the beginning of its season, Marshall has had its ups and
downs.MU Soccer...
Getting a Kick Out of Life!!
From The Parthenon Archives by ROBERT McCUNE, reporter
Marshall's Thundering Herd soccer team has been riding a rollercoaster.
The Herd started this season at the back end of a long and curving track.
Since the beginning of its season, Marshall has had its ups and
downs.
After its first four games, the Herd was at its lowest with a 0-3-1 overall record. It began its ascent after a win against Wofford College. It went on to win against long time in-state rival West Virginia University before shocking the soccer community with its win against nationally ranked Duke University.
With its loss to the University of Charleston last week and its more recent loss to the University of Louisville, the Herd could be experiencing a down side.
"It's like the roller coaster I've been on about all season. Right now, I think welre in a bit of a rut," coach Bob Gray said. "We can't seem to find the net,"
In its match against Louisville, Marshall was shut out 1-0 Louisville's defense limited the Herd to two shots on the goal but Marshall's defense played equally strong as they limited the Cardinals to six shots.
Gray said the weather was also a factor going into the match. "It was cold. We all froze."
"I think the bitter conditions that we had to play in contributed to the outcome of the garne," he said.
Four and a half minutes into the second half, Louisville senior Michael Kim took a comer kick and sent it into Jared Goldberg. Goldberg then hit a header into the right bottom comer of the goal past diving Marshall goalkeeper Richard Orrick to finish the game 1-0.
Shots for the Herd were taken by sophomore Stephen Toth and junior Eric Jones. With the loss, the Herd dropped its record to 9-6-2 overall, but will remain in second place going into the Southern Conference tournament.
Louisville closed out its regular season with the win, upping its record to 6-10-2. "I was pleased with the way we played for the most part," Gray said. "We dominated most of the game and had possession of the ball. What's disturbing to me is that we created good stuff building the ball up, but the end result was that we didn't get off any shots."
Marshall is scheduled to finish its regular season this week
with a home match against the University of Kentucky. The match is scheduled
for 4 p.m. Wednesday. "Kentucky is a good side. They are a strong side
and I think it will be another tough match for us. They are a well coached
and very fit team," Gray said.
"However, I plan to let a lot of players play and I will do that for two reasons. First, I want to rest some players for the conference tournament. Second, I hope to find a good combination to take into the weekend."
After its match against Kentucky, Marshall will begin play in the Southern Conference tournament Friday at 4 p.m. against The Citadel.
The tournament will be in Greenville, S.C., and Furman will be the host. "Going into the tournament, I am hoping that our rollercoaster will be at the top," Gray said. "We've got a shot at winning. We've just got to take it one match at a time."
From The Parthenon Archives by ROBERT McCUNE, reporter
Right up until the last minute, the Thundering Herd soccer team kept thundering and never quit.
Marshallls young squad, accompanied by its few experienced seniors, exited the Southern Conference Toumament in Greenville, S.C., Saturday with a 2-0 loss to Georgia Southern in the semifinals.
In the first round of competition Friday, the Herd defeated No. 7 Citadel, 2- 1. MU junior defender Claude Hunt was named to the All-Toumament Team.
Coach Bob Gray compared this season to a roller coaster. "0ur strength lied in the balance and depth of our team and a contribution from everyone. I'd like to honor the seniors, Jon True, Carl Capellas and Rob Risley, for their commitment to the program," Gray said.
"It has been a roller coaster four years for them and I am sure that they are disappointed in the result Saturday, but I think they will look back and have fond memories of Marshall soccer, where they were and where they finished."
Third seed GSU scored one goal in each half of play to shut out the Herd 2-0. "We were down 1 -0 at the half. We came out strong and confident in the second half and attacked, but we couldn't find the net," Gray said.
MU outshot Georgia Southem, 11 -7, but failed to put one in the net GSU's
Jason Russell scored an unassisted goal 17 minutes into the game. The
second goal came 36 minutes later in the second half off an assist from
Jeremy McClure. Tim Blom got the goal.
