Marshall Women’s Soccer Recap
By Shane Darling, FM88 Sports
Sept. 22, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — Thundering Herd Women’s Soccer (4-3-1, 0-1-1 SBC) hosted its Sun Belt Conference home opener against Georgia State (6-3-1, 2-0 SBC) on Sunday for what would become a roller coaster of emotions for Herd fans.
The game started slow with nothing out of the ordinary occurring. However, Marshall would have to fight an uphill battle for nearly the entire game after the Herd’s goalie, Emma Durand, was issued a red card in the 14th minute after denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity with her hands while she was outside of the 18-yard box.
Durand’s replacement was true-freshman Katie McCutcheon, who had never seen collegiate action, but was a four-time WVSSAC AA Goalkeeper of the year with Point Pleasant High School just an hour up West Virginia Route 2.
Despite being down a player, Marshall was able to keep the pressure on the Panthers, and the Herd’s Kajsa Ekstrom was earned a penalty kick for the home squad. Marshall took the lead as the Herd’s leading goal-scorer, Bailey Fisher, netted her fifth of the year as she buried the penalty.
The game went stagnant, and the Thundering Herd took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Eight minutes after the whistle to start the second half, the Herd extended its lead by the foot of Brooklyn McComas. That marks the first goal of the season for the Marshall sophomore.
Just a couple minutes later, Georgia State was finally able to get one on the board and sneak one by the freshman McCutcheon as Gabriela Gonzalez scored a penalty kick to cut the Herd lead to 2-1.
A crucial mistake by Georgia State off a Marshall corner would result in an own goal, resulting in the third goal within a ten-minute stretch and extending the Herd lead to 3-1.
The time ticked down and Marshall was able to hold off the Panthers until the 84th minute when a Hina Suzuki goal gave Georgia State a huge sense of hope.
Marshall was able to cling to its one-goal lead and earn its first Sun Belt Conference victory of the 2025 campaign. Katie McCutcheon stepped up to the tall task and had four saves on the night to earn the Herd a win.
The Marshall women look to make it two in a row on Saturday against Arkansas State at Hoops Family Field, kickoff is set for 7 p.m.