Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Ohio Valley
The Herd Blanks Ohio Valley in Home Opener, 3-0
9/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 15, 2009
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - A first half goal from Fayanga Keita (Roanoke, Va.) proved to be the game winner on Tuesday night at Sam Hood Field as the Marshall University men's soccer team won its home opener over Ohio Valley University 3-0.
Keita's goal came in the 24th minute courtesy of midfielder Sammy Boateng's cross from the right hand corner of the field. Keita beat his defender to the ball and tucked away his first goal of the season past Ohio Valley's net minder Spencer Widlicka.
Despite outshooting OVU in the first half, Head Coach Bob Gray and the Herd players saw missed opportunities. "We got off to a very slow start," Gray said. "The players got into each other at halftime, and that was encouraging because they knew they didn't play well. It obviously worked because the second half was much better."
Marshall (2-3-1) dominated the second half from start to finish. The Herd outshot OVU 16-4 and had a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks. The loss drops OVU to 1-6 on the season
Matt Butler (Wolverhampton, England) added an insurance-goal in the 74th minute and he connected on a penalty kick. Keita drew the foul as OVU's Danny Fernandez clipped his heals heading towards the net.
Butler added an assist just four minutes later, as his free kick from 25-yards out ripped the post and fell right to the feet of redshirt freshman Devin Perkins (St. Petersburg, Fla.). Perkins tapped in the ball for his first goal of the season.
"We have a lot of work to do, but we are very young," said Gray. "We had some great play from our young guys tonight; Perkins, Hembree, Ayala, Hunter all played well. This weekend at Kentucky is a huge game and we will see what we are really made of."
Marshall travels to Lexington, Ky., this Sunday as the Herd takes on nationally ranked and Conference USA leading University of Kentucky. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the UK Soccer Complex.
Pictures from tonight's game are available by logging onto www.herdzone.com
