Pioneers pick up key 2-1 road win over Crusaders in women's soccer
Marietta improves to 1-1-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference

Oct. 18, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Marietta College women's soccer team knocked off Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) rival and host Capital University 2-1 Saturday (Oct. 18) afternoon. The victory was the Pioneers' first Conference win of the season and kept them in the race for one of the six slots in the upcoming OAC Tournament. Marietta improved to 3-8-3 overall and 1-1-3 in the OAC. The Crusaders fell to 7-5-2 overall and 2-3 in league play.

The Pioneers were out-shot 31-10, including 7-4 in shots on goal, but made the most of their limited offensive opportunities to post the key win. Marietta took an early 1-0 advantage in the 18th minute. Freshman midfielder Hannah Conn (Amherst/Amherst Steele) found herself with a loose ball in front of the goal and fired it into the back of the net for her first goal of the season.

Capital responded in the 33rd minute to tie the game at 1-1, when Kaylee Phillips scored on a corner kick.

Marietta broke the tie and took the lead for good in the 47th minute. Senior forward Jessica Martinez (Strongsville/Magnificat) received another loose ball, this time following a corner kick, and calmly laced a shot past a diving keeper and between the posts for the game-winner. It was her team-leading fifth goal of the season and gave her 26 career goals, which is one shy of tying Amy Lehosit for second all-time.

Two Pioneers split the 90 minutes in goal. Sophomore Helen Hetzel (Radnor/Buckeye Valley) allowed one goal and made five saves in 59:18, while freshman Sydney Collins (Cincinnati/Country Day) made one save over the final 30:42 to preserve the win. Capital keeper Linley Vermillion had two saves in the loss.

Marietta will look to continue its momentum on Tuesday (Oct. 21) afternoon when Wilmington College visits Marietta Field for an OAC match-up at 4 p.m.