No. 1 Ohio State, No. 13 Marshall Set for College Cup Semifinals Friday

No. 1 Seed Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 13 Marshall — 2024 College Cup Semifinals

Date: Friday, Dec. 13
Time: 7:30 p.m. (approximately)
Venue: WakeMed Soccer Park
Watch: ESPNU
Live Stats: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Tickets: Purchase HERE
Game Notes: Ohio State | Marshall
Rosters: Ohio State | Marshall
2024 Stats: Ohio State | Marshall

COLUMBUS, Ohio — No. 1 seed and top-ranked Ohio State (16-1-4) and No. 13 Marshall (13-1-7) will play in the second 2024 College Cup Semifinal Friday for the chance to advance to the national title match Dec. 16 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary North Carolina.

The Buckeyes and Thundering Herd follow the first semifinal match (5:06 p.m./ESPNU) Friday between Denver and Vermont. First touch in the second semifinal will be 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first match.

Ohio State’s Michael Adedokun and Siggi Magnusson were named finalists for the 2024 MAC Hermann Award Wednesday. Both are First Team All-Big Ten selections. Adedokun leads the Buckeyes in both goals (11) and assists (11). Magnusson leads a back line that has allowed just 18 goals on the year.

In addition, Magnusson, Adedokun and Luciano Pechota were named to the First Team All-North Region squad by the 2024 United Soccer Coaches. Deylen Vellios and Marko Borkovic were named to the second team.

Marshall, the No. 13 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, and the No. 1 Buckeyes have met 11 times previously with each team owning five wins to go with a scoreless draw in 2000. The only previous neutral meeting was a 1-0 win for the Thundering Herd at the Dayton Classic Aug. 31, 2018 in the last matchup between the teams.

The winner of the College Cup semifinal match between the Thundering Herd and the Buckeyes will face either Vermont or Denver for the 2024 National Championship Dec. 16.

An Ohio State run to the 2024 College Cup finals will need to go through former NCAA champions Stanford (2015-16-17), Wake Forest (2007) and Marshall (2020).

In three NCAA Tournament matches this season, Adedokun leads with three goals, 13 shots and seven shots on goal. Two of the goals have been match winners. Max Trejo has been in net for all three games. He has nine saves with one goal allowed for a goals against average of . 310 over 290 minutes.

Ohio State is the first team to end the regular-season ranked No. 1 after being unranked in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll since Wake Forest in 2015. New Mexico was unranked entering the 2011 season before climbing to No. 1 entering the NCAA Tournament.

Ohio State has played 10 teams this season that qualified for the 2024 NCAA Tournament and have posted an 8-1-2 record in 11 matches: SIUE (1-0), UCLA (0-1), Maryland (1-0), Michigan (2-0), Washington (2-0), Akron (1-0), Indiana (0-0-1), Western Michigan (1-0), Stanford (0-0-1) and Wake Forest (1-0).

In the 12 games vs the teams Ohio State has faced that made the NCAA Tournament this year, Michael Adedokun leads the Buckeyes with 17 points with six goals and five assists. David Wrona and Parker Grinstead each have been credited with two match-wining scores. Keeper Max Trejo is 6-0-1 while Patrick McLaughlin has posted a 3-1-1 record. In the 12 games, Ohio State has scored 28 goals while allowing 10.

Ohio State enters the NCAA College Cup with a wealth of experience. Nine rostered players have played 50 or more matches over their careers to date. Michael Adedokun (66), Thomas Gilej (63), Parker Grinstead (83), Luciano Pechota (59), Anthony Samways (72), Deylen Vellios (78), Tommaso Villa (54), David Wrona (85) and Ashton Bilow (52) lead the way.

The 16 wins this season are the second-most in program history behind the 2007 team that finished 17-4-5 after making it to the College Cup finals.

The 16 wins this season are the second-most in program history behind the 2007 team that finished 17-4-5 after making it to the College Cup finals.

Ohio State’s current winning percentage of .857/16-1-4) is the highest in program history. The 51 goals scored to date rates first all-time, passing the 47 scored in 1983. Ohio State has improved its win total by 10 games over the 2023 season (6-6-6), the best victory improvement in consecutive seasons (2 wins in 1973 to 11 in 1974 (+9).

Keeper Max Trejo has a goals against average of 0.49, a program record, with a 10-0-2 record. He’s allowed just six goals on the year. Defender Anthony Samways has 14 career assists, good for the No. 10 spot all-time.

Ohio State, the 2024 Big Ten Tournament No. 1 seed, knocked off No. 7 Michigan 1-0 in the finals Nov. 17 in Columbus on a second-half goal by senior Parker Grinstead.