Written by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
Women’s soccer had one of their best seasons in recent memory. Marietta College finished with a winning 5-4-9 record; however, they did not qualify for the OAC postseason tournament as they had a 2-1-5 conference record. With five seniors graduating this year, head coach Zack Votra will look to continue the program’s progress next season.
The season kicked off at home with the Marietta Soccer Classic. Here Marietta hosted Wittenberg and Bridgewater College. The Pioneers failed to pick up a home win as they ended with a scoreless tie versus Wittenberg and a 2-0 loss vs Bridgewater.
Their first win of the season came over Washington & Jefferson. On the road they beat the Presidents 1-0 with a Delilah Vazquez goal.
Continuing their Pennsylvania road trip, Marietta traveled to Allegheny College. Katie Heighberger scored early in the second, and the Pios managed to hold the lead until the final 3 minutes when the Gators scored, ending the game 1-1.
Back at home the Pioneers won two straight games. First, the Pios defeated Bethany College 3-1, then at the Alumni BBQ they shutout Transylvania University 2-0.
Marietta ended their home stand vs Chatham University whom they tied 1-1 with after a Heighberger penalty kick goal.
That managed to be the team’s last win of September as their winless streak lasted until mid October.
First Marietta suffered a loss versus Mount St. Joseph. Marietta struck first with a Shelby Carr goal, however the Cougars came back for a 2-1 win.
Carr’s goal would be the last Pioneer goal for the next six games. In Wooster, the Pios were shutout 1-0. At home versus Oberlin College they battled to a scoreless draw to end September. They same result was held to kickoff October. As in their first OAC game of the season Marietta and Ohio Northern were both unable to score in a 0-0 draw.
Versus Otterbein, Marietta goalkeeper Francesca Agliolo was red-carded five minutes into the game after letting up a goal in the fourth minute. The rest of the match was silent resulting in a 1-0 loss for the Pios. Which would be their last of the season.
Marietta’s next two matchups ended in scoreless draws as well. First at Heidelberg then at home versus Capital University. This moved their conference record to 0-1-3.
Marietta broke their eight-game winless streak on the road versus Muskingum. Shelby Carr broke the scoreless streak for the Pios with a goal in the second half for a 1-0 Pioneer victory. The Pioneers followed this up by playing their fifth scoreless draw at home versus Baldwin Wallace.
In their final road game, Marietta’s Mallory Sullivan scored her second goal of the season to defeat Mount Union 1-0. Sullivan scored again in Marietta’s final home game of the year versus Wilmington, however the Quakers scored as well ending Marietta’s season with a ninth tie.
Katie Heighberger and Mallory Sullivan led the team with three goals each. Junior Francesca Agliolo went 48/56 in fourteen games in her first year as a Pioneer. Sophomore goalkeeper Maisee Carrier saved 24/24 in her four games played while sophomore Haley Dawicke went 5/7 in her four games.
The Pioneers failed to make the OAC playoff tournament as they finished 6th in the conference with a 2-1-5 conference record. Overall they finished 5-4-9 an improvement over last seasons 7-8-3 record. Their .528 winning percentage is their best record since their last winning season in 2006 where the Pioneers went 8-5-6.
