HUNTINGTON Ƶ Following a dominant 4-0 victory over Furman in the second round of the NCAA menƵs soccer tournament, Marshall finds itself in familiar territory.
In fact, in each of the last three seasons, the Herd has made it this far in the tournament but failed to move any further, with losses to traditional powers Indiana and Stanford bringing those runs to an end in the third round the last two years.
SaturdayƵs opponent, though, is a little less familiar with its surroundings at this point in the year.
ItƵs the first time in 30 years that the North Carolina State Wolfpack has made a run this deep, using wins over Charlotte and fourth-seeded Georgetown to do so. NC State is 10-4-5 in Marc HubbardƵs first season at the helm.
It will face on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hoops Family Field a red-hot Marshall team that tallied four first-half goals in its tournament opener against Furman, including two strikes from Lineker Rodriguez dos Santos. He became just the sixth player in Herd history to score 12 goals in a season.
The WolfpackƵs Taig Healy has a team-high 18 points on six goals and a team-high six assists, with three coming in the NCAA Tournament. Just behind Healy are Hakim Karamoko and Donovan Phillip with 16 points apiece. Karamoko leads NC State with seven goals this season. Phillip scored a goal against both Charlotte and Georgetown.
Logan Erb has been in goal for the WolfpackƵs first two NCAA tournament matches and has five wins to his credit in 11 starts, with three clean sheets.
Marshall was ranked No. 8 in the final national poll of the season. The HerdƵs four-goal performance against Furman was the third time this season it has reached that total in a match.
ƵEvery goal counts. It doesnƵt matter if itƵs beautiful, ugly or an own goal, weƵll take it,Ƶ dos Santos said after the win over the Paladins on Sunday afternoon. His penalty kick got the Herd on the board in the 22nd minute, and later in the first half, the Herd added three more goals in the span of 95 seconds.
ƵThatƵs a pretty complete performance today, probably our best of the season so far,Ƶ Herd coach Chris Grassie said. ƵWeƵre peaking at the right time ... now we just have to believe and keep moving forward in what weƵre doing, and it could bode well for the future.Ƶ
Luke Creasy is a sports reporter for HD Media. He can be reached by phone at 304-526-2800.
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