WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Senior
Taylor Reasoner (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) scored both goals as Marietta College defeated Otterbein University 2-0 Wednesday (Oct. 28) evening in a key Ohio Athletic Conference men's soccer matchup. The win assures Marietta a spot in next week's OAC Tournament.
"I am so proud of the boys and the effort they put in tonight," Pioneer head coach
Joe Bergin said. "Otterbein was very good tonight and we battled to get this result."
Otterbein went on the attack from the opening whistle and kept the pressure on Marietta's defense all night. The Pioneer back line played a great game forcing the Cardinals to settle for long range shots that frequently were way off target.
Reasoner put Marietta on top in the 39th minute.
Andy Rolfes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) sent a beautiful cross into the goalmouth where Reasoner was sitting to tap the ball into the net for what would prove to be the game winner.
"Rolfes assist was unreal," Bergin said. "He skinned the guy along the end line and laid it perfectly into Taylor's path."
Any hopes Otterbein had of leveling the match were dashed early in the second half. Reasoner stole the ball at midfield and finished off the break away with his league-leading 15th goal of the season just 4:06 into the second half.
With 15 goals scored this season, Reasoner has tallied the most goals in a season for a Pioneer since Jamie Malone notched 16 in 1984.
While Reasoner was providing the scoring, Marietta keeper
Tyler Sholl (Johnstown, Ohio/Big Walnut) and his back line were frustrating the Cardinal strikers. Sholl recorded 10 saves en route to his fifth clean sheet of the season. Marietta's back line included
Tyler Bro (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg),
Robert Felton (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School),
Brent Huck (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) and
Noah Laliberty (Scott Depot, W.Va./Winfield).
Mack Stamper went the distance in goal for the Cardinals recording four saves. Otterbein outshot the Pioneers 30-10, but held a slim 11-6 edge in shots on goal. Otterbein took seven corners to just one for Marietta.
Marietta wraps up the regular season at home against Ohio Northern University on Saturday (Oct. 31) at 3:30 p.m. Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
