Silva Notches Career Game in No. 11 Herd’s Shutout over Wright State

Box Score (PDF) | Grassie Postgame | Championship Fund

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The No. 11 Marshall University men's soccer team (2-0) carried its momentum from the season opener into a 5-0 blanking of the Wright State Raiders (0-1-1) on Monday night at Hoops Family Field. Marco Silva was the star of the match, tallying his first career goal, hat trick and assist just 35:30 into the first half.

"We talked at halftime about not letting them have any shots, never mind any goals, to keep the shutout," Herd men's soccer head coach Chris Grassie said about his backline after the match. "We gave away a silly ball and they had a great chance, but Gabe (Perrotta) made an unbelievable save. He has great reflexes. Defensively they did a great job, but we can improve on the ball."

After Alvaro Garcia-Pascual saw a penalty kick saved in the second minute, Takahiro Fujita sent a lob pass to Silva down the right wing in the 18th minute. Silva then sped by the Raider defender and found the back of the net to give the Herd a 1-0 lead.

"I saw the space in front of me and I have a little quickness in me, so I tried to push it," Silva said about his first goal. "I took the space I saw and cut inside. I got a little ahead of myself, but I reached and got the finish."

Seven minutes later, MU struck twice in less than a minute. At the 25:48 mark, Silva found Matthew Bell for his fourth goal of the season followed by a cross from Theo Godard finding Silva, who sent the ball into the goal 29 seconds later for his second of the contest to make it 3-0.

Silva's hot boots continued into the 36th minute as he took a pass from Garcia-Pascual and scored his third goal of the contest on Garcia-Pascual's third helper of the year.

"It was a magical feeling," Silva said about his hat trick. "Matthew in the first game, he's a great player, my best friend and roommate. To see him have his moment and then this for me, I'm sure he's happy for me."

Garcia-Pascual then scored his first goal for the Herd in the 70th minute with his fourth shot on goal of contest. Aymane Sordo sent in the pass to assist the junior on his goal.

Goalkeeper Gabriel Perrotta stopped his first shot of the season at the 78:14 mark tipping a Wright State shot over the crossbar.

NEXT UP
Marshall looks to continue its hot streak in its final contest of a three-game homestand as it hosts Xavier on Friday at 7:15 p.m.

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---HerdZone.com---

Silva Notches Career Game in No. 11 Herd’s Shutout over Wright State

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Team Stats

Marco Silva

Alvaro Garcia-Pascual

Matthew Bell

Aymane Sordo

Players Mentioned

Matthew Bell

Takahiro Fujita

Alvaro Garcia-Pascual

Theo Godard

Gabriel Perrotta

Marco Silva

Aymane Sordo

Marshall University Athletics