Locals in college: Former Albemarle star earns starting goalkeeper job at Marshall

The Marshall women’s soccer team, after starting the season 2-4, grabbed a victory and a tie last weekend, handling Eastern Kentucky, 4-0, before tying Morehead State, 2-2.

“We’ve had some really good games,” said Marshall goalkeeper Besty Haugh, a former Albemarle standout. “We had a really good weekend where we put together two really good showings.”

Haugh, a true freshman, is the starting goalkeeper after starring for the Patriots in high school.

“I did not expect [to start] at all,” Haugh said. “When we went into preseason, we had four goalkeepers on our roster. Within the first week, we lost one to an ACL tear. It was down to three of us. We have a long battle that changes every day.

“Our best offensive performance came against Ohio University (a 1-0 loss), we had 23 shots, but we did not find the back of the net. We have had some injuries on the back-line.”

Haugh is surprised and pleased to be on the field so early in her college career.

“It’s definitely exciting,” she said. “What I came here to do is to get on the field in the game, it feels good to make that happen.”

Against Eastern Kentucky, Haugh only had to make three saves as the Marshall attack dominated.

“We played really well in that game, it was really good to go out and get an early goal and get momentum,” Haugh said. “I thought I played well. It was definitely good to get that first college shutout.”

Haugh made 12 saves in 120 minutes against Morehead State to preserve the draw.

“It was frustrating because we should of won,” Haugh said. “We had a 2-0 lead at the half. We gave up the final goal with 15 minutes remaining. There are still a lot of positives we can take from that game.

“The offense is doing well. We worked out our defensive shape. We have to work on our set pieces [defensively], that is where their two goals came from. In the run of play, things are looking good for us.”

The Thundering Herd travel to Ball State today at 6 pm.

“It’s our last game before we start conference [play], to work out the final kinks and get ready to go next weekend,” Haugh said.

Nick Shepherd (Fluvanna) — Last weekend, Mary Washington’s men’s soccer team defeated Hampden-Sydney, 2-1, and fell to Lynchburg College, 2-0, the following day.

In the victory, the sophomore scored one of his team’s goals, both of which came in the second half, as the Eagles came back from a 0-1 deficit to secure the victory.

Mary Washington (2-2) opened its season with a 3-1 victory against Greensboro College, where Shepherd scored two goals. His three goals lead the team.

Sarah Harper (Western Albemarle) — After starting 0-3, the Maryland volleyball team managed to get to .500 during the first week of September.

Looking to build off momentum of three consecutive victories, the Terrapins were able to take two of three matches last weekend, beating Yale and Delaware, falling to Sacred Heart in between.

Harper had 67 digs in the three contests to lead the way defensively.

Maryland (5-4) will take on Akron today in Columbus, Ohio.