Late Goal Sinks Herd 3-2 Against Oakland

Box Score (PDF)

HUNTINGTON, W.Va.—Marshall men's soccer fell to the visiting Oakland Grizzlies 3-2 Monday night at Hoops Family Field.

The Herd fell to 1-1-0 for the season as Oakland improved to 1-0-1.

After a scoreless first half, the action picked up in the 54th minute with a pair of goals just 15 seconds apart. Sophomore JP Rylah scored the opening goal of the contest to give the Herd a 1-0 lead.

Jonas Westmeyer, the goal-scorer in Marshall's first contest, started the goal sequence by playing a great ball just over the Oakland defense to find Jamil Roberts sprinting into the 18-yard box. Roberts' cross on the ground perfectly met the foot of Rylah for an easy tap in.

The Grizzlies answered back only 15 seconds later on a goal strikingly similar to the Marshall goal moments before. Oakland quickly attacked the Herd down the right side and put a low cross into the box buried by Dawsun Schrum for the equalizer.

In the 69th minute, Oakland took the lead. Driving down the middle of the pitch, the ball found its way to an open forward on the left side of the 18-yard box. Napoleon Outlaw III placed a ball across the net past Paulo Pita to give the Grizzlies a 2-1 advantage.

Marshall freshman Gianni Bouzoukis equalized in the 80th minute, and made his first goal one to remember. After a corner pick ricocheted in the box and a Westmeyer shot was deflected, the ball bounced to Bouzoukis who hit perfectly a volley just outside the 18-yard box into the back of the net.

Oakland once again bounced back with what proved to be the game-winner in the 82nd minute on a shot that took an unlucky deflection for Marshall. The Herd sent numbers forward, but could not find a second equalizer late in the contest.

Marshall statistically led Oakland in shots (12-10), shots on target (9-7), and corner kicks (3-1). Pita recorded four saves for Marshall. Pedro Dolabella led the Herd with four shots, all of which were on target.

"I think we just didn't keep our shape or our cool," head coach Chris Grassie said. "We knew exactly what they were going to come out and do, they did it. We did it until we scored and then we had a mental let down. We got caught up in the calls too much and we got unorganized. They caught us on the counter-attack which is exactly what we talked about them doing.

"There's a game around the corner. We can forget about this and put it behind us. We can watch the video, we can analyze what went wrong, correct it and acknowledge it and move on. Ohio State will be very similar to Oakland and hopefully play better and get the win. It's definitely do-able."

The Herd returns to action for a pair of games in the Dayton Classic beginning on Friday, Aug. 31 against Ohio State at the University of Dayton. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. against the Big Ten opposition.

For all the latest information about Marshall men's soccer, follow @HerdMSoccer on Twitter.

To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules, and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS or Android!

---HerdZone.com---

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Team Stats

Gianni Bouzoukis

JP Rylah

Jonas Westmeyer

Jamil Roberts

Players Mentioned

Gianni Bouzoukis

Pedro Dolabella

Paulo Pita

Jamil Roberts

JP Rylah

Jonas Westmeyer

Players Mentioned

Gianni Bouzoukis

Pedro Dolabella

Paulo Pita

Jamil Roberts

JP Rylah

Jonas Westmeyer

Marshall University Athletics