ADRIAN, Mich. — The Marietta College women's soccer team stormed out of the gates with two early goals and held off a late surge to secure a 2-1 road victory over Adrian College on Wednesday (Sept. 23) afternoon. With the victory, the Pioneers improve to 2-4-1 on the season, while the Bulldogs fall to 3-3-2.
"Nowhere near our best effort, but a great feeling to walk away from a trip like this with a win," said Marietta head coach
Zack Votra. "Hats off to Adrian for their second half adjustments. They made us work for that result."
Marietta set the tone immediately, pressuring the home side from the opening whistle. Just under three minutes into the match,
Jaylyn Thornton (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) found the back of the net off a setup from
Myah Byers (Delaware, Ohio/Delaware Hayes) at the 02:39 mark to give the Pioneers a swift 1-0 advantage. The Pioneers maintained their offensive energy throughout the opening period. In the 19th minute, Thornton set up
Shelby Carr (Pataskala, Ohio/Liberty Christian Academy) at the 18:52 mark to double Marietta's lead to 2-0.
Adrian attempted to mount a response late in the opening half, testing the Marietta defense, but goalkeeper
Francesca Agliolo (San Gabriel, Calif./Mayfield Senior) delivered a flawless first-half performance in the net, making four saves to preserve the two-goal cushion heading into halftime.
The second half turned into a defensive battle as Adrian pushed hard to cut into the deficit. The Bulldogs finally managed to break through at the 68:15 mark when Ashley Hughes scored off an assist from Ciara Pape, narrowing the Pioneer lead to 2-1. Despite continuous pressure from Adrian down the stretch, Agliolo and the Marietta backline held firm. The Pioneers goalkeeper delivered multiple critical stops in the final 30 minutes, including a game-preserving save on a high shot from Tiara Ellis in the 89th minute, to seal the road victory.
Agliolo played all 90 minutes in goal for the Pioneers, racking up eight saves to hold off 14 shot attempts from Adrian.
The Pioneers return to the blue turf of Marietta Field this Sunday (Sept. 27) afternoon as they welcome in Centre College for a 1 p.m. matchup.
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.
