MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College men's soccer team opens play in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament at Heidelberg University on Monday (Nov. 3) at 2:00 p.m. The Pioneers, seeded sixth, enter the postseason with a 6-11 overall record, while the No. 3 seeded Student Princes are 10-6-3 on the season.
Marietta is making its first appearance in the OAC Tournament since 2009. The Pioneers have advanced to the conference tourney four times previously: 1997, 2007-2009.
Heidelberg defeated the Pioneers 1-0 in the first round of the 2009 tournament. Marietta eliminated the Student Princes in the first round of the 2008 tournament by the score of 4-1.
The Marietta/Heidelberg winner plays at No. 2 seed Baldwin Wallace University in the semifinals on Wednesday. Monday's other first round match features No. 5 Capital University at No. 4 Ohio Northern University.
The Capital/Ohio Northern winner plays at top-seeded John Carroll University in the semifinals. The highest remaining seed will host the championship on Saturday.
Heidelberg defeated the Pioneers in overtime in Marietta during the regular season. Junior forward Christopher Koczak scored the game winner with an assist from senior midfielder Hamid Shariff in the 98th minute.
Shariff leads the Student Princes with 18 points this fall. He has scored five goals and team-best eight assists. He is currently tied for third in the OAC in assists. Freshman midfielder Alexis Mendoza leads Heidelberg with seven goals scored, while Koczak has five goals on the season.
Senior Matthew Stevens has played all but 45 of HU's minutes in goal and has a 1.05 goals against average, second best in the OAC. He has made 66 saves and recorded seven shutouts, tops in the OAC this season.
Leading the way for Marietta is senior forward
Wesley Riley (Marietta/Marietta). Riley is tops on the team with 10 goals, four assists and 24 points. He ranks second in the OAC in goals scored and points.
Junior midfielder
Taylor Reasoner (Hudson/Hudson) has five goals scored this fall, while sophomore midfielder
Michael Nauls (Burke, Va./Lake Braddock) has two. Sophomore keeper
Sebastian Parra (Bexley/Bexley) has a 1.36 goals against average and 49 saves in goal for the Pioneers.
Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for senior citizens (62 years and older) and $2 for non-OAC students. OAC students with a valid school ID are admitted free of charge.
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.
