Sports
Pioneers Drop Eighth In A Row
By: Brad Friedman
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Marietta (2-11, 0-4) recorded its first multi-goal match since Aug. 30 today against Muskingum (8-4-2, 1-3,) but the Fighting Muskies left the down-river rival with a 4-2 win.
Both offenses were playing aggressively the whole afternoon with Marietta outshooting Muskingum 20-18. However, the Fighting Muskies did win the corner kick battle 8-1.
When aggressive play is present, fouls are sure to follow. The two squads combined for 13 infractions on the day.
Scoring got underway in the 11th minute when Moriah Mathies dribbled her way into the box and drilled her seventh goal of the season into the lower left-hand corner.
Nine minutes later, the Fighting Muskies found themselves with the ball in the box yet again. After a few bounces off of several players, Raven Francis buried another shot into the lower left-hand corner for her sixth goal on the year.
In the 38th minute of play, the Pioneers did something that they have not done in 20 days; put one in the back of the net. Mattie Stowell fed the speedy Stevie Reilly a perfect through ball into the box, which she proceeded to fire into the top right corner of the goal.
The goal was Reilly’s fourth on the season.
The rest of the first half ended without incident. Muskingum led 2-1 and outshot Marietta 9-7, but the opportunities were present for the Pioneers.
It took only eight minutes of second-half play for Muskingum to extend its lead to 3-1 when Moriah Mathies found Summer Steliff in the box. She proceeded strike a line drive into the lower right-hand corner for her third goal on the season.
Both teams traded offensive opportunities for the next 20 minutes, but Lauren Hambel found the back of the net for the first time all year off of a cross into the box from Hailey Dickey in the 73rd minute, putting Muskingum up 4-1.
Five minutes later, Reilly blasted a shot over the head of Muskingum goalkeeper Liz Mitchell from outside of the box for her fifth goal of the season.
The Pioneers tacked on four more shots after Reilly’s goal, but it was too little too late for Marietta.
The search for Marietta’s first conference win continues on Saturday when a 6-6-1 Ohio Northern team comes to town at 3:30 pm.