MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's soccer team started the 2022 season on a fast pace, but in the end, had to hold off a feverous 2nd half rally.   The Pioneers ended in a 2-2 tie with the College of Wooster on Thursday (Sept. 1) evening.  The Pioneers and Fighting Scots begin the season at 0-0-1.   

"That was some of the best soccer I've seen from this group," said Head Coach Sean Kaighin.  "We certainly had some learning moments, but I'm extremely proud of this team. We feel our ladies showed a lot of growth for our first game back."

Marietta ran hard and stayed aggressive for the first 45 minutes.  The Pioneers were able to get on the board first when Melissa Szawranskyj (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North) found the goal at the 21-minute mark off an assist from Brooke Huffman (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster).  Szawranskyj scored another goal 14 minute later to the give the Pioneers a two-goal lead at the break.
 
One of the keys to the Pioneers' first half success was the performance of goalkeeper Madison Miller (Marietta, Ohio/Warren) and the Marietta back line.  Miller had nine first half saves and there were at least two shots kept from hitting the net by the Pioneer defenders.
 
Wooster came back in the second half and controlled much of the action in their half of the pitch.  The Fighting Scots put up 11 more second half shots and finally registered their first goal at the 66-minute mark.  Hallie Krzys headed a shot passed Miller to cut the Pioneer lead in half.  Wooster then tied it up at the 82-minute mark when Bailey Farrell lobbed a high shot that actually kissed the crossbar and caromed backwards across the line.
 
The Pioneers tallied 11 total shots, six of them on goal.  Szawranskyj led with three shots on goal.  Kaylie Ward (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Cuyahoga Falls), Ryah Haidar (Sylvania, Ohio/Sylvania Southview), and Sarah Crim (Mount Clare, W.Va./R.C.Byrd) put up a shot apiece.

The Pioneers will be back in action Wednesday (Sept. 7) when they travel to Chatham, with kickoff scheduled for 7 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.