MARIETTA, Ohio — Three different Pioneers scored as Marietta College defeated the University of Mount Union 3-2 Wednesday (Oct. 11) afternoon in a key Ohio Athletic Conference men's soccer match. Marietta improves to 9-3-1 overall and 3-1-0 in the OAC. Mount Union falls to 5-6-1 on the season and 1-2-1 in conference matches.
"This was a nice win to get as Mount has beaten us two years in a row," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin Said. "OAC play is tough and the boys have responded and keep proving themselves. But there is no time to rest as we are back at it Saturday."
Robert Phillips (Elkins, W.Va./Aquinas Academy (Pa.)) gave Marietta a 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal in the 18th minute. Phillips stole the ball from a Mount Union defender inside the Purple Raider 18-yard box and placed the ball in the upper right hand corner of the net for his second goal of the season.
The lead was short lived as Mount Union leveled the match less than three minutes later. Marietta was whistled for a foul giving the Purple Raiders a free kick from 30 yards out. Jon Schroeder dropped the ball inside the six where Kevin Blackley headed it home.
Marietta regained the lead in the 33rd minute off a header from
Luke Maher (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan).
Tom Sloan (Stockport, England/Wilmslow) sent the ball inside the 18-yard box where Maher was waiting. Maher headed the ball past the Mount keeper for his second goal of the season and a 2-1 Pioneer lead.
Three minutes into the second half Schroeder and Blakely hooked up for a carbon copy of their first half goal. However, the referee waived the goal off when the linesman called Mount Union for being offside on the attack.
Both defenses buckled down and scoring opportunities were few and far between for both teams. Marietta finally broke through in the 78th minute.
Brent Huck (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) had his shot blocked by a Mount defender, but
Sebastian Ziaja (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) was there to bury the follow up shot in the back of the net for a 3-1 Pioneer lead. The goal was Ziaja's first of the season.
Mount Union refused to go away quietly and cut the Marietta lead to one, 3-2, two minutes later. Daniel Chung found Colton Harsh open at the top of the 18-yard box. Harsh fired a shot inside the post in the upper left hand corner for his first goal of the season.
"We played a very good 70+ minutes, but I think we relaxed just a bit too much after our third goal," Bergin said. "Mount is too good of a team to do that. Our third goal should have been enough to see the game out, but we gave one up pretty quickly after our goal and that made for a nervy last seven minutes."
Marietta keeper
Tyler Sholl (Johnstown, Ohio/Big Walnut) notched a pair of saves, while Mount Union's Zach Hlas made three stops.
The Pioneers outshot Mount Union 15-10, including a 6-4 edge in shots on goal. Marietta also held a 4-3 advantage on corner kicks.
Marietta plays at Wilmington College on Saturday (Oct. 14). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Williams Stadium.
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.
