ADA, Ohio — The Marietta College men's soccer team opened Ohio Athletic Conference play with a tough 2-1 win at Ohio Northern University Saturday (Oct. 2) night under the lights at Kerscher Stadium.
"Ohio Northern caused us all sorts of problems with their press in the first half," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "Reggie's (Grayek) goal before half was massive as it shifted the momentum. At halftime we decided that we had to make some adjustments on offense and that allowed us to get more on the attack."
Marietta improves to 4-4-1 overall with its second straight win. The Pioneers are 1-0-0 in OAC play. Ohio Northern slips to 5-4-2 on the season and 0-1-0 in conference matches.
The Polar Bears jumped on top less than six minutes into the match. ONU brought the ball up the left sideline. Cameron Picard sent the ball into the near corner of the 18-yard box where Bryan Kern went upper 90 inside the far post for the goal. His third of the season.
With both defenses playing well and controlling the flow of play, scoring opportunities were at a premium. But a defensive mistake allowed Marietta to level the match before halftime.
Reggie Grayek (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary College Prep.) stole the ball from an Ohio Northern defender on the right sideline near midfield. Grayek dribbled the ball all the way into the box. His shot from just outside the 6-yard box got a piece of an ONU defender and ducked inside the far left post for the goal. Grakek's fifth of the season.
Grayek tallied the equalizer less than five minutes before halftime.
Dave Beattie (Russell, Ohio/West Geauga) notched the game winner less than five minutes into the second half.
"Dave's (Beattie) game winner was set up by a great ball from Gav (Long). It was the one moment when they were not in Gav's back pocket and we made it count," Bergin said. "We will take a win at ONU any way we can and while tonight wasn't pretty it is three points."
Tyler Klein (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) took a corner and sent it across the box where
Gavin Long (Surrey, United Kingdom/John Fisher School) collected the ball and dumped it into the top right corner of the 6-yard box where Beattie one times it between the keeper and a defender on the near post. It was Beattie's third goal of the season.
Ohio Northern's best chance to tie the match came in the 62nd minute. Kern fired a shot from close range that keeper
Ryan Riccillo (Canton, Ohio/GlenOak) saved but didn't control. Trevor Tabb was there for the follow up shot, but it went well wide of the goal.
Riccillo played all 90 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and recorded three saves. John Lombardo had one save in net for the Polar Bears.
Marietta returns home to host No. 13 ranked Otterbein University on Wednesday (Oct. 6). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Marietta Field.
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.
