MARIETTA, Ohio — Ohio Northern University captured the Ohio Athletic Conference men's soccer regular season championship with a 6-0 win over Marietta College Saturday (Oct. 31) afternoon. The Polar Bears are currently 16-4 overall and finished 8-1 in the OAC. The Pioneers are 9-9-1 overall and 4-4-1 in the conference.
Prior to the match, Marietta honored its three seniors. Tyler Reasoner,
Luke Saunders (Groveport, Ohio/Groveport Madison) and
Dylan McLean (Carrollton, Ohio/Carrollton) were honored in the pregame ceremony.
Ohio Northern took control early and never relinquished it. JJ Fortner put the Polar Bears in front with an unassisted goal less than 10 minutes into the match. David Janusz found the back of the net in the 15th minute with an assist from Grant Cayot for a 2-0 lead.
Matt Kinkopf, the OAC's leading scorer, extended the lead with an unassisted goal in the 19th minute. He then picked up an assist in the 23rd minute when Chris Garbig scored on a follow-up shot. ONU led 4-0 at the intermission.
The Polar Bears added a pair of insurance goals in the second half. Fortner scored his second of the match in the 52nd minute. Nathan Libertowski finished off the scoring with his first goal of the season I the 55th minute with an assist from Dustin Lorenzo.
Marietta used three keepers in the match.
Tyler Sholl (Johnstown, Ohio/Big Walnut) played the first half and made two saves.
Eric Pierce (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) started the second half and recorded one save before turning the gloves over to
Sebastian Parra (Bexley, Ohio/Bexley) who finished with three saves. Dean McNeil went the distance in goal for Ohio Northern and notched two saves.
For the match, Ohio Northern outshot the Pioneers 20-6. The Polar Bears also held a decisive 10-1 edge in corner kicks.
Marietta will be either the No. 5 or 6 seed in next week's OAC Tournament. The Pioneers will play on the road at a yet to be determined opponent on Tuesday (Nov. 3).
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.
