WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Otterbein scored three second half goals to beat Marietta College 3-0 Wednesday (Oct. 25) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference men's soccer action. The Pioneers fall to 6-10-1 overall and 4-4-0 in the OAC. Otterbein improves to 11-2-3 on the season and 7-0-1 in the conference.
"A tale of two halves. We played brilliantly in the first 45 and if I'm being honest, we should have had the lead at the break. We hit the woodwork, missed a breakaway and had one in close that we couldn't convert," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "We didn't get the job done in that 45 and a good team like Otterbein will find the way and they did. After their first goal they just took over the game. I'm disappointed in tonight's result but very proud of this team getting back to the playoffs again. We missed it last year and our stated goal this year was to get back there. A playoff experience will do this young group a world of good."
Marietta went on the attack in the first half and kept the pressure on the Cardinals for the majority of the period. The Pioneers took nine shots in the first period, including five shots on goal. Otterbein managed just three shots and one on goal in the first half.
Otterbein finally broke through in the 55th minute. Will Isaac scored with assists from Mitchell Patterson and Colm Oneacre. The Cardinals doubled their lead in the 60th minute when the Pioneers were whistled for a foul inside the box. Isaac converted the penalty kick for a 2-0 lead.
Any hopes of a Marietta comeback were dashed in the 76th minute. Andrew Rudesill scored an unassisted goal extending the Cardinal lead to 3-0.
Otterbein keeper Casey Thompson posted the shutout. He played the full 90 minutes and recorded eight saves in the match.
Joey Backhaus (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) had four saves for the Pioneers in 80-plus minutes in goal.
Marietta closes out the regular season on Saturday (Oct. 28) when Ohio Northern visits Marietta Field on Senior Day.
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.
