MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's soccer team was defeated 1-0 by Ohio Northern to open Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday (Oct. 2) afternoon on Marietta Field. With the loss the Pioneers fall to 1-6-1 overall and 0-1 in the OAC and with the win the Polar Bears are now 5-3-2 overall and 1-0 in OAC play.
"Even though the result is a loss, I can't be disappointed with our group because each we've inched ourselves closer to the upper echelon of this conference," said Head Coach
Sean Kaighin. "We asked them to battle today, and they did that for the entirety of the match. Another tough challenge ahead with Otterbein on Wednesday, but we will be ready."
The first half was a scoreless battle. The Pioneers back line of
Brooke Huffman (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster),
Anna Bardwell (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central),
Ryah Haidar (Sylvania, Ohio/Sylvania Southview), and
Demi Mills (Batavia, Ohio/West Clermont) helped goalie
Katie Delaney (Batavia, Ohio/West Clermont) pitch a first half shutout. Ohio Northern out-shot Marietta in the first half 8-1. Three of the Polar Bear shots were on goal, and Delaney saved all three, to keep the match deadlocked at 0-0 at the intermission. The lone Pioneer shot came off the foot of
Angelene Kontul (Solon, Ohio/Solon).
The game remained deadlocked until the 84th minute of the match when Ohio Northern scored the lone goal of the game. The Polar Bears got on the board when Elizabeth Pierce crossed the ball into the box and Jill Roberts was able to chest the ball into the goal on the far post.
Marietta had three shots in the second half including one on frame. The shot on goal came from
Kaylie Ward (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Cuyahoga Falls) in the 55th minute of the match. The Pioneers were unable to score the equalizer and fell, 1-0.
Delaney played 83:16 minutes in goal for the Marietta and made 10 saves in the match.
Drew Ultican (Baltimore, Ohio/Pickerington North) played the final six minutes in net and was not forced to make a save.
The Pioneers will return to the field Wednesday (Oct. 6) when they travel to take on Otterbein, with kickoff scheduled for 7 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.
