These kids are kicking (no pun intended), D1 soccer's arse, and there's probably not a dozen people in Huntington that could name 2 players. I can't name any, and that's pretty sad.
Allow me to help with this. I hope to have a video out in the next 24 hours that will help educate people late to the game on this team.
Marshall uses a what is known as a 4-3-3 formation, meaning 4 backs, 3 midfield, and 3 forwards. We play a possession, controlling style, but will then press hard when there is a legit scoring opportunity. Our defense has been exceptional this year, and we lead the entire nation in "clean sheets" (a.k.a. shutouts). And that's pretty impressive when you consider we are 5-0-1 against the 6 teams we've played this year that were actually in the 38 team NCAA Tournament. There's a legit case we have the best defense in the nation this year.
What's even more remarkable is there are only 2 seniors on this team this year. Left Forward Wing Jamil Roberts and Right Midfielder Pablo Dolabella. Roberts was drafted by Sporting KC of the MLS in January, and he's set to join their developmental club immediately after our season concludes. Like other sports, Dolabella has the opportunity to take the extra year of eligibility, but there may be some international pro opportunities there so its not publicly known what he is doing after this season. The NCAA season is set to resume in the fall, so in theory there's only 6 months until the next "College Cup", so its sort of an unusual decision. His decision would mean that we could likely return an insane 10 of 11 starters next season!
Here's a quick primer -
- # 7 Milo Yosef is a redshirt sophomore from Germany. He was a second-team All-American and first-team Freshman All-American last season, as well as the 2019 C-USA Offensive MVP. He's been sporting bleach blonde hair this year and is our playmaker, leading the team in shots on goal.
- #11 is forward left wing Jamil Roberts was top ten in the nation in assists in 2019, and has 5 assists and 3 goals this season. The senior from England was drafted by Sporting KC in the MLS SuperDraft and is going pro after the season.
- #31 Victor Dias is playing right wing and was named this year's Conference USA Player of the Year. The junior from Brazil currently leads the team in both goals and assists, including the assist to Roberts to defeat Georgetown.
The midfield consists of two Brazillians, junior Vinicius Fernandes on the left side, and senior Pedro Dolabella on the right. Max Schneider, a German sophomore who had the brilliant goal on the free kick from distance against Clemson, is the center midfielder. The midfield group of Fernandes, Dolabella. and Schneider have combined for 6 goals and 5 assists on the season.
Marshall's defense has been outstanding this season, but will press on the attack when the situation calls for. Junior Right Back Jan-Erik Leinhos is tied for second on the team with scoring, posting 4 goals and 3 assists. Freshman Gabriel Alves is the feature left back. Juniors Collin Mocyunas, from Morgantown, West Virginia, and Nathan Dossantos from Canada are center defensive backs and all-conference performers.
Coach Grassie has called junior goalkeeper Oliver Sammle the best goal keeper in the nation. The junior college transfer won the C-USA Golden Glove Award this season.
In all honest, we should be a favorite over UNC. We'd face the Pitt-Indiana winner in the final. Indiana is kinda of a soccer blue blood, but Pitt has had a DOMINANT NCAA tournament thus far, winning their Round of 16 and Elite 8 games by a combined 7-0. At this level, results generally come down to a single mistake or play, but I sort of expect us to play Pitt in the final, and its probably a toss up from there on who makes the play and who makes the mistake, One thing perhaps in our favor is that most of our players are internationals, and as Coach Grassie alludes to in interviews, they aren't intimidated by names like "Clemson", "Georgetown", or "UNC". I think we are well positioned to handle the pressures of the national championship hunt.
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