Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer

The Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. The Thundering Herd plays its home games at Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex in Huntington and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Sun Belt Conference (SBC).^[2] Marshall fielded its first intercollegiate men's soccer team in 1979. The Herd are coached by Chris Grassie, who has a record of 100–37–25 and a national championship during his eight previous seasons at Marshall.

Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer
Founded	1979; 46 years ago (1979)
University	Marshall University
Head coach	Chris Grassie (8th season)
Conference	Sun Belt
Location	Huntington, West Virginia
Stadium	Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex (Capacity: 1,006)
Nickname	Thundering Herd
Colors	Kelly green and white[1]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament championships
2020
NCAA Tournament runner-up
2024
NCAA Tournament College Cup
2020, 2024
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
2020, 2024
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
NCAA Tournament appearances
2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Conference Tournament championships
2019, 2023
Conference Regular Season championships
2000, 2019, 2020, 2023

Seasons

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Southern Conference[3] (1979–1996)
1979	Ed Saad	1–11–1	1–5–1	7th
1980	Ed Saad	3–14–0	0–8–0	9th
1981	Sam Hood	6–8–2	2–4–2	7th
1982	Jack Defazio	13–6–0	5–2–0	2nd
1983	Jack Defazio	10–10–0	4–2–0	2nd (North)
1984	Jack Defazio	12–5–0	2–4–0	3rd (North)
1985	Jack Defazio	10–7–1	3–3–0	3rd (North)
1986	Jack Defazio	5–11–2	1–4–0	5th
1987	Jack Defazio	4–14–0	0–5–0	6th
1988	Jack Defazio	1–13–1	0–4–0	5th	SoCon First Round
1989	John Gibson	7–10–3	1–2–1	3rd	SoCon Semifinals
1990	John Gibson	9–10–2	1–1–2	3rd	SoCon Semifinals
1991	John Gibson	9–9–4	2–2–0	3rd	SoCon Runners-up
1992	John Gibson	3–13–2	0–4–2	7th	SoCon First Round
1993	John Gibson	5–15–1	2–3–1	5th	SoCon Semifinals
1994	Scott Fischer	4–14–2	1–4–1	7th	SoCon First Round
1995	Bob Gray	10–10–0	3–3–0	4th	SoCon Semifinals
1996	Bob Gray	11–7–2	4–1–1	2nd	SoCon Semifinals
SoCon Total:		123–187–23	31–61–11
Mid-American Conference[4] (1997–2004)
1997	Bob Gray	9–10–3	4–2–1	4th	MAC Quarterfinals
1998	Bob Gray	11–9–1	4–4–0	5th	MAC Quarterfinals
1999	Bob Gray	9–11–1	3–3–1	4th	MAC Semifinals
2000	Bob Gray	14–5–1	4–2–0	T–1st	MAC Semifinals
2001	Bob Gray	12–7–0	3–3–0	3rd	MAC Semifinals
2002	Bob Gray	7–9–2	3–2–0	4th	MAC Semifinals
2003	Bob Gray	6–13–0	2–4–0	T–5th	MAC Quarterfinals
2004	Bob Gray	10–7–3	3–2–1	T–4th	MAC Quarterfinals
MAC Total:		78–71–11	26–22–3
Conference USA[5] (2005–2021)
2005	Bob Gray	8–9–2	4–3–2	5th	C-USA Semifinals
2006	Bob Gray	4–10–2	1–6–1	9th
2007	Bob Gray	10–9–1	3–5–0	6th	C-USA Semifinals
2008	Bob Gray	3–14–1	3–5–0	7th	C-USA Quarterfinals
2009	Bob Gray	10–7–2	6–2–0	2nd	C-USA Runners-up
2010	Bob Gray	9–5–4	3–4–1	7th
2011	Bob Gray	8–8–1	4–3–1	5th	C-USA Quarterfinals
2012	Bob Gray	11–5–1	3–5–0	7th
2013	Bob Gray	2–11–6	0–6–3	10th
2014	Bob Gray	7–9–3	3–4–1	6th	C-USA Quarterfinals
2015	Bob Gray	8–9–2	2–5–1	7th	C-USA Runners-up
2016	Bob Gray	6–11–1	1–6–1	9th
2017	Chris Grassie	8–10–2	3–5–0	6th
2018	Chris Grassie	8–9–3	3–3–2	5th	C-USA Semifinals
2019	Chris Grassie	16–3–3	5–1–1	1st	C-USA Champions NCAA Third Round
2020	Chris Grassie	13–2–3	6–0–1	1st	NCAA Champions
2021	Chris Grassie	11–4–3	5–1–2	2nd	C-USA Semifinals NCAA Second Round
C-USA Total:		142–135–40	55–64–17
Sun Belt Conference (2022–present)
2022	Chris Grassie	11–4–4	4–1–3	2nd	SBC Quarterfinals NCAA Third Round
2023	Chris Grassie	18–3–0	7–2–0	1st	Sun Belt Champions NCAA Third Round
2024	Chris Grassie	15–2–7	4–0–5	2nd	Sun Belt Runner-up NCAA Runner-Up
SBC Total:		44–9–11	15–3–8
Total:		387–402–85
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

