MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's soccer team dropped a tightly contested 2–1 non-conference match against Centre College on Sunday (Sept. 27) afternoon at Marietta Field. With the defeat, Marietta drops to 2-5-1 and with the win the Colonels improve to 4-2-3.
"Not the result we want, but a fantastic performance and a really fun match," said Marietta head coach
Zack Votra. "That's one of the best teams in the country, and we just showed that we can compete with the best!"
The Pioneers got off to a flying start, finding the back of the net just two minutes into the action. Junior forward
Jaylyn Thornton (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) stepped in and intercepted a pass that the Centre defender was trying to get to goalkeeper Madeline Redmon. Thornton found herself in a one-on-one situation and won the battle, scoring early in the 2nd minute to put the Pioneers ahead 1–0 with her fourth goal of the season.
Centre responded with heavy pressure throughout the remainder of the first half, ultimately firing 13 shots in the opening 45 minutes. The Colonels leveled the score in the 18th minute when Zara McCarthy finished off a setup from Ava Quinn. Ten minutes later, in the 29th minute, Centre took the lead as Claire Cavacini sent a high arching shot from 19 yards out found the upper right-hand corner of the net to make it 2–1.
Marietta goalkeeper
Francesca Agliolo (San Gabriel, Calif./Mayfield Senior) delivered a remarkable effort between the posts to keep the Pioneers within striking distance. Agliolo turned away 12 shots on the day, including stopping a penalty kick attempt by Centre's Brooke Beasley in the 42nd minute.
The Pioneers created late dangerous opportunities in the second half. In the 62nd minute, Thornton rang a shot off the top woodwork before her follow-up effort was saved by Redmon. Marietta continued pushing in the closing minutes, taking late shots from
Mackenzie Robinette (South Bloomfield, Ohio/Teays Valley) and Thornton, but was unable to find the equalizer before time expired.
The Pioneers will next be in action this Wednesday (Sept. 30) afternoon as they welcome in Mount St. Joseph to Marietta Field. The scheduled start time is 4 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.
