Marshall University Athletics
Men's Soccer Downs Northern Illinois, 3-1
10/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Men's Soccer Downs Northern Illinois, 3-1
10/3/2004
- Box Score
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - Senior Salvador Djeukeng (Yaounde, Cameroon) scored four mintues into the game and set the tone for a 3-1 Marshall win over Northern Illinois Sunday at Sam Hood Field.
The Herd (5-4-1, 2-1 MAC) would later score two more goals and held off Northern Illinois (7-4, 1-1 MAC) to earn the win.
"I am very happy with the way our team played today," Marshall Coach Bob Gray said. "We scored early and that set the tone for the rest of the game, I am happy with the way our guys played, we did not let up and played them hard."
Djeukeng scored his third goal of the season with an assist from Kirk Gibson (Allen, TX). The rest of the first half was evenly played, with both teams playing hard defensively and limiting the others chances.
In the second half, the game opened up a little bit more, with each team having chances on both sides of the field.
The wide open play helped the Herd as Jeremy Ashe (Cinnaminson, NJ) scored for the second game in a row with just over 13 minutes left. That gave Marshall a 2-0 lead at the time, but the offense was not finished as just over a minute later, Karim Boukhemis (Huntington, WV) found an open Kirk Gibson, who would put the ball in the net to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Huskies did not give up, as Andy Champion scored after Marshall was called for a foul just a few yards away from the net. Northern Illinois would keep the pressure on for the rest of the game and had a chance to get to within one with about three minutes left, but Herd goalie Joe Nebel (Brentwood, TN) made a great save to protect the lead.
Marshall eventually was able to regain possession and run out the clock to earn the win. MU outshot NIU, 13-11 and 8-5 in the second half. Joe Nebel made three saves, none of them easy, to get the win.
Gibson led MU with four shots, two of the on goal. He had a goal and an assist on the day. Freshman Jeff Lenix (Westerville, OH) had three shots, including one on goal.
Marshall is now 6-4 against Northern Illinois and today's win also keeps the streak alive where the home team has won every game.
Through ten games in 2004, Marshall is 5-4-1, a significant improvement over the 2-8 mark at this time last season. Coach Gray commented on the improvement of the team from last season to this season. "I think we have a lot of team chemistry, our guys are playing a lot better with each other and we have had contributions from everyone, it has been a nice turnaround."
On Friday, the Herd will look to keep things going when it hosts the Akron Zips. The Zips are 6-2-1 and play today at Bowling Green. Friday's game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. at Sam Hood Field. It will be part of a doubleheader with the women's team. The women game starts at 8 p.m. when they face the Ohio Bobcats.