2020 season

Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer plays its home games at Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex

In 2020, the Marshall Men's soccer team, coached by Chris Grassie, broke several records and made a historic run in the 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. After winning the Conference USA Regular Season championship, they received an automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. The team was unseeded going into the tournament; however, they beat #23 ranked Fordham University in the second round, upset #1 seed Clemson in the third round, beat defending national champions and #8 seed Georgetown in the quarterfinals, and beat North Carolina in the College Cup semifinals. The season was capped off with a OT golden goal win over #3 seed Indiana in the College Cup final, giving Marshall its first-ever NCAA Division I National Championship in men's soccer. It was also Conference USA's first-ever national championship in any team sport.^[6]

Players

Current roster

As of 9 Sep 2024^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  IRL Dan Rose 2 DF  USA Rohin Kapila 3 MF  BRA Thiago Apolinario 4 DF  ENG Alex Bamford 5 MF  USA Ryan Holmes 6 DF  USA Aleksandar Vukovic 7 FW  BRA Lineker Rodrigues 8 MF  JPN Taimu Okiyoshi 9 FW  GER Tarik Pannholzer 10 MF  MAR Aymane Sordo 11 MF  ESP Pablo Simon 12 FW  BRA Joao Roberto 13 DF  USA Ethan Prescott 15 DF  JPN Takahiro Fujita

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  BRA Felipe Santos 17 FW  CAN Loïc Sany Kong 18 FW  USA Haruhi Taneda 20 MF  DEN Alexander Stjernegaard 21 DF  FRA Theo Godard 22 FW  JAM Adrian Mahoney 25 DF  FRA Max Maneke 31 DF  POR Rai Pinto 32 FW  JPN Masaya Sekiguchi 33 GK  SRB Aleksa Janjic 36 GK  USA Eddie DeMarco 43 DF  BRA Braian Amaro 47 DF  USA Marco Silva 99 GK  JPN Eijin Magota

Rivalries

Mountain State derby

See also: Mountain State derby

Marshall's biggest rivals are West Virginia, as the two sides are the only Division 1 men's soccer teams in the state. Both teams are members of the Sun Belt Conference for men's soccer, and matches between the two teams typically draw large crowds.

Record against Sun Belt opponents

Source: ^{[8] [9]}

Opponent	Series record
Coastal Carolina	1-1-3
Georgia Southern	5-3-1
Georgia State	1-0-2
James Madison	5-4-1
Kentucky	20-22-6
Old Dominion	9-6-1
South Carolina	15-5-1
West Virginia	8-17-4

Individual achievements

All-Americans

• Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos - 2024 United Soccer Coaches First Team
• Matthew Bell - 2023 Consensus All-American First Team
• Morris Duggan - 2023 United Soccer Coaches First Team
• Taimu Okiyoshi - 2023 United Soccer Coaches Third Team, 2024 United Soccer Coaches Second Team
• Pedro Dolabella - 2021 United Soccer Coaches Second Team
• Vitor Dias - 2020 Consensus All-American First Team, 2021 United Soccer Coaches Third Team
• Nathan Dossantos - 2020 Top Drawer Soccer Third Team
• Milo Yosef - 2019 United Soccer Coaches Second Team, 2019 Soccer America Second Team, 2022 United Soccer Coaches Second Team

Conference Players of the Year

Year	Player	Conference
2023	Matthew Bell	Sun Belt
2022	Milo Yosef	Sun Belt
2021	Pedro Dolabella	C-USA
2020	Vitor Dias	C-USA
2012	Daniel Withrow	C-USA
2002	Byron Carmichael	MAC
2000	Byron Carmichael	MAC

Career goalscorers

Bryon Carmichael leads Marshall's goalscoring record, scoring 58 career goals.

