffalo."
Sunday's game at Buffalo starts at 3:00 p.m. The next home game for the Herd is on Tuesday, October 21 when Coach Gray matches up against his former team, Alderson-Broaddus.
