ALLIANCE, Ohio — The Marietta College men's soccer team overcame harsh weather conditions to earn a 2-1 victory over the University of Mount Union Thursday (April 1) evening. The Pioneers improve to 5-1 overall and 5-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Mount Union slips to 3-2 overall and 3-2 in conference play.
"On a night when the snow and wind made it incredibly hard to play, our guys showed the grit necessary to get it done," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "Mount Union presented a lot of challenges with the energy they play with and the snow added to those challenges, but I'm proud of the guys for sticking to our plan and getting three big road points."
With three matches remaining in the regular season, Marietta is tied for first place in the OAC standings with John Carroll University and Wilmington College. All three schools have 15 points in the league standings.
The Pioneers travel to University Heights for a huge match against John Carroll on Monday (April 5). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Shula Stadium.
Marietta took an early lead against the Purple Raiders when
Ben Teasdale (Yorkshire, United Kingdom/Lady Lumleys) scored in the 13th minute. Mount Union was whistled for a foul giving the Pioneers a free kick from 40 yards out.
Dave Beattie (Russell, Ohio/West Geauga) sent the ball into the box where it deflected off a Mount defender and Teasdale finished it off with a laser into the lower right corner of the net.
After falling behind, the Purple Raiders turned up the pressure, but Pioneer goalkeeper
Dakota Penquite (Blanchester, Ohio/Blanchester) kept Mount Union off the board with three saves in the opening period. Marietta took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Mount Union leveled the match with an unassisted goal less than three minutes into the second half. The Purple Raiders blocked a Marietta shot and got behind the Pioneer backline with a quick counterattack down the left sideline.
Mount's centering pass into the box was deflected of the crossbar by a Marietta defender. Jamon McCort headed the rebound inside the left post to tie the game, 1-1.
With the score tied, the field covered in snow and the winds blowing, the match got physical. Five yellow cards were issued over the next 25 minutes as both teams battled to get the lead.
Weather conditions came into play on the game winner. Marietta was awarded a free kick from near midfield. Beattie sent the ball over all of the defenders and into the 6-yard box. The Purple Raider keeper misplayed the strong winds and the ball stayed over his outstretched arms and dipped under the crossbar for the goal.
For the match, Marietta out-shot the Purple Raiders, 13-9, including a 10-5 edge in shots on goal. The Pioneers took seven corner kicks to just two for Mount Union.
Penquite posted three saves in goal for the Pioneers, while Michael Contreras had eight saves for the Purple Raiders.
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.
