MARIETTA, Ohio — No. 3 ranked Kenyon College lived up to its national ranking with a 5-0 win over Marietta College Wednesday (Sept. 21) evening in men's soccer action. The Owls improve to 7-0-0 overall, while the Pioneers fall to 2-3-3 on the season.
"This effort was simply not good enough. I'm not saying we would win but the effort we put forth will not get it done against the third ranked team in the country," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "I take the responsibility of not getting our guys ready. But we need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we did everything we could to compete. Quite simply the answer, in my opinion, is no."
The Owls struck quickly with their first goal just over six minutes into the match. Mac Nardiello-Smith found the back of the with an assist from Scott Upton.
Marietta's deficit doubled three minutes later when the Pioneer defense deflected a Kenyon cross into their own net. The own goal gave Kenyon a 2-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the match.
The Pioneers regrouped and played Kenyon even the rest of the half. The Owls led 2-0 at halftime.
The score remained 2-0 through the first 18 minutes if the second half. But Kenyon again scored two quick goals to put the match out of reach. Atli Hrafnkelsson scored in the 64th minute with an assist from Ben Lantz. Three minutes later Alem Duratovic scored with an assist from Eamon Dujakovich.
Kendin Basden added the final Kenyon goal off a free kick in the 78th minute.
Joey Backhaus (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) made his first start since the opening match of the season. He allowed four goals and recorded six saves in 75 minutes.
Luke Price (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) had two saves in the final 15 minutes. Kenyon starter Jack Pedreschi notched three saves in nearly 78 minutes. William Doenges played the final 12 minutes with facing a shot on goal.
Marietta hosts Penn State Behrend on Saturday (Sept. 24) at 4:00 p.m.
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.
