Marshall responded just 14 seconds later when Boukhemis took a Dana Heimbecker (So., Niagara Falls, Ontario) pass and broke away, then deposited the ball past Sylvan to push the lead back to two. The two played to a deadlock for the next 30 minutes until Manhattan's David Mires headed a Bryan Knight free kick past Marshall goalkeeper Greg Terhune (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind.) to cut the Herd lead in half with 1:52 remaining. The Herd took advantage in the 56th minute when Avneet Shergill (Jr., Vancouver, Wash.) took a cross from Jermaine Johnson (Jr., Kingston, Jamaica) and knocked it past Manhattan goalkeeper Alex Sylvan for the goal.

Manhattan went a man down with just 29 seconds remaining in the first half when Ciano came out of the box and pulled down a Marshall player to earn a red card. The goal was the first career score for Cochrane. Marshall grabbed the lead in the 26th minute when Clayton Cochrane (Sr., Morrisville, Pa.) took a pass from Boukhemis and buried the shot to the left of goalkeeper John Ciano. It especially helps that we were able to give everyone some rest before we play a tough Big East opponent in Louisville on Sunday.' That bodes very well for us down the road in giving us some depth.

We have some things to work on, but I was really pleased with the play of our guys off the bench. We didn't play our best tonight and a lot of that is probably because of first-game jitters. 'It's nice to open the season at home with a win. 'I'm happy to get the win tonight,' Marshall head coach Bob Gray said.

Four different Thundering Herd players recorded goals in the convincing win. Karim Boukhemis (Sr., Huntington, W.Va.) scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Marshall men's soccer team to a 4-1 victory over the Manhattan Jaspers Friday night at Sam Hood Field.

Soccer by Larry Edwards