BEREA, Ohio — The Marietta College men's soccer team defeated Baldwin Wallace University by the score of 4-2 Saturday (Oct. 27) afternoon securing a spot in next week's Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament. The Pioneers finish the regular season 10-8 overall and 4-5 in the OAC.
"Two weeks ago people thought we were dead and buried. The boys never stopped believing and kept coming to training everyday with the proper belief," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "Today's game was a great example of that. BW kept fighting back and we didn't panic and would retake the lead and finally we were able to tighten the screws and hold on. I am incredibly proud of the team and coaches' effort. We live to play another day."
The victory also assures the Pioneers of a winning season for the third straight year. It is the first time in 34 years that Marietta has put together back-to-back-to-back winning seasons.
Marietta is the No. 6 seed in the OAC Tournament and will play at No. 3 seed Mount Union (12-3-1 overall, 5-3-1 OAC) on Tuesday (Nov. 30) at 7 p.m.
Tom Sloan (Stockport, England/Wilmslow) got the Pioneers on the board in the sixth minute of play with an assist from
Colston Roades (Mount Orab, Ohio/). The goal was Sloan's seventh of the season.
Baldwin Wallace evened the match with an own goal in the 12th minute.
Andy Rolfes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) scored the first of his three goals in the match in the 22nd minute to give Marietta a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Robert Phillips (Elkins, W.Va./Aquinas Academy (Pa.)) assisted on the goal.
The Yellow jackets struck first in the second half to level the match, 2-2. Reed Watkins found the back of the net with an assist from Danny Ruple in the 58th minute.
Rolfes put the Pioneers in front for good with his second goal less than two minutes later.
Luke Maher (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) picked up the assist. Rolfes notched the hat trick with an insurance goal in the 79th minute off an assist from
Robert Phillips (Elkins, W.Va./Aquinas Academy (Pa.)).
Dakota Penquite (Blanchester, Ohio/Blanchester) went the distance in goal for the Pioneers. He posted six saves. BW used three different keepers in the match and they combined for six saves.
Fans can follow all of 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.
