Sports
Wooster Spoils Marietta’s Home Opener
By: Brad Friedman
Posted on:
A last-minute comeback attempt from Marietta proved to be too little, too late as Wooster’s two first-half goals propelled the Fighting Scots to a 2-1 victory in Marietta’s first home match.
The Fighting Scots lit up the scoreboard first via a 14th-minute goal courtesy of junior Jessica Friesan. The Colorado native floated a ball over the head of goalkeeper Kaitlyn Pearse after freshman Kathleen Kalafatis blasted a scorching cross into the box.
18 minutes later, freshman Kennedy Payne found a hole in the Marietta defensive front and hit a line drive into the bottom left corner past a diving Pearse.
Marietta head coach Tracy Blasius was not thrilled with her squad’s first half performance.
“Wooster came in more physical,” Blasius said. “It took us out of our game and we started to fall apart a little bit.”
The Fighting Scots registered nine shots on goal throughout the game, forcing Pearse to make seven saves. The Pioneer offense only managed to put two shots on target, but had several opportunities in the offensive third of the field.
Blasius noted that her offense relies too heavily on her speedy forwards, causing many missed opportunities.
“The goal is to have a more sustained attack from the midfielders to the forwards so that we have numbers forward,” Blasius said.
The second half saw an increase in intensity from the Pioneer offense and it ultimately paid off it the 85th minute.
Junior Stevie Reilly was the recipient of a lucky bounce into the box. After a few bounces off of several players, the ball found Reilly’s head and then the back of the net.
Marietta proceeded to be aggressive for the final five minutes of the game, but the clock ended Marietta’s comeback hopes.
“It’s a very good starting point for us and I’m proud that our players sucked it up and played aggressively in the final few minutes,” Blasius said.
The Pioneers have a quick turnaround when they finish the Marietta College Classic tomorrow at 3 p.m. against Bethany.