Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Radford
@HerdMSoccer Finishes Exhibition Play
8/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Box Score
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall men's soccer team finished exhibition play Saturday evening falling to Radford 2-1 at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Herd will begin regular season action Friday Aug. 26 against Western Michigan at home.
"It was a good pre-season match I thought," assistant coach Thomas Olivier said. "Radford came out and pressed us and made us play out of rhythm and it hurt us in the first half."
Junior Nate Himes (Tampa, Fla.) started in goal for Marshall while freshman goalkeeper Thomas Salenbien (Eernegem, Belgium) played the second half.
Radford, a 2015 NCAA Tournament participant, got the scoring started in the 22nd minute. Forward Neil Martorana knocked in a rebound off of a Marshall defender from just inside the box.
Marshall evened the score in the final seconds of the first half as sophomore Chris Taibi (Wantagh, N.Y.) sent the ball into the net from a corner kick by fellow sophomore Jacob Purpero (Waverly, Ohio).
The Herd fought the Highlanders hard in the second half playing tough defense and attacking down the field. Radford, however, grabbed the lead in the 77th minute when Zachary Turk scored on a penalty kick.
"We came out in the second half and matched up a bit better and created some nice chances for ourselves even after the second goal," coach Olivier said. "We were a bit immature and inexperienced in some phases of play but it is not anything we can't fix with 5 good days of preparation for two good non-conference home games next weekend. Back to work on Monday!"
Marshall and Radford both finished with four shots on goal.
The Herdmen will kick-off the 2016 season with two consecutive home games. Western Michigan will be the first and then followed by a match with Detroit Sunday Aug. 28.
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