ALLIANCE, Ohio — The Marietta College men's soccer game had a tall task as they battled 12th-ranked Mount Union Wednesday (Oct. 11) evening. The Purple Raiders got some early offense and kept Marietta off of the boards to secure a 3-0 Ohio Athletic Conference victory. The loss drops Marietta to 3-9-1 overall and 1-3-0 in the OAC. Mount Union improves to 11-1-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the OAC.
Both teams battled in a back-and-forth fashion for the first 15 minutes of the play. Purple Raider Jamon McCort attempted a shot in the 3rd minute, but Marietta goalkeeper
Joey Backhaus (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) was able to make the save.
Gavin Heighberger (Lagrange, Ohio/Elyria) and
Reggie Grayek (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary College Prep.) later sent shots toward Jackson Callender, but the Purple Raider goalkeeper kept the Pioneers scoreless.
Mount Union broke through in the 18th minute as AJ Jaber rocketed a shot into the lower left of the net to give Mount Union a 1-0 lead. In the 37th minute, the Raiders extended the lead as McCort found the lower left portion of the goal. The Pioneers could not generate any offense for the remainder of the period and went into intermission trailing 2-0.
Both teams had limited chances to score in the second half, with Mount Union attempting three shots to Marietta's two shots. The Raiders got an insurance goal in the 76th minute as Dom Kustara scored assisted, extending the lead to three. The Pioneers could not muster another shot and fell to their conference foe, 3-0.
Joey Backhaus (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) posted three saves in goal for the Pioneers. Callender finished with two saves for the Purple Raiders.
Marietta will host Wilmington College on Saturday (Oct. 14) for a 4 p.m. match.
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 X and Instagram.
