Sports
Ohio Northern Controls Marietta, 2-0
By: Brad Friedman
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Ohio Northern (7-6-1, 2-1) came into Saturday’s matchup against Marietta (2-12, 0-5) averaging just over 13 shots per contest, but the Polar Bears ripped off 24 shots in their 2-0 victory over Marietta.
Aggressive, fast-paced offense from the Polar Bears resulted in 16 Ohio Northern corner kicks, while Marietta only managed to earn one in the 30th minute.
With so much time spent in the Marietta defensive half, the Pioneers didn’t get much of a chance to produce any offense. Stevie Reilly and Layne Archer registered Marietta’s only two shots; Archer’s shot was the only attempt that required attention from Ohio Northern goalkeeper Emily Brodict.
On the other side of the field, Marietta goalkeeper Kaitlyn Pearse bailed out her defense on many occasions, stopping 12 of Ohio Northern’s 14 on-target shots.
The first of the two shots that she didn’t stop came in the 13th minute. Defender Abby Vargo came up from her position in the defensive front to feed a through ball to midfielder Abbie Schauble, who proceeded to bury her first goal of the season into the upper left-hand corner.
The remainder of the first half yielded defensive play from the Pioneers, as many runs in the offensive half quickly extinguished.
Ohio Northern put another one past Pearse in the 62nd minute when forward Kristina Klusek found herself in a one-on-one situation with the keeper and fired her fifth goal of 2013 into the upper right-hand corner.
The Marietta offense will need to step up when they travel to Columbus on Tuesday to face a Capital squad that ranks third in the Ohio Athletic Conference in shots and goals scored.