NEW CONCORD, Ohio — Marietta College built a two-goal lead and then held off a tenacious Muskingum University team for a huge 2-1-win Wednesday (Oct. 27) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference men's soccer action. Marietta improves to 6-6-4 overall and 3-2-3 in the OAC. Muskingum falls to 3-13-1 on the season and 0-7-1 in the OAC.
With three points from the victory, the Pioneers have solidified their chances of qualifying for the OAC Tournament. With one match to play in the regular season, Marietta sits in sixth place. The top six teams make the tournament. A win in the season finale could move MC as high as fourth in the final standings.
"At this time of year when you just need points, we got three. So, no complaints there. It was a game where we couldn't put Muskingum away. Credit to them for not letting us do that," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "We came into the game wondering where our goals were going to come from and Caden (Ferguson) and Ben (Teasdale) came thru for us. We have a lot to play for as we go to BW this weekend. We need to rest up and give it a go."
Caden Ferguson (Mars, Pa./Mars Area) gave Marietta a 1-0 lead with a beautiful goal in the 21st minute.
Ian Yarwood (Beloit, Ohio/West Branch) crossed the ball to the top of the box where Ferguson stopped the ball with his chest and then pivoted on his right foot striking the ball midair with his left. Ferguson's shot beat the Muskie keeper inside the right post.
The Pioneers doubled their lead in the 56th minute.
Austin Hilt (Lynchburg, Ohio/Lynchburg-Clay) centered the ball at the top of the box where
Ben Teasdale (Yorkshire, United Kingdom/Lady Lumleys) buried it in the top right corner of the goal.
Muskingum split the lead in half with a penalty kick seven minutes later. Marietta was whistled for a foul in the box and Mahfuz Yakubu converted the penalty kick cutting the Pioneer lead to one, 2-1.
Marietta controlled the ball for most of the match. The Pioneers took 22 shots including nine on goal, while the Muskies managed just seven total shots and only two on goal. The Pioneers took all nine corner kicks in the match.
Pioneer keeper
Ryan Riccillo (Canton, Ohio/GlenOak) had one save in 90 minutes. Zach Marchesano recorded seven saves in goal for the Muskies.
Marietta closes the regular season on Saturday (Oct. 30) with a 7 p.m. match at Baldwin Wallace.
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.
