MARIETTA, Ohio – In its final regular season game of the season, the Baldwin Wallace University women's soccer team posted its fifth shutout of the season as it blanked Marietta College in an Ohio Athletic Conference game by a final score of 5-0 on Marietta Field.
BW (11-6-1, 5-4 OAC), who will enter next week's OAC Tournament as the fifth seed on Tuesday, October 30 at 7 p.m., will travel to either Capital University or the University of Mount Union depending on the outcome of tonight's Capital University and Otterbein University match. Marietta (5-12-1, 2-7 OAC) ends its season.
The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring in the second minute when junior defender Courtney Cofer (Norton) scored on the header off the corner kick from senior three-time All-OAC and Academic-All OAC forward Rachel Bender (Massillon/Jackson). BW added to its lead at 2-0 when Bender found the back of the net for her 14th goal of the season in the 37th minute. The Yellow Jackets closed out the first half scoring at 3-0 when freshman midfielder Olivia Kane (Hillard/Darby) hit a strike off the assist from Bender just a minute later.
The second half was scoreless until the 75th minute when BW freshman defender Anna Wenzinger (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) scored her second goal of the season off the third assist of the game for Bender. The Yellow Jackets closed out the scoring in the 88th minute when they scored their second goal of the game off a corner kick as sophomore midfielder Kaitlin McGuire (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) scored her third goal of the season off the second assist of the season from sophomore defender Bella Szymanski (Cuyahoga Falls/Norton).
In net for BW, junior netminder Emma Bruno (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bethel Park) picked up her ninth victory and fifth shutout of the season as she did not allow a goal and made three saves in 67 minutes of action. Junior goalie Sophia Weidner (Medina) played the final 23 minutes and did not face a shot.
The winners of Tuesday night's OAC Tournament Quarterfinal games will advance to the semifinals on Thursday, November 1 at 7 p.m. The OAC Tournament Championship game will be contested on Saturday, November 3 with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