Rank	Player	Years	Goals[10]
1	Byron Carmichael	1999–2002	58
2	Andy Zulauf	1981–85	39
3	Greg Ogle	1982–1985	28
	Scott Laskowitz	1983–1986
5	Milo Yosef	2019–22	27

Former Herd players in the professional ranks

See also: List of Marshall University people

MLS SuperDraft Selections

Year	Player	Selection	Round	MLS Team
2025 [11]	Lineker Rodrigues Dos Santos	29th	1st Round	Real Salt Lake
2025 [12]	Takahiro Fujita	87th	3rd Round	Orlando City
2025 [13]	Aleksander Vukovic	89th	3rd Round	Real Salt Lake
2024	Morris Duggan	67th	3rd Round	Minnesota United
2024	Matthew Bell	16th	1st Round	Real Salt Lake
2023	Oliver Semmle	41st	2nd Round	Colorado Rapids
2022	Nathan Dossantos	46th	2nd Round	Orlando City
2022	Vitor Dias	86th	3rd Round	Vancouver Whitecaps
2021	Jamil Roberts	77th	3rd Round	Sporting KC
2020	Paulo Pita	24th	1st Round	Los Angeles FC
2013	Daniel Withrow	66th	4th Round	Columbus Crew
2006	Jeremy Ashe	46th	4th Round	Chicago Fire
2003	Byron Carmichael	60th	6th Round	Kansas City Wizards

Active Professional Players

Player	Current Team	Current League	Former Team
Gabriel Alves	Tormenta FC	USL League One	Birmingham Legion FC, Rhode Island FC
Adam Aoumaich	Union Omaha	USL League One	n/a
Matthew Bell	Real Salt Lake	Major League Soccer	n/a
Vitor Dias	HFX Wanderers FC	Canadian Premier League	St. Louis City SC 2, Sporting Kansas City II
Pedro Dolabella	North Carolina FC	USL Championship	Rochester New York FC, Union Omaha
Nathan Dossantos	Charleston Battery	USL Championship	Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Morris Duggan	Minnesota United	Major League Soccer	n/a
Álvaro García Pascual	Sevilla FC	La Liga	n/a
Collin Mocyunas	Tormenta FC	USL League One	n/a
Taimu Okiyoshi	Rhode Island FC	USL Championship	n/a
Illal Osumanu	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	USL Championship	Union Omaha
Jamil Roberts	Truro City FC	National League South	Peninsula Power FC, Tormenta FC, Sporting Kansas City II, Chattanooga Red Wolves
Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos	Real Salt Lake	Major League Soccer	n/a
Max Schneider	Indy Eleven	USL Championship	St. Louis City SC, St. Louis City SC 2
Oliver Semmle	Philadelphia Union	Major League Soccer	Louisville City FC
Milo Yosef	Lexington SC	USL League One	FC Tulsa

Retired Professional Players and Other Notable Alumni

Player	Former Teams
Jeremy Ashe	Chicago Fire
Travis Brent	Heracles Almelo, Almere City FC, Harrisburg City Islanders
Phillip Buffington	Mississippi Brilla, Harrisburg City Islanders
Byron Carmichael	Wilmington Hammerheads, Ocean City Nor'easters
Sterling Flunder	Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Bijan Gloston	Guam national football team
Taly Goode	Kansas City Wizards
Kolby LaCrone	Cleveland City Stars, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, Louisville Lightning, Dayton Dutch Lions
Jan-Erik Leinhos	Louisville City, One Knoxville SC
Paulo Pita	North Carolina FC
Eddy Prugh	Bodens BK, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, Skellefteå FF
Avneet Shergill	Salgaocar F.C.
John Daniele	Royal Racing FC Montengee, UC La Estrella, CD Diter Zafra
Daniel Withrow	Columbus Crew, MLS Pool Goalkeeper, Portland Timbers, Portland Timbers 2
Anthony Virgara	Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC