Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Centenary College
Men's Soccer Uses First Half To Cruise Past Centenary
9/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 16, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Marshall senior midfielder Jermaine Johnson (Kingston, Jamaica) tallied two goals to lead four different Marshall scorers past the Centenary Gentleman, 5-2 at the Fairfield Inn-Bowling Green Hilltopper Classic, Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Herd improved to 2-3 on the season and the Gents fell to 1-5. The victory gives Marshall a 1-0 lead in the all-time series between the two schools.
"We got off to a fast start and were able to finish our scoring chances," Marshall Head Coach Bob Gray said. "We're happy with our overall performance and it was our best play by far this season."
The Thundering Herd stormed out in the first half with four goals coming before the 20th minute mark. Junior forward Kolby LaCrone (Zanesville, Ohio) led off the scoring with a goal in the first five minutes from an assist from Johnson. Johnson threaded a pass to LaCrone, which left him with a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
Johnson, not more than a minute later, received an assist from sophomore transfer Michael Bolt (Hendersonville, Tenn.) to score his first goal of the game. Johnson added his second goal of the game, and of the season, four minutes later with an assist from J.D. Hill (Dublin, Ohio).
Seven minutes later, freshman forward Sammy Boateng (Accra, Ghana) recorded his first collegiate goal on a pass from LaCrone to increase the Herd lead to 4-0.
Centenary would get on the board after a Marshall foul inside the 18-yard box. The Gents' Aaron Volanski capitalized on the Herd's mistake to record his fourth goal of the season.
At the 32:27 mark, Marshall received their own penalty kick. Junior Luke Strimer (Parkersburg, W.Va.) faked out the Gents' keeper, James Speed, who guessed right, while Strimer placed his free kick in the left side of the net. The goal was his first at the collegiate level.
Leading 5-1 at intermission, the Gents would tack on one more goal by Volanski, who was assisted by Keegan Walhood.
Freshman Adam Greene (Knoxville, Tenn.) saw 39 minutes of action in goal during his first collegiate soccer game and registered one save. Junior goalie Brad Kennedy (Lewisburg, W.Va.) started the game and tallied three saves increasing his season total to 25.
The Herd doubled the Gents' shot total 20-10, with 11 of Marshall's shots on goal.
Sterling Flunder (Bothell, Wash.) Hill and Johnson were each named to the Fairfield Inn-Bowling Green Hilltopper Classic All-Tournament team for their efforts. Flunder netted two goals in Friday's match against Belmont, while Johnson added a pair of goals and an assist over the weekend.
Marshall has not recorded five goals or more since Sept. 13, 2006, when they defeated Ohio Valley, 6-0.
The Herd will take a small break in play while it prepares to host the Marshall Classic from Friday, Sept. 21 to Sunday Sept. 23 with all games to be played at Sam Hood Field.
