COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior midfielder #Cara Nuss (Dayton/Carroll)# scored a pair of goals but it wasn't enough as Capital University defeated the Pioneers, 5-2, in women's soccer Wednesday afternoon. Marietta finishes the regular season on Saturday when Ohio Northern comes to town for a 1 p.m. match.

The Pioneers jumped out to an early lead in the seventh minute when junior defender #Holly Simms (Pickerington/North)# sent a long pass into the left post where Nuss slipped it past the Capital keeper. The score remained 1-0 at the half.

After a relatively quiet first half, there was a scoring explosion in the second period. Capital tallied five goals, while the Pioneers scored one.

Sophomore Hilary Ellis scored the first of her two goals in the 59th minute with an assist from Kaylee Phillips and Tara Zimmer. Ellis added an unassisted goal in the 87th minute.

With the score tied at 1-1, Nuss gave Marietta the lead again with an unassisted goal in the 63rd minute. Nuss took a shot from the top of the box that slipped through the keeper's hands for the goal.

Senior Natalie Fiorelli knotted the match at 2-2 four minutes later. Ellis launched a pass from midfield that got through the Marietta defense. Fiorelli collected the ball and beat the keeper for a 3-2 Crusader leader.

Freshman Delaney Thompson made it 4-2 in the 85th minute off an assist from Zimmer. Following Ellis's second goal of the day, Zimmer notched her third assist of the match in the 90th minute when Fiorelli scored Capital's final goal.

For the match, Capital took 34 shots to just six for Marietta. The Crusaders had an 8-1 edge in corners.

Sophomore goalkeeper #Kaitlyn Pearse (Galena/Olentangy Orange)# had eight saves in net for Marietta.  Sophomore Maggie Donnellan recorded three saves for the Crusaders.

The loss drops Marietta to 1-15-1 overall and 0-8 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Capital improves to 8-7-2 overall and 6-1-1 in the OAC.