MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College posted its third straight shutout as the Pioneer defeated Capital University by the score of 1-0 Thursday (March 25) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference men's soccer action. The Pioneers improve to 4-0 overall and 4-0 in the OAC. Capital falls to 2-2 on the season and 2-2 in the OAC.
"If I am being honest, we were not the better team for long stretches. Cap was and for good reason as they are a good team," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "But we found a way to get it done. I have lost 'pretty' enough times in my years at Marietta, so it feels good to finally win one 'Ugly."
The Crusaders controlled the ball for most of the first half. Capital went on the attack early and kept the Pioneer defense under pressure for most of the period. Two early shots and a trio of corner kicks in the first 10 minutes set the tone for the period.
Marietta keeper
Dakota Penquite (Blanchester, Ohio/Blanchester) turned away three shots in the first 45 minutes to keep the Crusaders off the scoreboard.
The Pioneer back line of
Blake Holtman (Milford, Ohio/Milford),
Dave Beattie (Russell, Ohio/West Geauga),
Thadd Graham (Sunbury, Ohio/Olentangy) and
Colston Roades (Mount Orab, Ohio/Western Brown) refused to concede a goal as Marietta posted its third straight shutout of the season.
Marietta made some adjustments at halftime and was able to make several good runs on offense. The Pioneers successfully defended a Capital corner in the 83rd minute and immediately went on the attack creating a two-on-two breakaway.
Jovonni Auddino (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville North) fired off a shot from the left corner of the six-yard box that was chested down by a Crusader defender in front of the goal.
Reggie Grayek (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary College Prep.) one-timed the deflection with his left foot from eight yards out past a diving Capital keeper for the game winner. The goal was Grayek's fourth of the season.
"Capital has had our number for a long time and it is easy to see why. They have a quality coach, a lot of high end D3 players so to finally get one from them speaks to the progression of our program," Bergin said. "This win can be celebrated for a little bit, but we need to learn from it, and that education needs to happen quickly because we have a good Wilmington team coming in on the weekend."
Penquite made several big saves in the second half and finished the game with seven stops. It was his second clean sheet of the season.
For the match, Capital out shot the Pioneers 18-11, including a 7-4 edge in shots on goal. The Crusaders took 12 corners to just two for Marietta.
Marietta hosts Wilmington College on Sunday (March 28). Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
Fans can follow all of 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.