"I was disappointed. I wanted a second chance at Furman and we didn't get it. However, I think that if we look back in a week or two we can be proud of all that we accomplished," Gray said.
In their first match against The Citadel, the Herd scored with 1:21 left in regulation to win the game. The goal came after sophomore Ian Leggat powered a shot from the right side of the box.
Marshall's first goal came in the first 20 minutes of the game. Sophomore Keith Dumas missed a shot, but Bulldog goalkeeper Robert Fluhrl's deflection was chipped in by sophomore Stephen Toth.
"We played very poorly against The Citadel, not to take anything away from them. They were a very inspired team," Gray said. "Going into the match we said that we were not looking past them, but I'm sure that we were. We had beaten them so badly earlier that we took them for granted. Consequently, it was a lot tougher match than it should have been."
Risley, Capellas and True played their final game against Georgia Southern. Capellas said, "Looking back over the four years, there has been a great improvement in the quality of the team, the players, the playing surface and the schedule. After this year, I can say that I was on the best team that Marshall has had in a while."
"We didn't accomplish our final goal, but we did accomplish a lot of things this season."
Risley said, "Later on in the year, when we look back at the season, I am sure that we will be happy with it. I feel that we should have finished better. This is definitely the best season since I have been here. It really shows promise for the future."
Reprinted from the October 28th issue of Soccer America.
Article by Mike Woitalla
Bob Gray's work as Marshall coach could be called a success simply if
he guides the team to more wins than losses, but he's aiming higher. Gray
took over the Thundering Herd in 1995 after three years at the University
of Mobile and 14 years at Alderson-Broaddus. At those two NAIA schools he
notched 255 wins and reached the final four six times, finishing NAIA runner-up
twice with each school. Such winning ways were unheard of at Marshall, where
none of Gray's five predecessors finished with a record above .500. In fact,
Marshall's 10-10-0 record last season already gave him more wins than three
previous Marshall coaches. The Herd last had a winning season in 1985, but
this year knocked off 1995 NCAA runner-up Duke Oct. 9 and is off to a 7-4-2
start. "The key was, we jumped on Duke early and gained confidence,"
Gray said. "We even missed a penalty kick -The game was tied at halftime
and I told the players that if we held on, we would have a moral victory,
but let's go out and win." Duke defender Evan Whitfield was ejected
in the 87th minute and in overtime Ian Leggat's second goal of the game
put the Herd up 2-1. "The second overtime period was the longest 15
minutes of my life," Gray said, "but we knocked the ball around
well." Gray starts eight sophomores, whom he brought in last year as
freshmen. They include Keith Dumas (Georgia), who runs the central midfield,
wide midfielder David Husbands (Texas), the team's leading scorer, and key
defender Mike McGrath (Washington). While Gray's plan is to tap homegrown
talent - he starts four West Virginians - he was successful in luring players
from nine other states despite having only 6.5 scholarships and a program
with a losing history. "We're having success with guys who were overlooked,"
Gray said. "We went after sleepers who were willing to work hard and
help build this program." Gray's arrival and his mission to make Marshall
a national contender spurred interest and support from the community. That
resulted in the construction of a soccer-specific stadium that allowed the
Herd to leave the vast football stadium it previously played in. Despite
his success at Mobile, the opening at Marshall was enticing to Gray. "I
was excited about giving Division I a try," he said. "More importantly,
it was a chance to get back to West Virginia."
