(Posted September 10, 2005)

Juniata 3, Marietta 1

Altoona, Pa. ? After a pair of losses on the opening weekend of play, the Juniata College men?s soccer team was looking for a positive result to kick start the rest of its 2005 season. That result came on Saturday as the Eagles rolled to a 3-1 victory over Marietta College (Ohio) on the opening day of play at the Lions Soccer Invitational in Altoona. Juniata is now 1-2 on the season, and will take on host Penn State-Altoona on Sunday for a shot at the tournament championship.

The Eagles got the offense rolling early as senior Robert Bowser (Dallastown/York) tallied his first goal of the season just three minutes into the match, giving the Eagles an early 1-0 advantage. Though Juniata continued its pressure, both teams would remain scoreless for the remainder of the half.

Marietta then came up with an answer early in the second stanza as Mike Zourdos beat Juniata keeper Tim Penrod (Moravia/Moravia, N.Y.) in the 48th minute to knot the score at one goal apiece.

From that point on it was all Juniata as the Eagles controlled the second half. The Blue and Gold out-shot Marietta 11-4 in the second frame, and finally knocked in the go-ahead goal at the 63:06 mark when Kenneth Wiles (Rhinebeck/Rhinebeck, N.Y.) beat the Marietta keeper to put Juniata in front for good. It was Wiles? second goal of the 2005 campaign.

Jeff Gehring (Exeter Township/Reading) added an insurance goal with less than a minute to play to create the final 3-1 margin.

The goal early in the second half was the only blemish on an otherwise solid day for Penrod as he made six saves. The Juniata defense turned in an impressive effort as Marietta was limited to 12 shots for the match.

Marietta keeper Brian Bugge made six saves while allowing all three Juniata goals.

This is the second-consecutive season that Juniata has played Marietta on the opening day of the Lions Soccer Invitational. Last season the Eagles suffered a 1-0 defeat in the opening round.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.