Sept. 30, 2010
Coach Gray Earns 400th Career Victory as Herd Soccer Trumps Shawnee State 3-0
Gray becomes 14th Division I coach to achieve 400 wins
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Head coach Bob Gray became the 14th coach in Division I history to achieve 400 career victories Wednesday night as the Marshall University men’s soccer team defeated Shawnee State 3-0 at Sam Hood Field.
Gray, the fourth-winningest active coach, has been at the helm of three different teams in his 34-year career as a head coach. Gray compiled 208 career wins at his alma mater of Alderson-Broaddus, 47 wins at the University of Mobile, and 145 wins with the Thundering Herd.
A member of the NAIA Hall of Fame, Gray has a career winning percentage of .609 (400-212-44).
“It is quite an achievement to get to 400 because there aren’t too many people that last long enough to get that many wins,” Gray said. “But it is hard to enjoy it because you start looking ahead to the next game, and it is a huge conference game for us against FIU at home. I am glad it is over because I felt like the guys were pressing to get it for me the past couple of games. Now we can direct our focus to where it needs to be and that is getting back to where we were last year in the conference standings.”
Senior captain Matt Butler provided the games winning goal 34 minutes into the first half when he rifled home a cross provided by Peter Bulat. It was Butler’s second goal of the season.
The Thundering Herd (6-2-2, 1-1-0 C-USA) dominated play throughout the first half, outshooting SSU (6-3-0) 11-4. The second half was even more one-sided as the Herd outshot the Bears 24-4 and found the back of the net twice.
Kyle Sniatecki tickled the twine for the first time this season 10 minutes into the second frame as he beat SSU keeper Kyle Fischer to a 50-50 ball and chipped it over the Bears’ net-minder. Redshirt freshman David Lipinski was credited with the assist and his first collegiate point.
Jordan Hilgefort would add a final goal in the 85th minute for his team-high fourth goal of the season. Sniatecki provided the helper for his third point of the night.
“I thought the first half we were a little sluggish and we were pressing to get that first goal, because we knew we were going to dominate possession. We played better in the second half and the guys who came in played with a sense of urgency and we were more direct towards goal. But give Shawnee State credit, I thought they came in here and played hard.”
The Herd has a pivotal Conference USA matchup next on the schedule as MU hosts FIU on Saturday night at Sam Hood Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
www.herdzone.com
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Coach Gray Earns 400th Career Victory as Herd Soccer Trumps Shawnee State 3-0
Gray becomes 14th Division I coach to achieve 400 wins
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Head coach Bob Gray became the 14th coach in Division I history to achieve 400 career victories Wednesday night as the Marshall University men’s soccer team defeated Shawnee State 3-0 at Sam Hood Field.
Gray, the fourth-winningest active coach, has been at the helm of three different teams in his 34-year career as a head coach. Gray compiled 208 career wins at his alma mater of Alderson-Broaddus, 47 wins at the University of Mobile, and 145 wins with the Thundering Herd.
A member of the NAIA Hall of Fame, Gray has a career winning percentage of .609 (400-212-44).
“It is quite an achievement to get to 400 because there aren’t too many people that last long enough to get that many wins,” Gray said. “But it is hard to enjoy it because you start looking ahead to the next game, and it is a huge conference game for us against FIU at home. I am glad it is over because I felt like the guys were pressing to get it for me the past couple of games. Now we can direct our focus to where it needs to be and that is getting back to where we were last year in the conference standings.”
Senior captain Matt Butler provided the games winning goal 34 minutes into the first half when he rifled home a cross provided by Peter Bulat. It was Butler’s second goal of the season.
The Thundering Herd (6-2-2, 1-1-0 C-USA) dominated play throughout the first half, outshooting SSU (6-3-0) 11-4. The second half was even more one-sided as the Herd outshot the Bears 24-4 and found the back of the net twice.
Kyle Sniatecki tickled the twine for the first time this season 10 minutes into the second frame as he beat SSU keeper Kyle Fischer to a 50-50 ball and chipped it over the Bears’ net-minder. Redshirt freshman David Lipinski was credited with the assist and his first collegiate point.
Jordan Hilgefort would add a final goal in the 85th minute for his team-high fourth goal of the season. Sniatecki provided the helper for his third point of the night.
“I thought the first half we were a little sluggish and we were pressing to get that first goal, because we knew we were going to dominate possession. We played better in the second half and the guys who came in played with a sense of urgency and we were more direct towards goal. But give Shawnee State credit, I thought they came in here and played hard.”
The Herd has a pivotal Conference USA matchup next on the schedule as MU hosts FIU on Saturday night at Sam Hood Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
www.herdzone.com
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