NORFOLK, Va. – Sixth-ranked Marshall broke open a scoreless first half with a pair of tallies in the final 45 minutes as the Thundering Herd defeated Old Dominion 2-0 in Sun Belt Conference men's soccer action on Friday night.
Marshall got the scoring going off a corner kick at 53:54 as Adam Aoumaich served the ball in and Braian Amaro who headed the ball in for a 1-0 Thundering Herd lead. The visitors put up the second one just under 25 minutes later as Matthew Bell found a streaking Alexander Adjetey down the right side and he sent one to the opposite corner for the second goal at 78:23.
In the first half, both teams struggled to get shots off as defense was at a top level. Marshall controlled possession time, but ODU ended with a slight 3-2 shots advantage. On the night Marshall had an 11-8 advantage in shots.
"We had a good game plan coming in and executed really well in the first half," said ODU Head Coach Alan Dawson coaching in his final home match. "In the second half we gave up a set play goal which then allowed Marshall to control possession and we had to open up a little bit and gave up the second one."
Dawson was recognized tonight in a pre-game ceremony where nearly 100 of his former players from Methodist University and Old Dominion joined him on the field.
ODU will close the regular season on Tuesday night in Morgantown, West Virginia taking on another nationally-ranked opponent in the second-ranked Mountaineers of West Virginia.
"We showed a lot of heart and guts tonight and I expect we will show the same on Tuesday night," Dawson said. "We are not going to back down and are fighting for points to get into the tournament."
Men's Soccer Drops 2-0 Decision To #6 Marshall
Michael Eberle