MARIETTA, Ohio — Otterbein University knocked in a deflection off the keeper in the first overtime period to beat Marietta College, 2-1, Wednesday (Oct. 3) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference men's soccer action. The loss drops Marietta to 6-5 overall and 0-2 in the OAC. Otterbein improves to 4-4 on the season and 1-1 in the OAC.
"Soccer can be a very cruel game," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "I know the boys gave everything they could to win this game. It is gut wrenching that we couldn't get it done. We have to regroup and find a way to right the ship in conference. That starts Saturday."
Senior
Andy Rolfes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) narrowly missed putting the Pioneers on top in the 25th minute. The midfielder broke through the Otterbein defense on the left side of the box and fired a shot at the far post that sailed just wide.
Otterbein responded with a flurry of shots from inside the MC six-yard box. Kohei Adams's first shot was blocked, as was Pau Piang's. But after the second shot was blocked Adams buried the follow-up shot inside the right post for the first goal of the game.
Despite an evenly played first period, the Cardinals took the 1-0 lead into halftime. Each team took nine shots in the first half.
Marietta turned up its attack in the second half and finally leveled the match in the 71st minute.
Robert Phillips (Elkins, W.Va./Aquinas Academy (Pa.)) fired an absolute bullet from 25 yards out that Otterbein keeper Collin Hoffmann got his hands on but could not stop. The goal was Phillips's fifth of the season.
At the end of regulation, Marietta held a 16-13 edge in shots, while Otterbein had a 7-6 advantage in shots on goal. Each team took three corners in the first 90 minutes.
Otterbein grabbed the win when Erick Juarez-Manning took a hard shot that Pioneer keeper Trevor Dyktra was able to stop, but not control. Kennedy Mensah was there to put the follow-up in the back of the net. It was his second goal of the season.
Dykstra finished with seven saves for the Pioneers, while Hoffmann notched five saves for Otterbein.
Marietta hosts Heidelberg University on Saturday (Oct. 6) at 7 p.m.
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.
