HUNTINGTON — Marshall's men’s soccer team closed its exhibition slate with a 3-0 win over the University of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä on Saturday at Hoops Family Field.
After a scoreless first half, Joao Alves scored on a penalty kick, and Pedro Martins followed two minutes later with another on an assist by Joshua Nugent. Ramado Pierre-Louis finished the scoring in the 74th minute unassisted.
"The second group went on and did a little better," Marshall coach Chris Grassie said of playing into space offensively. "That's why they were able to have the results and goals they had.
"The first group was a little stronger from ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, so that was a good test. Overall, I'm pretty happy. I think we still have a lot to work on."
The two teams played 110 minutes, with an additional 20-minute period following full time.
The Thundering Herd was ranked No. 17 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Division I preseason poll, while ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä was No. 9 in the Division II preseason ratings. Marshall has been nationally ranked since October 2019 and reached its seventh consecutive NCAA tournament in 2025.
The Herd was voted to finish No. 2 in the Sun Belt Conference behind West Virginia, with three first-place votes and Carl Romberg named to the preseason SBC first team. Romberg finished with a team-high 15 points, including five goals, in 2025. The Herd brings back 19 goals from 2025, including five apiece from Romberg and Joao Roberto.
On Saturday, Dayton transfer Andrew Armstrong took an early shot on a wide-open net for a goal, but it was ruled offside in the second minute – the best chance for either team in the first half.
"The first group, I think I should have challenged the first call," Grassie said. "Might have changed the game, but I thought we tried to force the long ball in the beginning. We need to play a little bit more and find the spaces."
Armstrong played 18 matches for the Flyers in 2025 and scored four goals, with a team-leading five assists.
Alan Horrocks received the start in the net for Marshall and corralled a Golden Eagles chance in the 21st minute off a long shot from Martin Echarren.
Horrocks transferred to Marshall from Gardner-Webb. He did not allow a goal in 18 games in 2025 and totaled 44 saves.
In the final two minutes of the first half, Marshall made a run through Roberto, deflected for a corner, but went offside to remain scoreless at the break.
In the 60th minute, ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä swapped 10 players at once as both teams worked through their depth before a crowd of more than 2,500.
Shortly after, Marshall’s Joao Alves was awarded a penalty kick and ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s Samuel Montes was given a red card. ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä kept 11 players on the field for the sake of exhibition as Montes exited the match.
Alves buried the kick into the bottom left corner to give Marshall a 1-0 lead in the 62nd minute. Alves scored one goal and added an assist in 2025.
Two minutes later, the Herd scored another as Martins blasted a shot to the bottom left of the net on an assist from Nugent.
Nugent, from Canada, and Martins, from Portugal, are each freshmen joining the Herd.
"We have so many new players," Grassie said. "You want to give a nod to the guys who have been here and are proven. If the new guys get the concepts faster, the competition amongst positions drives us forward. We have a lot of competition.
"They're all good soccer players. Can they play Marshall soccer the way we want quickly?"
Golden Eagles coach Daniel Smee was proud of the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä first unit's effort and said only the 15-minute stretch in which Marshall scored in bunches were bad minutes.
"The plan was always to get through 60 minutes with the first group and then give the second group the remaining 50," Smee said. "There were times were we thought about keeping the first group going. They did so well. Ultimately, it's our first game, and we want to make sure we're healthy. I thought we played well. Over 110 minutes, we were really good for around 90 to 95 of them. Just had a bad 15, but it happens."
Pierre-Louis finished the job in the 74th minute with an unassisted goal. He joins Marshall as a freshman from Miami.
"This was my first time. I'm a freshman," Pierre-Louis said. "I felt really great. I like the fans. Everything was amazing.
"We're getting there. We keep working hard in practice. We just want to apply that to our games. That way, we can make the fans happy and win a national championship."
Ryan Holmes returns to the Herd following the five-for-five injunction for the high school class of 2022.
Grassie gave compliments to ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, calling the Golden Eagles the best unit he saw during the Herd's exhibition schedule.
"They have a very good coach in Dan Smee," Grassie said. "I thought they were super organized in the first half and caused us a few problems. They are a little behind us in their preseason, so I think it's a really good start for them. I imagine they can make another deep run."
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä enjoyed getting a matchup with a Division I opponent as the Division II schedule does not tend to line up.
"It's been weird for the last few years as the Division I calendar moves forward," Smee said. "This year, we are very fortunate. Every fourth year, we do a festival year and the season moves forward. We were able to overlap with them, and we were biting Chris' hand off to try for a game for that reason.
"We don't get to play Division I teams in preseason much anymore, so we wanted to this year. There's no better games than here in this state with Marshall, and if we can get up to the northern part of the state and play those guys, we will try. Really enjoyed it, just a tough 15 minutes."
Marshall opens the regular season at home against Fairfield at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä's lidlifter is Aug. 27 at Tiffin.
