BEREA, Ohio — Marietta College scored a pair of second half goals to defeat Baldwin Wallace University, 2-0, in the regular season finale Saturday (Oct. 30) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference men's soccer action.
"Tonight's game is another example of the grit of this team. We have lost so many players to injuries this season, so it has been a case of different guys stepping up and leading us," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "Tonight, it was Austin (Hilt). Two fabulous goals led us to beat a really well coached, difficult to beat, BW team."
Marietta improves to 7-6-4 overall and 4-2-3 in the OAC. With the win, the Pioneers are assured of finishing .500 or better for the sixth straight season; the longest streak in program history eclipsing a pair of five-year runs from 1973-77 and 1980-84.
The Pioneers have earned the No. 5 seed in next week's OAC Tournament and will play at No. 4 seed Ohio Northern in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday (Nov. 2). Marietta defeated the Polar Bears, 2-1, in Ada during the regular season.
Hilt broke the scoreless tie with an unassisted goal in the 64th minute. A failed clearance by the Yellow Jackets resulted in Hilt taking possession of the ball unmarked at the top right corner of the 6-yard box. He fired a shot top shelf inside the far post for the game winner.
Hilt added an insurance goal in the 89th minute.
Ryan Riccillo (Canton, Ohio/GlenOak) had another strong showing in goal for the Pioneers. He posted four saves in just over 88 minutes of action.
Thomas Williams (Belpre, Ohio/Warren Local) played the final 1:48 as Marietta kept the clean sheet.
Zoltan Nagy had two saves in net for the Yellow Jackets.
"This season has tried us in so many ways, but our guys kept showing up and accepting all the changes that we have been forced into," Bergin said. "We live to play another day and we celebrate that fact tonight. Tomorrow we go back to work and try to find a way to keep this going."
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.
