MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College men's soccer team dropped a hard fought 2-0 decision to No. 1 ranked Denison University Wednesday (Sept. 24) evening. Marietta moves to 3-5-2 on the season. Denison improves to 7-0-1 overall.

"I'm incredibly proud of the boy's effort tonight. When you play the number one team in the country you aren't going to see a ton of the ball. I thought when we did get on the ball, we gave ourselves a chance," Marietta head coach Joe Bergin said. "We defended our backsides off for the full 90. I don't think we could have asked for more from the team."

Marietta had the first scoring opportunity of the match in the 18th minute. Zach Kern (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) broke loose from the Denison defense and caught the Big Red keeper out of the box. But Kern's attempt to chip the ball over the keeper sailed over the crossbar.

Denison got on the board in the 36th minute on a penalty kick. The Pioneers were called for a questionable foul in the box away from the ball on a direct kick giving Denison the penalty. Kameron Kist converted the penalty for a 1-0 Big Red lead. The score remained 1-0 at halftime.

The Big Red turned up the pressure in the second half but Marietta keeper Noah Walker (Export, Pa./Franklin Regional) rose to the challenge and made several big saves. Denison finally broke through in the 89th minute on an unassisted goal from Julian Bozzolo.

Marietta's defense played extremely well all night. The Pioneer back line of Sam Holthaus (Columbus, Ohio/University), Jaren Reed (Gallipolis, Ohio/Point Pleasant), Pat Williamson (Hove, Sussex, United KIngdom/Cardinal Newman), and Mateo Holliman frustrated the Big Red strikers, and Walker recorded eight saves in goal.

Marietta plays at Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday (Sept. 27) 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 X and Instagram.