Men's Soccer Falls To FIU, 3-2 At C-USA Tourn

Men's soccer pulled the upset on Wednesday, knocking off No. 3-seeded Kentucky by 3-1. But then the Herd, the No. 6 seed, was knocked off in overtime by No. 7 Florida International at the Conference USA Soccer Tournament in Birmingham. Despite goals by John Daniele and Avneet Shergill, FIU rallied from 0-1 and to lead 2-1 before Shergill's goal forced overtime.

Men's soccer ended the season with a win over Central Florida, 2-1, to prepare for the C-USA Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. Marshall went one goal better in upsetting Kentucky (who along with South Carolina is a member of C-USA for men's soccer while being in the SEC for all other sports). "I was thrilled to get the win," head coach Bob Gray said. "It was nice to get a little revenge from the regular season loss. We felt pretty comfortable coming in and thought we matched up well against them."

Senior John Daniele had one of two goals Friday at the C-USA Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama, but the Herd came up short, 3-2, in overtime. photo from MU Sports Information

With the loss, the Thundering Herd, Marshall finishes 10-9-1. Top-ranked Tulsa had to play host and No. 8 seed UAB (on Thursday after the 8 p.m. nightcap on Wednesday was delayed due to heavy rain and lightning. Tulsa got a hard-fought 1-0 win to advance. The Golden Hurricane was undefeated in regular season play after defeating UAB, 2-0 last week.

No. 2 seed SMU (13-3-2, 6-1-1), the defending C-USA champion, was looking to play the Herd or UK Friday, but lost to the No. 7 seed Florida International (3-12-2, 2-5-0). No. 4 seed South Carolina (10-5-2, 4-2-2) beat the No. 5 seed Memphis to move on in the tournament. Both teams had been regionally-ranked in the Top 5 of the South and Midwest regions, respectively, nearly all season. During their regular season meeting on Oct. 20 in Memphis, they battled to a 1-1 double overtime tie.

Casey Baker and Alyssa Hammond applied pressure to Kentucky State's Kiarra Morgan during the first of of Marshall's two exhibition wins. MU fell to 0-3 with losses to Evansville, IUPUI and Radford in the WNIT.. photo by Greg Perry/HI staff

The MU women's basketball team will be looking for its first win after falling at Evansville in the first round of the WNIT, 89-77, in Evansville. Marshall then followed that loss with a pair of losses at Millett Hall at Miami, Ohio, falling to IUPUI on Friday and to Radford on Saturday, 72-61.

Marshall led in all three contests at the half before falling in the second half, with Radford running off a 21-4 run down the stretch. Marshall will have its fourth road contest to open 2007-08 when the Herd travels to long time rival, Morehead (Ky.) State on Wednesday. Marshall's home opener is Saturday versus Niagara at 1 p.m.

The Fifth Third MU Classic will be Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at the Henderson Center. MU will play Jackson State in the Friday game at 11 a.m., with Harvard and Pittsburgh meeting at 1 p.m. On Saturday, win or lose, Marshall will play either the Crimson or Panthers at 1 p.m. on Saturday.