MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's soccer team started the 2023 season on a positive note as the
Zack Votra era began with a 1-0 victory over Saint Vincent College on Friday (Sept. 1) evening. The Pioneers begin the season at 1-0 and the Bearcats drop to 0-1.
"Grittiest performance I've seen in over ten years of being involved in college athletics," said the new Marietta head coach. "Loads of credit to SVC who are making great strides as a team. We stayed organized defensively, and had some excellent attacking ideas. We're excited to keep working and get better starting tomorrow!"
All of the offense that Marietta would need, they got in the first 10 minutes. After the Pioneers rattled off of a couple of early shots, they made good on a corner kick in the tenth minute. Ryah Haider sent a perfect corner kick to back right of the box and connected with
Melissa Szawranskyj (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North) who, in turn, sent a header past the Bearcats goalkeeper. The Pioneers closed off the period outshooting the Bearcats, 8-6, but only one of the Saint Vincent shots was on goal. Marietta took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
Saint Vincent was able to put a bit more pressure on Marietta's freshman goalkeeper
Sarah Legg (Edgewood, Ky./Dixie Heights) in the second half, sending five additional shots on goal. Legg was able to keep all of the shots out of the net and Marietta was able to close out the game, claiming the victory.
The Pioneers tallied 14 total shots, seven of them on goal.
Angelene Kontul (Solon, Ohio/Solon) led the Pioneers with three shots on goal.
Kaylie Ward (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Cuyahoga Falls),
Emma Egli (Homeworth, Ohio/West Branch),
Ryah Haidar (Sylvania, Ohio/Sylvania Southview),
Anna Bardwell (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central), and Szawranskyj put up a shot apiece. Legg ended with six saves in her Pioneers debut.
The Pioneers will be back in action Tuesday (Sept. 5) when they host 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.
