THE PLAINS - Skylar Miracle broke a scoreless tie with 4:01 remaining in the match to send Marietta High's boys' soccer team to its first victory of the 2012 campaign, a 1-0 triumph over host Athens.
Grant Gandor assisted on Miracle's goal, his first of the season.
Marietta (1-0-1 overall, 0-0-1 East Central Ohio League) outshot Athens (1-2-1) 13-4, with MHS goalkeeper Eric Pierce making four saves to record his second consecutive clean sheet to begin the season. The Tigers tied 0-0 at Dover on Tuesday night.
Marietta has now won two straight games over its former Southeastern Ohio Athletic League rival, and now lead the all-time series with Athens 33-21-9.
"Great way to get that first win of the season against a very well-coached Athens team," said MHS head coach Todd Morris. "Athens is never an easy place to play and to get the win feels good.
"Overall we were much better today than we were at Dover, and that's what this season is all about. We need to get better in every match that we play. We again were very strong defensively, and our offense is starting to show some signs of getting in synch and in rhythm. We still have a lot of work to do and our schedule doesn't get any easier."
Marietta is scheduled to play at Cambridge at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and then host defending SEOAL and district champion Warren Thursday at Don Drumm Stadium.
The Tiger booters are slated to visit Chillicothe Saturday. "We look at this week as a huge challenge for us and I am confident we will be up to the challenges," Morris said.
In the junior varsity match, Ryan Teer scored twice to give Marietta a 2-0 victory.
Goalkeeper Tayden Springer came up huge with a save on a penalty kick with the score still 1-0 before Teer gave MHS an insurance goal. MHS JV is now 2-0-1 on the season.
