MARIETTA, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's soccer team suffered its first Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) defeat on Saturday, falling 3-1 at Marietta College.
Neither team scored for the first 35 minutes until Will McAlister pounced on a rebound and scored unassisted in the 37th minute. Both teams fired three shots on goal in the first half, but the Pioneers were the only ones to capitalize and took the one-goal lead into halftime.
Midway through the second half, McAlister struck again, this time on a volley off a pass from Blake Holtman in the 69th minute, to double Marietta's lead. Wilmington answered less than two minutes later as Nati Wallis found Casey Miller for his second goal of the season. With the Quakers pressing numbers forward, McAlister capped his stellar night with a hat trick in the 82nd minute.
Marietta (7-7-1, 2-3-0 OAC) held a 21-14 shots advantage including by a 12-6 margin in the second half. The Pioneers earned six corner kicks compared to four for the Quakers.
Felix Maurer took the loss for Wilmington making eight saves while Dakota Penquite made five saves to earn the win for Marietta.
Individually, Zach Burgmeier and Ian Molfenter had four shots each for Wilmington.
With John Carroll University's victory over Ohio Northern University, the Quakers sit in sole possession of second place in the OAC with a 3-1-1 record. Wilmington hosts heads to Otterbein University on Wednesday.
