The Wilmington College men's soccer team found themselves on the wrong side of a rule misinterpretation, and the scoreboard, falling to Marietta Saturday, 3-2, in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
"It was a misinterpretation of a rule," said Wilmington head coach Bud Lewis. "The referee made a mistake on a call and he called an offsides. You can have a drop ball, but they gave them the ball because they thought they had possession. I have never seen anything like it, and unfortunately it was the play they capitalized on for a goal."
With the free kick near the right corner, the ball was played into the box and keeper R.J. Mancini (Cincinnati, OH/Glen Este) made the initial save. However, the ball rebounded out to the top of the box for the Marietta player to finish just inside the crossbar for the winner in the 83rd minute.
Wilmington is now winless in its last four games, including a three-game losing streak.
Despite the outcome, Lewis didn't want to take anything away from the Pioneers, who snapped a six-game losing streak.
"Marietta to its credit, they battled and they were dangerous almost every time they came forward," said Lewis. "I give Marietta credit for the way they battled in the game and putting in a great third goal. It was an amazing goal and that is what it takes when the game is close. Someone is going to step up and make a play; they did it and we didn't."
The Pioneers opened the game with a goal less than two minutes into the game, and added a second goal in the 28th minute for a 2-0 lead.
Senior Daniel Wicks (Cincinnati, OH/Reading) helped Wilmington cut the lead in half in the 31st minute. After causing a foul in the box, he completed the play by placing a penalty kick past the Marietta goalkeeper.
WC quickly found the equalizer in the early moments of the second half as Wicks hit a crossing pass that senior Evan Schlagetter (Sidney, OH/Sidney) deposited into the back of the net. While Wilmington seemed to carry most of the play in the half, they couldn't find the tiebreaking goal.
Mancini made four saves in the loss.
Wilmington (5-5-1 overall, 0-1 OAC) returns to the pitch 7 p.m. Wednesday for an OAC meeting with Ohio Northern.