Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall midfielder Taw Taw Lo (left) goes up to attempt a header during a Big South Conference boys soccer game against Worthington on Thursday in Marshall, in which the Trojans defeating the Tigers 3-1.

MARSHALL — A hot start to the second half wasn’t enough for the Marshall boys soccer team to pull out a victory in its rivalry matchup against Worthington in Big South Conference play on Thursday. The Tigers scored the match’s first goal about 50 minutes in, but Worthington’s strong corner kicks resulted in three unanswered goals to claim a 3-1 win.

“I think the biggest thing is just marking our man and making everyone accountable,” Marshall head coach Tony Correa said of the team defending corners going forward. “If I see someone not marking, then I better yell at him to go and step up to the ball. We’re just reacting a little bit late. I don’t know if it was the crowd, the coaches yelling, the fans… it’s just going to come down to if we can keep our focus and execute the game plan.”

The decision was a pivotal one for the Big South Conference standings, with Marshall and Worthington jockeying for position in the conference championship. The Tigers now sit 3 points back of Worthington and are tied with Fairmont for second in the Big South Gold Division standings, with the Trojans and Cardinals each having a game in hand.

Marshall’s Taw Taw Lo scored the match’s first goal 50 minutes in, getting the ball to the left of the box and using some fancy footwork to dribble his way through a sea of defenders before converting in close to give the Tigers the go-ahead goal.

“We’ve been looking for someone to fill that position, and he’s a fast player that has good dribbles,” Correa said of Lo. “I’m happy for him that he made it work.”

From there, however, momentum shifted rapidly. The Trojans worked the ball into the attacking third before earning a corner, and a Marshall own-goal off the corner tied up the match at one goal apiece. Another six minutes later, Cristian Banegas finished off a cross over the middle to give the Trojans a lead that they never relinquished.

“There were just a lot of times where we just worried about the ball more than the guy,” Correa said. “They got us on that. I think the deflection was bad luck, but the third goal, I definitely think we should have marked.”

Marshall goalkeeper Jameson Cornell finished the match with seven saves in goal, while Marshall recorded five shots on target.

Marshall falls to 6-6-0 with the loss and will look to rebound on Tuesday when it goes on the road to take on Fairmont (2-6-0) at 7 p.m. The Tigers defeated the Cardinals 3-2 when the two teams met in Marshall on Sept. 4. Correa said that the team will try to continue to focus on just taking things game by game heading into the matchup.

“It’s not over. The other team [in the Big South], New Ulm, that we lost to, we lost zero to one. I thought they played us stronger anyway,” Correa said. “There’s some tough, tough, tough teams at the top, so we’ve just got to fight for the playoffs now.”