MARIETTA, Ohio — Freshman
Theresa LaGreca (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) scored the golden goal as Marietta College defeated Wilmington College 3-2 in double overtime Friday (Oct. 13) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference women's soccer. The Pioneers improve to 6-6-2 overall and 2-3 in the OAC. Wilmington slips to 5-7-2 on the season and 1-3-1 in the OAC.
"I loved our effort tonight. We never quit," Marietta head coach
Tracy Blasius said. "We showed great resiliency coming back from two goals down. Our young players are growing up."
Wilmington grabbed the lead in the 32nd minute. Alex Vestal dribbled into the right side of the 18-yard box and fired a shot inside the far post for her seventh goal of the season.
The Quakers extended their lead just over two minutes into the second half. Kaitlin Evans passed the ball back to Taylor Leake at the top of the 18-yard box. Leake slipped the ball into the upper right corner of the net for a 2-0 Wilmington lead.
Trailing by two goals and struggling to put a consistent attack together, Marietta was in need of a spark. The Pioneers got that spark from sophomore defender
Amanda Augustyniak (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central).
Wilmington was whistled for a foul giving the Pioneers a free kick from 35 yards out on the left side of the pitch. Augustyniak took the kick and struck a perfectly placed ball just under the cross bar in the left corner of the net cutting the Quaker lead in half at the 68:44 mark of the second half. It was Augustyniak's second goal of the season.
With a renewed energy the Pioneers stayed on the offensive. Eight minutes later LaGreca leveled the match at 2-2 with a laser from 30 yards out. LaGreca's first goal of the match was just under the crossbar and inside the left post.
Marietta continued to pressure Wilmington and the Quakers struggled to keep their composure. WC was issued two yellow cards in the final minutes of regulation and were called for 11 fouls in the second half. The Pioneers couldn't get the game winner and the match headed to overtime tied at 2-2.
Neither team scored in the first overtime. Each took three shots in the first extra period, but none of them were on frame.
Midway through the second overtime period LaGreca took possession of the ball at the top of Wilmington's 18-yard box, worked around a pair of defenders and launched a shot into the upper left corner of the net for the game winner, her fourth goal of the season.
Freshman
Katie Conkle (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer) went the distance in goal for Marietta and recorded five saves. Ana Hosler played the first 90 minutes in goal for Wilmington and had two saves. Leda Moyer took over for Hosler in overtime and didn't record a save.
For the match, the Quakers outshot Marietta 23-15, but held a slim 7-5 edge in shots on goal. Wilmington was awarded 14 corners, while the Pioneers took only four.
Marietta is back in action on Wednesday (Oct. 18) when Capital University visits Marietta Field for a 4 p.m. match.
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.
