Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low around 30F. Winds light and variable..
Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low around 30F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: November 23, 2022 @ 8:12 pm
Marshall men’s soccer coach Chris Grassie jumps into the arms of Herd goalkeeper Oliver Semmle after Marshall’s win in penalty kicks over No. 1 Clemson on in the 2020 NCAA men’s soccer tournament in Cary, N.C. Semmle had two key saves in PKs to key the Herd’s win.
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Marshall men’s soccer coach Chris Grassie jumps into the arms of Herd goalkeeper Oliver Semmle after Marshall’s win in penalty kicks over No. 1 Clemson on in the 2020 NCAA men’s soccer tournament in Cary, N.C. Semmle had two key saves in PKs to key the Herd’s win.
HUNTINGTON — The end result of the match was never in question when Marshall and Virginia entered a penalty kick shootout after 110 minutes of soccer that ended in a 1-1 gridlock in an NCAA Tournament game on Sunday.
That confidence, in particular, was because of who was standing in the net for the Thundering Herd.
Goalkeeper Oliver Semmle stepped up to the spot and buried the first penalty kick for Marshall, then stopped UVA’s first attempt from Daneil Mangarov to give his squad the upper hand.
“We know [Ollie] is going to save at least one, so if we score all five, we win,” Marshall coach Chris Grassie said. “He’s such a good performer. For me, he should be in the MLS. He’s that type of guy.”
Penalty kicks are something the Herd has worked on extensively in training throughout Grassie’s six-year tenure with at Marshall, and it’s paid off in the some of the biggest moments in program history.
In the second round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament, Marshall defeated Clemson, which held a high national seed, in penalties also. Drawing on that experience, Grassie was confident his team would fall back on those reps and what it had worked on throughout the year to prevail on the road.
After Semmle made the first attempt, Gabriel Alves, Matthew Bell, Joao Souza and Milo Yosef each made their penalty tries and sent the Herd into the next round of the tournament.
“We’ve had rigorous penalty training and those are the guys that have come to the fore,” Grassie said. “We probably have five or six guys beneath them who are also unlucky to not be selected, but are dying to take penalties, so it’s something we feel very strong at. Once we went to penalties, we had no doubt that we would win. We are very confident in this group.”
The win sets up a rematch of the 2020 NCAA College Cup final, where Marshall defeated No. 3 seed Indiana for its first national championship.
Through Grassie’s lens, that run 18 months ago is similar to this 2022 run.
“We are using the same motivation, right? We were ridiculously overlooked by the committee again and we’ve just got to come on the road and prove it,” Grassie said. “We’re obviously the class of this part of the bracket, so we’re happy to go to Indiana. The guys have fond memories of playing them and we’re hoping to do it again.”
Luke Creasy is a reporter for HD Media. Follow him on Twitter @LukeCreasy or reach him by phone at 304-526-2800.
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