Marshall Men’s Soccer Recap
By Victoria Lavonne Wilburn, FM88 Sports
Oct. 7, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — The No. 22 Marshall Men’s Soccer Team (4-1-4, 2-1-0 SBC) came away victorious after beating Georgia State (3-3-4, 1-1-1 SBC) 3-1 on Saturday night at Hoops Family Field.
A crowd well over 1,000 in attendance were thunderous in applause and chanting “Let’s Go Herd!” as Marshall fought most of the first half before finally getting a goal with 2 minutes and 19 seconds left in the half after Georgia State’s Matt Taylor entered the game and moved the ball down the field with authority to score for the Panthers at the 6:24 minute mark.
Alvaro Alvarez tallied is first of two goals in the game with the help of fancy footwork, ball movement and passes from Keaviano Francis and Nikita Pokhomov assisting on the goal. The crowd roared at the quick turn around and the goals were one a piece.
“Good comeback tonight,” Herd Men’s Soccer Head Coach, Chris Grassie, said after the match. “I think the guys have been very resilient all season, and I think we played better and better as the game went on.”
Marshall entered the second half with the momentum. An assist from David de la Vibora would lead to Gabriel Stevanato getting the go-ahead goal off the bench in the 49th minute. Aggressive and authoritative play continued from the Herd offensively as Alvarez would strike again in the 58th minute, with a pass from Francis solidifying the 3-1 victory.
Marshall outshot Georgia State 22-7 and forced Panther goalkeeper, Loan Marin, into five second-half saves.
Francis and Schaerer lead the team in assists with four. Pakhomov and de la Vibora both registered their first assists of the season.
The goalkeepers both strongly held their positions in the contest as Eddie DeMarco had 2 saves for Marshall and Loran Mahreen had five second half saves for the Panthers.
The Herd returns to the pitch against rival No. 24 Kentucky at 7:15 p.m. on Friday at Hoops Family Field.