Late surge by Carnegie Mellon leads it past Marietta, 4-1
Pioneers' attention now turns to OAC schedule

Sept. 26, 2006
MARIETTA, Ohio – When you glance at the box score from Tuesday (Sept. 26) afternoon's non conference game between host Marietta and Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) it will not show how close the game was for most of the day. The Tartans, however, wore down the Pioneers' defense down the stretch en route to a 4-1 victory.

With the win, Carnegie Mellon improved to 6-2 on the year and snapped a two-game slide. Marietta, meanwhile, closed its non conference schedule at 2-6.

The Tartans, who out shot the Pioneers 12-3, took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute, when Daniel Brackley took a pass from Andrew Park inside the six and hit a shot off a Marietta player and into the left side of the net.

Marietta tied the game four minutes later, when junior Joel Nau (Marietta) flicked a ball to teammate Kyle Muth (Twinsburg), who found an opening in the upper left of the net for his team-leading fifth goal of the year. It was Nau's second assist in 2006.

The score remained tied at 1-1 until the 59th minute, when Ricky Griffin found a seam inside the 18 by beating a defender and then connected on a shot that rolled by a diving goalkeeper and into the right side of the net.

In the 79th minute, the Tartans added a goal by Patrick Lutz, when he took a cross from Ryan Browne and scored. It was a similar play in the 84th minute that set up Carnegie Mellon's final goal. This time, Jonathan Simon set up Griffin, who was cutting across the box, for his second goal of the game.

Matthew Bazin made one save in the victory, while Marietta's Brian Bugge made his first start in goal, allowed three scores and had five saves in 81:58. Steve Hagenau worked the final 8:02, allowing one goal and making one save.

Marietta will look to take advantage of the tough competition that it played during the non conference portion of its schedule when it opens Ohio Athletic Conference play at home on Saturday (Sept. 30) against Otterbein. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. and is the nightcap of a men and women's doubleheader. The Lady Pioneers and the Cardinals go head-to-head at 1 p.m.