BLOOMINGTON, Indiana — Another comeback was nowhere in sight for the Marshall men’s soccer team as their season ended Sunday night in the third round of the NCAA tournament.
An early second-half goal by Indiana’s Brett Bebej was enough to give the 13-man Hoosiers a 1-0 win over the Thundering Herd at Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana.
“They were playing behind us just looking for variety as the field was quite wet and I thought we gave up a little too much territory,” said head coach Chris Grassie. “They got corners from that that they ended up hitting from.”
The Herd won their first two games of the tournament: against Elon (1-0) in the first round and equalized after falling behind against Virginia in the second round, a game they finally won on penalties with 5: 3 won. But in a replay of the 2020 College Cup Finals, Indiana reversed the result from 18 months ago and sent home the Thundering Herd (11-4-4), potting their ticket to the Quarterfinals to face either Stanford by 5 seed or to play against 12. seed UNC Greensboro on the street.
“We knew this team had a little bit more, but that’s just football sometimes,” Grassie said, reflecting on the loss. “You can be right there and it’s the odd goal that nullifies you.”
The Hoosiers (12-4-6) made it clear from the start that they wanted to set the pace of the game, and it was just 90 seconds before they scared the defense when Samuel Sarver scored the first shot of the match, sent in it just missed the net.
It was the home side’s only shot over the next 37 minutes as they pushed offensively in the waning moments of the opening period and conceded four shots in the final seven minutes of the first half but still went empty-handed.
Five different Hoosiers shot, but only two on target. Marshall’s Oliver Semmle made saves against each of them on 39 and 43 minutes to keep the game goalless until the break. The herd made four shots and Joao Souza had three of them, the other came from Collin Mocyunas but none of them hit the target.
But Indiana’s only glaring advantage came in the corner kick category, where he scored 10 in the first half while Marshall had none. But the 11th turn made the difference.
When Ryan Wittenbrink sent the cross from the near side corner of the field, it flew over the defense and Brett Bebej headed it past Semmle for a goalless draw in the 47th minute with just his third goal of the season. The 1-0 lead lasted the rest of the way and Indiana walked away with the win.
“Everyone is very upset about the result here tonight,” said Grassie. “We come into a place like this expecting to win and that just goes to show how far (the seniors) have helped move the program forward.”
Semmle ended the game with five saves against six shots on goal. Indiana’s JT Harms made a save on each of Marshall’s two shots on target. Marshall led the Hoosiers 12-10 but only took a corner kick to Indiana’s 12.
