Men's Soccer ends the regular season with a 2-0 win over Marietta
By Ashley Birchmeier
ADA - Ohio Northern men's soccer team defeated Marietta 2-0 Friday at Kerscher Stadium on a very wet, windy and chilly Senior Night to end its regular season.
The Polar Bears finish the regular season 12-7-1 overall and 5-3-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while Marietta falls to 6-11-0, 4-5-0 OAC.
With the win, Ohio Northern has clinched a spot in the OAC Tournament to be held next week.
ONU dominated the first half as the Polar Bears were able to score twice in the half.
Sophomore Tommy Troy led the way for the hosts, scoring the first goal of the game in the 16th minute and giving ONU the early 1-0 lead.
The Polar Bears were not done, freshman Chris Garbig was able to capitalize off an assists from sophomore Dustin Lorenzo to extend the ONU lead to 2-0.
Ohio Northern held Marietta to just four shots in the game, out-shooting the Pioneers 22-4.
Payton Blair had a chance in the 79th minute to pull the Pioneers within one but sent the shot off the cross bar.
Freshman goalkeeper Dean McNeil improves to 8-6-1 for the Polar Bears and picks up his fifth shutout of the season.
The Polar Bears are currently tied for second place with Heidelberg in the OAC regular season standings with 16 points.
With a Heidelberg loss to Wilmington and a Baldwin Wallace loss or tie to Capital on Saturday, ONU would clinch the No. 2 seed, receive a first round bye and host a semifinal match on Wednesday in next week's OAC Tournament.
Otherwise, ONU would be the No. 3 or 4 seed and host a first round match on Monday.
