Women's Soccer celebrates Senior Day with 7-0 victory over Marietta
By Caleb Scott
ADA -- The Ohio Northern women's soccer team wrapped up regular season play and celebrated Senior Day with a 7-0 victory over Marietta Friday evening to clinch the No. 2 seed in next week's OAC Tournament and a first round bye.
The Polar Bears improve to 11-7-1 overall and 7-2-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Pioneers fall to 0-19-0, 0-9-0.
Prior to the contest, the women's soccer team recognized seniors Emily Brodict, Hannah Moloney and Alex Weirich for their contributions to the Ohio Northern women's soccer program.
The Ohio Northern attack saw seven different players score, all of which came in the second half.
ONU dominated the first half offensively, piling up 17 shots, but couldn't manage to find the back of the net.
After going scoreless in the first half, Northern came out firing as they posted two goals in the first three minutes of the second half.
Junior Haley Napier received a long pass from Weirich in the 47th minute and placed a shot just out of the Pioneer keepers reach to give ONU the 1-0 lead.
Less than a minute later, junior Missy Ward capitalized on a failed clearance in the 48th minute to make the score 2-0.
Junior Shelby Stephens wasted no time adding to the Polar Bear lead as she also capitalized on a failed clearance and put Northern ahead 3-0 in the 54th minute.
Less than a minute later, freshman McKenna Welshreceived a short pass from Stephens and found the back of the net, to push the Ohio Northern lead 4-0.
After a Marietta foul just outside of the 18 yard box, junior Kathleen Carley scored her first goal of the season on a free kick in the 60th minute to give the Polar Bears the 5-0 lead.
Sophomore Abbey Oswald would add to the lead in the 72nd minute as she dribbled through multiple defenders and found the back of the net to push the lead to 6-0.
Freshman Sarah Puntel sealed the victory for Ohio Northern in the 76th minute as she dribbled through traffic and beat the keeper for the 7-0 victory.
"We are really proud of our seniors for what they have accomplished for this program," said head coach Mark Batman. "Today was a total team effort and it really showed."
Ohio Northern will host the winner of the first round quarterfinal matchup between the No. 3 and No. 4 seed on Nov. 4 at Kerscher Stadium. The time of the contest will be determined at a later date.