From 1978-1991, Gray had coached at Alderson-Broaddus in Philipi, WV, which lies about 130 miles east of Marshall in Huntington. Gray first came to West Virginia to play at Alderson-Broaddus. He was born in Trenton, NJ and starred at both soccer and baseball. He honed his soccer skills in the competitive New Jersey leagues comprised of the strong clubs that sprung out of the area's ethnic communities. His teammates at the Extension Club included Glenn Myernick (Hermann Trophy winner at Hartwick, NASL veteran and most recently U.S. U-17 coach) and Bobby Smith of New York Cosmos fame. He learned about Alderson-Broaddus through another New Jerseyan who starred there. "There weren't many scholarships around then," Gray said. "Alderson-Broaddus had a strong soccer program and I thought it would be good to go to a small school and be a big fish in a small pond-- Gray found a number of other fish in West Virginia soccer. Rival Davis & Elkins, a half hour down the road, had an outside back named Hank Steinbrecher, now secretary general of U.S. Soccer. The goalkeeper was Bill Nuttall, who would become general manager of the U.S. World Cup team. Their coach was current Navy coach Greg Myers. The rivalry was fierce and Gray recalls a regional playoff game that ended 4-4 but was decided in Davis & Elkins'favor by a corner kick tiebreaker - Davis & Elkins had one more. "Bill was the premier goalkeeper in the country." And Steinbrecher? "He was the best hatchetman," joked Gray. "In a word: physical. He says he invented the give-and-go: 'Give me the ball and go to the hell.'I kicked him and he kicked me. Now we're all best of friends."
From the MU Athletic Home Page....
Bob Gray's impact on the Marshall Soccer program has been immediate. In Gray's first season, the Herd posted their best record since 1985 and they made it to the second round of the Southern Conference tournament. This success shouldn't surprise anyone, because Gray has won everywhere he has been. In 14 seasons he guided Alderson-Broaddus to four Top 10 finishes and three appearances in the National Tournament.
Along the way he compiled 255 wins to become one of the winningest coaches in the NAIA. At Alderson-Broaddus, Gray was a five-time Area Coach-of-the-Year and was named NSCAA National Coach-of-the-Year in 1991. He continued his winning ways when he took the head post at the University of Mobile. In 1993 and 1994, he took Mobile to #2 in the NAIA.
Gray has become very involved in the local, as well as national, soccer community. He is the director of the local West Virginia Rowdies youth club teams which had three state champions. He is also chairman of the player selection committee for the UMBRO Collegiate All-Star game. Gray is single-minded in his mission to make Marshall a national contender and given his success so far, it seems he's on the right track.
Assistant Coach Paul Meeham
Paul Meeham enters his first season as an assistant coach with the Herd. His duties will include working with the Marshall offense and recruiting. Meeham began his coaching career in 1987 as the head coach at Bellevue Community College. While at Bellvue he posted a nine year record of 82-43-16 and led the team to three NWAACC state championships. He was named North Division coach of the year in 1990 and again in 1996. In 1992, Meeham began a five year tenure as the head coach for the Washington boy's under-18 Olympic Development Program. Meeham graduated from Western Washington with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1983. A three-year letterman on the soccer team., he was team captain and chosen all-conference. Meeham joined the Milwaukee Wave of the American Indoor Soccer Association for the 1984-85 season.
Assistant Coach Alan Riches
Alan Riches enters his third season as an assistant soccer coach at Marshall. His primary responsibilities include goalkeepers and defense. Riches played at West Virginia Wesleyan from 1990-94. He helped the Bobcats to the 1990 NAIA championship and was named to an NAIA first team
All-American as a junior and a senior. Riches served as a coach at WV Wesleyan in 1994, when the Bobcats again won the NAIA national championship. Besides his college experience, Riches played ten years of semi-professional soccer and played four seasons with the Hereford United, a professional team in England. A native of Hereford, England, Riches graduated cum laude from WV Wesleyan in 1994 with a bachelor's degree . He is married and has a daughter.
Assistant Coach Guy Bell
Guy Bell is beginning his second season as volunteer assistant coach with the Marshall soccer program. Bell's coaching responsibilities focus on the Thundering Herd defense. A four year letterman at Marshall from 1992-95, Bell started at defender for the Herd in 49 games and played in 57 games over the four seasons. Before attending Marshall, Bell played for a South Wales Under-18 team that finished third in the Torfean League. He also played for the National Under-19 Welsh soccer club team. Bell, who earned his bachelor's degree in history from Marshall in three and one half years, was a two-time Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll selection and is currently working toward a Master's degree in history. He would like to pursue a career in coaching at the college level but is considering going to law school after finishing his Master's degree.