Marshall Men’s Soccer Recap
By Owen James, FM88 Sports
Nov. 18, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — On Sunday, the No. 12 Marshall Thundering Herd (11-3-5, 6-2-1) failed to capture the Sun Belt Conference championship for the second consecutive year, falling 3-1 to the UCF Knights (10-6-3, 4-3-2) at home. The Herd’s defense was in question even before kickoff, as centerpiece and All-SBC First Teamer Takahiro Fujita was ruled out with injury, joining a long list on Marshall’s hobbled roster.
Both teams came out of the gate hot, constantly applying on-ball pressure and getting deep into the opponent’s half with each drive. An injury early on forced Head Coach Chris Grassie to pull star defender Rai Pinto from the pitch, and it wasn’t long before Frederic Benedix fired in the opening goal in the 16th minute.
Marshall continued to find opportunities but could not convert in close, a theme that would dictate the Herd’s offense throughout the game. Further, the Herd also lost star forward Carl Romberg temporarily to a leg injury. By the end of the first half, Marshall had only managed to put 2 of its 6 shots on target, and UCF led 1-0.
The Herd came into the second half with a burst of energy, but UCF’s balanced play countered Marshall’s aggressive approach. Only 5 minutes into the period, forward Lillian Ricol fired in his 11th goal of the season and increased the UCF lead to 2-0. Not long after, in the 64th minute, Ricol managed to score again, putting him in the top spot in goals for the Sun Belt Conference.
Things were looking grim as Marshall stared down a 3-goal deficit, but the return of Romberg re-energized the offense. In the 72nd minute, the Germany-native managed to curl a corner kick into the back of the net, scoring a breath-taking corner ace. A tumultuous final 10 minutes saw Grassie and Romberg receive yellow cards, and Braian Amaro a red.
The Knights refused to waver in their approach and continued to lock the Herd down and maintain control, cruising to a 3-1 victory and their first Sun Belt Conference title since joining just three seasons ago in 2023.
As Ricol led the attack for UCF, goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz was a brick wall in the net, posting 7 saves.
Marshall must now look ahead to NCAA Tournament play, after finishing as runners-up last season. The Herd will host Cleveland State this Thursday at 7:15 PM.
You can tune in to Thursday’s game on 88.1 WMUL-FM and online on Stream 1 at www.marshall.edu/wmul. FM88 Sports’ Shane Darling and Ethan Patrick will be on the call with pregame coverage beginning at 7 p.m.