Phillips leads Marietta to overtime victory
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Sophomore Robert Phillips scored the only goal of the match as Marietta College slipped past Wittenberg University, 1-0, in overtime Sunday (Sept. 2) afternoon. The Pioneers improve to 1-1 on the season, while the Tigers fall to 0-2 overall.
Wittenberg partially cleared the ball from inside their six-yard box but Phillips beat the Tiger defenders to the ball and poked it past the keeper for the game-winner in the 97th minute. The goal was the first of the season for both Marietta and Phillips.
"For all the good chances we created today, we won the game on a goal that was, shall we say, less than pretty," Marietta head coach Joe Bergin said. "But we will take the win and move on. We did a lot of good things today and it was a good team performance."
Despite having to deal with some adversity in the match, the Pioneer defense posted its first clean sheet of the season. Sophomore Dakota Penquite was scheduled to start in goal for Marietta but suffered a hand injury during warmups forcing Trevor Dykstra into an emergency starting role. Dykstra played the entire match and posted a pair of saves.
After losing Penquite just prior to the start of the match, senior defender Anthony D'Egidio went down 18 minutes into the first half and was done for the day. Freshman Colston Roades took over and helped the Pioneers earn the shutout.
Marietta controlled the game taking twice as many shots as Wittenberg. The Pioneers outshot the Tigers, 22-11 including a 10-2 advantage in shots on goal. Wittenberg took eight corners to Marietta's four.
Wittenberg keeper Jason Bowen posted nine saves in 96-plus minutes in the net.
The Pioneers head south next weekend to play in the Berry College Invitational. Marietta plays Birmingham-Southern College on Saturday at 2 p.m. and then the host school at noon on Sunday.
