MARIETTA, Ohio —
Taj Haidar (Sylvania, Ohio/Sylvania Southview) scored in the 83rd minute giving Marietta College a 1-0 win over Capital University Wednesday (Oct. 18) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference men's soccer action. The Pioneers improve to 5-9-1 overall and 3-3 in the OAC. Capital falls to 7-6-1 on the season and 1-4-1 in the OAC.
"It was two teams with playoff aspirations going at it tonight. I was worried that we were going to rue the missed chances, but Taj (Haidar) made us all forget about those. What a finish," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "We are coming together as a team and I'm excited to see what the next week brings us."
Reggie Grayek (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary College Prep.) dribbled down the right side of the 18-yard box and sent a perfectly placed cross to the far side of the box where Haidar one-timed the shot with his left foot into the upper left corner of the net for the winning goal.
Marietta's defense completed the clean sheet holding Capital to nine total shots and just one on goal. The Pioneer back line of
Ian Yarwood (Beloit, Ohio/West Branch),
Christopher Rodriguez (Northridge, Ca./Daniel Pearl Magnet),
Gavin Chappel (Oakdale, Pa./West Allegheny), and
Lee Miller (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) forced the Comets to shoot from long range all night. Marietta keeper
Joey Backhaus (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) had one save in the match.
The Pioneers had two good scoring opportunities in the opening minutes of the second half but could capitalize on the chances.
Payton Maynard (Middletown, Ohio/Lebanon) missed high from 10-yards out and
Christian Cora (North Olmsted, Ohio/Benedictine) found the side of the net with the Capital keeper out of the goal.
After an evenly played first half, the Pioneers turned up the offensive intensity in the second half and fired off twice as many shots, 10-5, then Capital. The Comets countered with physical defense getting whistled for several fouls and being issued four yellow cards in the period.
For the game, Marietta outshot the Comets 16 to 9. Capital held a slight 5-4 edge in corner kicks. Capital keeper Ethan Ogden recorded one save.
Marietta travels to Tiffin on Saturday (Oct. 21) for a 2:00 p.m. match at Heidelberg University.
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.
