MARIETTA, Ohio —
Tyler Klein (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) scored the lone goal of the match as Marietta College blanked the University of Mount Union by the score of 1-0 Wednesday (Oct. 20) evening in men's soccer action. The Pioneers improve to 5-6-3 overall and 2-2-2 in Ohio Athletic Conference play. The Purple Raiders are 8-4-2 overall and 1-4-1 in the OAC.
"Gutsy performance from the team tonight. In the first half I felt Mount had the better of us, but Ryan (Riccillo) was up to the task in the nets and kept it tied," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "I was really happy with our second half start. Some guys came in off the bench and made a huge difference in our play."
Klein scored the game winner in the 77th minute.
Evan Taylor (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) dribbled the ball down the right sideline and sent a long cross to the far side of the six-yard box. Klein gathered the ball at the top corner of the six and fired the ball inside the far post for the game winner.
"TK (Klein) comes in the second half and less than 30 seconds later he gets the game winner, off of another sub Evan Taylor's cross," Bergin said. "Tonight, versus this past weekend, we saw the game out and picked up the three points."
Jacob Roberto (Berea, Ohio/Berea-Midpark) just missed giving Marietta the lead in the 70th minute when his shot drilled the cross bar.
Ryan Riccillo (Canton, Ohio/GlenOak) posted the clean sheet in goal for the Pioneers. Riccillo recorded six saves in the match. He was assisted by strong play on the back line from
Colston Roades (Mount Orab, Ohio/Western Brown),
Dave Beattie (Russell, Ohio/West Geauga),
Thadd Graham (Sunbury, Ohio/Olentangy) and
Elliot Britton (High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire/John Hampden Grammar).
Tyler Venti played well in net for the Purple Raiders recording four saves in 90 minutes of work.
Marietta hosts John Carroll University on Saturday (Oct. 23) at 7 p.m. The Blue Streaks are currently tied for first place in the OAC with a 5-0-1 conference record. The Pioneers will honor their seniors prior to the match.
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.
