ADA, Ohio — The Marietta College men's soccer team lost its regular season finale at Ohio Northern University by the score of 2-0 Friday (Oct. 31) evening. The Pioneers are currently 6-11 overall and 4-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Ohio Northern improves to 12-7-1 on the season and 5-3-1 in the OAC.
Marietta sits in sixth place in the OAC standings with 12 points. The Pioneers will keep an eye on tomorrow's match between Heidelberg University and Wilmington College being played at 2:00 p.m. in Tiffin. Wilmington is in seventh place in the OAC standings with 11 points.
If the Quakers beat Heidelberg, they will knock Marietta out of the OAC Tournament as only the top six schools make the championship field. If Wilmington and Heidelberg tie, the Quakers would finish in a tie with the Pioneers for the sixth spot. However, Marietta defeated Wilmington during the regular season and would win the tiebreaker.
Ohio Northern scored both of its goals in the first half this evening. Tommy Troy scored the first goal in the 16th minute. Keegan Ross took a shot that was saved by Marietta keeper
Sebastian Parra (Bexley/Bexley) but Troy was there to knock the follow up shot in for the score.
Chris Garbig made it 2-0 in the 27th minute. Dustin Lorenzo took a free kick and Garbig defelected it in for the goal.
Marietta's best scoring opportunity came in the 88th minute. Senior
Payton Blair (Ironton/St. Joseph Central Catholic) fired off a shot that hit the crossbar.
Parra was busy in goal for the Pioneers. Parra made 10 saves in the match, five each half. Dean McNeil earned the clean sheet in goal for Ohio Northern. McNeill finished with three saves.
For the match, Ohio Northern outshot the Pioneers 22-4 including a 12-2 edge in shots on goal. The Polar Bears took 12 corner kicks to only one for Marietta.
If Marietta holds on to the No. 6 seed in the OAC Tournament, the Pioneers will play on Monday (Nov. 3) at the No. 3 seed. Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
