MARIETTA, Ohio – Will McAlister Jr.'s (West Harrison, Ind./LaSalle) hat trick led the Marietta College men's soccer team past Wilmington College, 3-1 on Marietta Field Saturday (Oct. 19) evening.  The win improves the Pioneers record to 7-7 overall and 2-3 in Ohio Athletic Conference play and the loss drops the Quakers to 10-3-2 overall and 3-1-1 in the OAC.  

"This was a big win for us.  Wilmington is having a great year and is not easy to play against.  We had some young players step up and give us big time performances tonight, including Will McAlister and his Hat Trick.  Freshman and Sophomores made up 12 of the 17 players that played tonight," said Head Coach Joe Bergin.  "It is encouraging to see the contributions from these guys.  They have progressed each week and hopefully will continue to do so.  I told the team afterwards to enjoy the win, but be ready to get back to work as we are entering the most critical part of our season.  We need to keep pushing forward."

The first half started as a defensive battle, as the opening 36 minutes of the match were scoreless.  Marietta broke the scoring drought in the 37th minute, when Will McAlister scored his second goal of the season.  McAlister scored from 12 yards away off a rebound, and placed the ball in the lower right corner of the goal.  

The Pioneers back line of Dave Beattie (Russell, Ohio/West Geauga), Elliot Britton (High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire/John Hampden Grammar), Blake Holtman (Milford, Ohio/Milford), and Sebastian Ziaja (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) made the lone goal stand up and Marietta entered the intermission ahead, 1-0.  The Pioneers only allowed three shots on goal in the half, and goalie Dakota Penquite (Blanchester, Ohio/Blanchester) saved all three.  

Marietta doubled its lead in the 69th minute of the match behind McAlister's second goal of the game.  McAlister found the back of the net on a volley from inside the box off an assist from Holtman, to put the Pioneers on top, 2-0.  

Wilmington cut into the Marietta lead in the 71st minute with a goal by Casey Miller that was assisted by Nati Wallis.  The Pioneers put the game away with a goal in the 82nd minute of the match.  McAlister capped off his hattrick when he found the back of the net off an assist from Connor Kennedy (Nottingham, United Kingdom/Bluecoat Academy), which put Marietta on top 3-1.  The Pioneers won the game, 3-1.  

Penquite played all 90 minutes in goal, he faced 14 shots, six of which were on goal, and made five saves in the match.  

Marietta will return to the field Wednesday (Oct. 23) when they travel to take on Mount Union, with kickoff scheduled for 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.