Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Marshall men's soccer hits reset button, confident entering C-USA tourney
11/6/2018 8:25:00 AM | Men's Soccer, Word on the Herd
The Thundering Herd will face FIU in Wednesday's first round
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The losses were mounting, and so were the internal obstacles.
Consecutive defeats to Charlotte on Oct. 20 and Wright State on Oct. 23 had the Marshall University men's soccer program reeling. The Thundering Herd's place in the postseason was in jeopardy, and this at the end of what was supposed to be a promising second season under coach Chris Grassie. So, before the team's Oct. 27 match at New Mexico, Grassie gathered his team in a room and did not filter his thoughts.
"I told them how I felt," Grassie said. "I was disappointed in them. I didn't like the atmosphere on the team. I didn't like how we didn't help each other. No one was looking out for each other. We were getting on each other and we were down a bit."
Since then, Marshall is 2-0-1, much-needed momentum entering Wednesday's Conference USA tournament in Charlotte. The Herd, seeded fifth, takes on fourth-seeded FIU at 2 p.m. – the first match of the seven-team event. The winner advances to play top seed Kentucky on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday's match can be seen on ESPN+.
Grassie's gang is not at all concerned about its 7-8-3 overall record this season, or the 3-3-2 mark in league play, entering tournament play.
"We talked at the beginning of the season how our goal was to win the conference tournament," Grassie said. "We can still achieve that."
That belief, Grassie said, stems from what happened in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After the coaches and players chatted about what had gone awry throughout the season, the players took the field for pregame warmups. Routinely, the team would have returned to the locker room before the match, but Grassie did not want to go back to the place where negative thoughts and grievances were discarded.
"We left everything in that room," Grassie said. "We said, look, this is a reset button. Press the button. We're not going to hold anything against you from the season. If there are grudges, drop them and leave them in the room. Talk them out here and leave them, then we left.
"They bought into it. They left their animosities and their disappointments in the room."
Marshall's newfound mindset was immediately put to the test that day. New Mexico scored 26 minutes into the match, and then added another goal four minutes later.
"They stuck together," Grassie said. "They didn't point fingers. There was a lot of team play and a lot of sacrifice."
Gianni Bouzoukis scored for the Herd early in the second half, and then Jonas Westmeyer connected on the equalizer in the 89th minute. Marshall escaped with a 2-2 tie, and carried that momentum into wins at South Carolina (2-1) and at home against FAU (5-1). Since trailing 2-0 in New Mexico, Marshall has outscored its opponents 9-2. Against FAU in the regular season finale, the visitors scored an own goal to start the game, and Marshall responded with five unanswered goals.
"It's been a mind-changer in terms of what's happened in the past doesn't affect what type of team we can be," Grassie said. "At the beginning of the season, everybody's looking at the players we have and thought we could really make a run here. Then the cracks start to show when you lose and we lost that buzz from the preseason; we lost the buzz from feeling like a top team.
"We've regained that now."
Marshall faces an FIU team that was the preseason pick to win Conference USA. FIU received four first-place votes in the poll, while Marshall received one and was predicted to finish sixth. After all the ups and downs, the Herd outperformed preseason expectations. Now, Marshall wants to meet their own expectations in an event that runs through Sunday.
"Tactically, we understand what we need to do, but where the team is at with the belief is very good and the guys are feeling quite positive," Grassie said. "We're kind of crazy enough to go win the whole thing because of how our season has been. We can play better than any team in the conference tournament if we really focus and put our minds to it. We're capable.
"They know that and the last three games have helped us believe that. Believing that you can win it is the biggest thing."
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a six-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
