TIFFIN, Ohio – The Marietta College women's soccer team earned an important Ohio Athletic Conference road win late Saturday (Oct. 17) afternoon. The Pioneers improved to 5-7-2 overall and 2-2-0 in OAC play, while Heidelberg fell to 4-10-0 overall and 1-4-0 in the conference.
"We put the pieces together today," Marietta head coach
Zack Votra. "That was a complete performance that saw us in a dominant position from start to finish."
After weathering an early Heidelberg attack, the Pioneers broke through in the 30th minute. Just over two minutes after entering the match,
Katie Heighberger (LaGrange, Ohio/Saint Joseph Academy) found the back of the net at 29:10, finishing an unassisted opportunity to give Marietta a 1-0 advantage. The goal was Heighberger's second of the season and sent the Pioneers into halftime with the 1-0 lead.
Heidelberg held a 6-3 edge in shots during the first half, but Agliolo turned away three first-half attempts to keep the Student Princes off the scoreboard.
The Student Princes pushed for the equalizer early in the second half and generated several dangerous chances, including consecutive saves by Pioneer goalkeeper
Francesca Agliolo (San Gabriel, Calif./Mayfield Senior) in the 48th minute and a shot that struck the crossbar less than two minutes later. Marietta responded by creating pressure of its own. The Pioneers earned three corner kicks in a span of just under three minutes midway through the second half, eventually doubling their lead at 61:07. Following a corner-kick sequence,
Sierra Clark (Beavercreek, Ohio/Archbishop Carroll) delivered the assist on a scoring strike by defender
Tati Grigoryan (Sun Valley, Calif./Crescenta Valley), who recorded her first goal of the season to put Marietta ahead 2-0.
The Pioneer defense took control from there, limiting Heidelberg's final opportunities while protecting the two-goal cushion. Heidelberg finished with an 11-9 advantage in total shots and a 7-6 edge in corner kicks, but Marietta made its chances count and never allowed the Student Princes to break through.
Agliolo completed the shutout with five saves, recording three stops in the opening half and two more after intermission. Heidelberg goalkeeper Maddi Springer finished with three saves.
The Pioneers will continue their road trip this Wednesday (Oct. 21) evening as they will travel to battle Capital University with a scheduled 7 p.m. start time
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.
