Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Friday soccer showdown between Marshall, WVU will be historic
9/16/2021 3:41:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Word on the Herd
Hoops Family Field attendance record expected to fall
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The official Twitter account of West Virginia University men's soccer sent a succinct tweet upon their team's arrival here Thursday afternoon.
"We're here," read the social media message, which was followed by an emoji.
By Friday night, when Marshall and WVU meet at Hoops Family Field, the Mountaineers will be joined by a record-breaking crowd. The stadium record – 2,126 – currently belongs to the NCAA Tournament matchup between the same teams in 2019, a 2-1 Marshall win that moved the Thundering Herd into the Sweet 16 and sent WVU on a bus back to Morgantown with a season-ending defeat.
Friday night's matchup – set for 7 (ESPN+) – will not carry win-or-go-home ramifications, but is no less intriguing. This version of the Mountain State Derby, between the state's Division I men's soccer heavyweights, is historical in nature because of the teams' place in the national landscape at this point in the season.
We'll get to that, but first let's address the crowd that will await Marshall and WVU on Friday night.
The MU Ticket Office has sold more than 1,000 tickets to Friday's game in addition to season tickets, students and other complimentary ticket obligations. As of Thursday at noon, that means Hoops Family Field will likely see a record-setting crowd even if there's not another ticket sold between now and game time.
That, of course, will not be the case. Tickets to Friday night's showdown have been a hot item on the eve of the game. While bleacher seats are sold out, there are a few standing room only tickets remaining. If a fan wants to witness history Friday night, swift action is required. Â
Quite frankly, there's never been a soccer matchup like this in the history of our great state.
West Virginia enters Friday's matchup No. 4 in the national polls, while Marshall is No. 6. The Mountaineers own bragging rights in the series thanks to a 1-0 decision in Morgantown in the spring, but the Thundering Herd followed that defeat by winning the national championship. Marshall, because of the aforementioned verdict in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, will look to extend its home winning streak in the series. The Herd has not lost to its in-state rival in Huntington since 1998, but only two matchups (in 2000 and 2019) have occurred here since then.
That, in itself, shines a light on the historic nature of this encounter. This will be the 24th meeting between WVU and Marshall, but they've never faced each other with both programs as Top 25 teams. And, never has Marshall been involved in a matchup where the teams' combined ranking is such a low number – 10. In the 2020 NCAA Tournament, No. 10 Marshall played No. 1 Clemson en route to winning the title.Â
This is also a matchup of coaching friends. WVU coach Dan Stratford, in his second season in Morgantown, worked un MU coach Chris Grassie at the University of Charleston. Stratford was Grassie's successor at UC when Marshall lured Grassie to Division I men's soccer. Stratford made the same D-II to D-I leap three years later.
Now they'll meet on the pitch for the second time.
The storylines are deep.
The standing room used to accommodate the largest crowd in Huntington history will likely be deep, too.
No matter what happens, what happens Friday night at Hoops Family Field will be one will be for the history books. If one wants to witness it in person, the door on that opportunity is quickly closing.
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a nine-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).