Elissa Collopy
eac001@marietta.edu
Marietta College Men’s Soccer team played Denison University Wednesday, Sept. 24 at Marietta Field.
Denison University converted a penalty kick in the first half to defeat Marietta College 1-0. The Pioneers dropped to 2-6 overall after an additional loss to Transylvania Saturday, Sept. 27 with a final score of 3-2. The two goals for MC were scored by senior Wes Riley and junior captain Taylor Reasoner.
“I’m not happy with the record, but I’m happy with the progress we’ve made,” head Coach Joe Bergin said.
Denison sent a corner kick into the six-yard box where MC senior captain Boyd Kirk received a red card for a handball. Jake Girardot scored the penalty kick for Denison.
“We played well in the first half, and possession and shots were about even,” senior captain Todd Sabol said.
Playing a man down, MC tried to get an equalizer, but Denison held them to only two shots in the second half.
“We played them even with 10 men but couldn’t get deep into their defensive third, and ultimately having one less person really hurt us,” Sabol said.
Bergin said there are still obstacles to overcome, but that the team has grown since last season.
“The record may not show it but I think we’re leaps and bounds ahead of where we were last year,” Bergin said. “We’re a better team, but we’re still having a hard time overcoming that hurdle of tight games.”
Even with a disappointing loss, Reasoner says the program is headed in the right direction and he likes being a part of the team because of the true family atmosphere.
“It’s great to all be together to play soccer and try to win games, but this year it’s more than that,” Reasoner said. “The entire team, freshmen to seniors has been able to build such a strong family sense among us that we basically do everything together, on and off the field. This is the first time it has felt this way in a long time and it really feels like the program is heading in the right direction because of it.”
The team has one clear goal in mind for the season—making the Ohio Athletic Conference playoffs.
“We’ve stated since day one [our goal] is to make the OAC playoffs and we need 15 points in the conference to do that,” Bergin said.
MCMS hasn’t made the OAC playoffs since 2009.
Marietta travels to Wilmington College this Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.
