Herd It Right: Marshall is Men’s Soccer College Cup champions
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (BVM) — They believed it all season, but on Monday it officially became a reality as the Marshall Thundering Herd men’s soccer team hoisted the NCAA Tournament College Cup for the first time in program history. Though many obstacles had to be overcome for the unseeded Herd team to reach the sport’s highest mark, they were undeterred as they defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 1-0 with an overtime goal in the 98th minute to secure the trophy they so desired.
Goodnight America!
Sincerely,
The Natty Champs🏆🤘 pic.twitter.com/1YPK8dIdN2— Marshall University Men's Soccer (@HerdMSoccer) May 18, 2021
“It feels a little bit surreal right now to be honest,” Marshall head coach Chris Grassie said during his postgame press conference. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of. I’ve been on the wrong side of this press conference too many times, three too many times. To finally win it, it’s a bit of a relief.”
Senior Jamil Roberts, who made the golden goal was all smiles during his postgame press conference. The tournament’s offensive most outstanding player was reveling in the moment.
“There’s a moment to be enjoyed right now,” Roberts said. “I don’t want to think too far ahead into the future and I don’t want to think about the past four years. I just want to live in this incredible moment and enjoy it with the best coaching staff in the country, my brothers who are my teammates and the best fans in the nation that are on the field right now.”
As far as the goal itself, the moment was sort of difficult to describe for both player and coach.
“Déjà vu,” said Roberts, who converted three game-winning goals during the tournament. “Vitor [Dias] in the box, does something no other player on the pitch can do, the keeper makes a decent save and I’m there to tap it in. That’s all I can say déjà vu, luckily I’m in the right place at the right time and that’s what we train. … It was just the best way to finish this incredible season.”
“It was just one of those moments where time kind of stopped,” Grassie said of the goal. “I was kind of like ‘What do I do now?’”
HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE ‼️@HerdMSoccer ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME!#CollegeCup pic.twitter.com/JmNr6IWb2W
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) May 18, 2021
For Marshall, it secured a spot in history. The squad became the first unseeded team to win the College Cup since Santa Clara in 2006. It also became the lone Conference USA program to win a national championship, regardless of sport, though some of the conference’s schools have won as members of other conferences and levels. Grassie was quick to credit the conference’s teams and coaches for his team’s own success.
“There are so many good coaches in Conference USA that have helped us, well not helped us, but we had to beat them and that’s helped us,” Grassie said. “Their work ethic, their drive in the conference has made the conference one of the best conferences in the country and that’s really challenged us so we’ll have to evolve again for those guys. I think Conference USA is going to get stronger and stronger so as long as we can win in there and compete in there we’ll always be ready to come out and have a run in the tournament.”
🎵 Championes, Championes 🎵
Raise that 🏆 @HerdMSoccer! pic.twitter.com/2YIQONfBel
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) May 18, 2021
The unit may have seen itself as underappreciated in the national scope, but the members never doubted themselves.
“We can do this and I feel like 12 months ago we were the only ones that believed that,” Roberts said. “I don’t know about the rest of my teammates, but I’ve been laughed at for telling people that we could win a national championship like ‘From Marshall who?’ Not bad for a little school from West Virginia with a bunch of internationals eh?”
Although there is some time to savor the moment, Grassie isn’t one to rest on his laurels. It took him four years to get Marshall to reach the level he had believed they could for so long and now he doesn’t want to see that fade. With Roberts being the only player projected to leave the team as he joins Sporting Kansas City of the MLS after being drafted by the team earlier this year, Grassie believes the unit could have just as much success next year and is looking ahead already.
“I find my attention starts turning to ‘21 ok how do we repeat?” Grassie said. “What do we need to do? How can we evolve this team? How do we evolve this feeling? How do we transplant this to August? … How do we take almost every one of these guys except Jamil who are coming back and we’re going to add a bunch of talented players to this roster so how do we then win it again? What do we have to do to take this magic and transplant it into next season?”
While excited to try and repeat next season, Grassie understands there is time to celebrate with the special group he had. He’ll remember the moments with his team and the squad that helped him win his first and that makes the win that much sweeter.
“Immensely, immensely proud to be a part of this team,” Grassie said. “We all really kind of came together this season and we just got better and better and better. … It just felt amazing to be around this group. Everyone felt dialed in. Just couldn’t get enough of hanging out, enough of watching scouts and film and working with the guys. It was just one of those things where everyone was feeding off it more and more. … When it went in, it just felt surreal.”
Though the season may be over, it will be a long time before the celebration in Huntington ends. With their history making championship, it will also be a long time before anybody forgets Marshall and its Cinderella run.
We were never the underdog. 😁🤷♂️
NATTY CHAMPS! 🟢🏆⚪️ https://t.co/EOoiLOzAXV
— Marshall University Men's Soccer (@HerdMSoccer) May 18, 2021
