BEREA, Ohio — Baldwin Wallace advanced to the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals after edging Marietta College 5-4 on penalty kicks Tuesday (Nov. 3) evening. The teams battled to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. Two 10-minute overtime periods didn't produce a goal, so the match was decided on penalties.
Marietta finishes the season with a 5-8-4 overall record. Baldwin Wallace improves to 10-5-5 on the season and will play at No. 1 seed Mount Union on Thursday.
"I am so gutted for the team right now. Pens are a cruel mistress and an awful way to go out," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "We battled so hard and defended so well. BW took it to us on their field. We struggled to get much going in the offensive end."
Baldwin Wallace went first in the shootout and missed its first attempt. Marietta made its first four penalties as
Zach Kern (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River),
CJ Bah (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Christian),
Gavin Heighberger (Lagrange, Ohio/Elyria), and
Landon Stonestreet (Hurricane, W.Va/Hurricane) all converted their attempts.
The Yellow Jackets answered with four straight successful attempts. Braden Lamb, Nate Usrey, Robbie Rochford, and Davis Van Every all converted to level the shootout, 4-4, with Marietta's final attempt outstanding.
The Pioneers missed their fifth attempt sending the shootout to sudden death. BW goalkeeper Diego Teran switched roles and converted the Yellow Jackets' sixth penalty. Marietta needed to convert to stay alive, but the attempt sailed high over the crossbar ending the Pioneers' season.
"We are young, so the future is bright. But I'm sad we could not move on to the next round for the seniors," Bergin said. "At the start of the season we always talk about doing it for the seniors as this is their last go at it. I'm proud that this group improved upon last year and made the playoffs when lots of people doubted us."
Jack Williams (Lower Withington, United Kingdom/Kent School) staked the Pioneers to a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 43rd minute. Williams hit an absolute missile into the upper right corner of the net for the goal. Baldwin Wallace leveled the match with a goal in the 67th minute. Van Every scored with an assist from Usrey.
Travis Lutz (Finleyville, Pa./Ringgold) went the distance in goal for the Pioneers and posted eight saves. Teran had three saves in net for the Yellow Jackets.
The Pioneers will say goodbye to seven seniors from this year's team.
Ben Beckman (Columbus, Ohio/The Wellington School),
Gavin Heighberger (Lagrange, Ohio/Elyria),
Dillon Meagle (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta),
Andrew Stein (Wilmington, N.C./Hoggard),
Eli Swirsky (Solon, Ohio/Gilmour Academy),
Karifa Traore (Katy, Texas/Sainte Marie), and
Pat Williamson (Hove, Sussex, United KIngdom/Cardinal Newman) all finish their careers in the Navy Blue and White.
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.
