MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College scored with 62 seconds left in the second overtime period to beat Bethany College 1-0 Wednesday (Sept. 20) afternoon in men's soccer action. The Pioneers improve to 5-1-1 overall, while Bethany slips to 4-4-0 on the season.
"We faced a team today intent on sitting in and countering us and we really haven't faced that yet this year," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "Clearly we struggled. But I give the guys a ton of credit they didn't stop working and we could feel the tide turning in OT. I'm happy that we never quit and got the reward of a win."
Bethany relied on its defense and was content to let the Pioneers control the ball for most of the match. Marietta held a commanding 19-9 advantage in shots, including a 10-4 edge in shots on goal. MC also took 10 corners in the match compared to just two for the Bison.
The Bison strategy almost paid off as Bethany was seconds away from earning a 0-0 double overtime draw when
Andy Rolfes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) tallied the game winner for Marietta. Bison keeper Torben Grether stopped a header from
Tom Sloan (Stockport, England/Wilmslow) but Rolfes was there to bury the follow-up shot in the back of the net.
The goal came in the 109th minute and was the third of the season for Rolfes.
Marietta keeper
Tyler Sholl (Johnstown, Ohio/Big Walnut) recorded four saves in the match and posted his fourth clean sheet of the season. The Pioneers have now recorded shutouts in six of their seven matches.
With Sholl directing traffic in goal, Marietta's back line is rapidly becoming one of the best in the nation this season. Led by senior Brett Huck, the Pioneers' back line also includes juniors
Zach Johnson (Beckley, W.Va./Woodrow Wilson) and
Noah Laliberty (Scott Depot, W.Va./Winfield) and sophomore
Sebastian Ziaja (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest).
Marietta hosts Washington & Jefferson College on Saturday (Sept. 23) at 4 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.
