Prep boys soccer: Marietta rallies to beat New Philadelpia, 3-1

DEVOLA - Jacob Holdren fittingly scored an insurance goal in Marietta High's 3-1 come-from-behind triumph over New Philadelphia at the Devola Soccer Complex Monday night.

Earlier, the MHS junior got an assist on Brennan Uhrig's equalizer, and then was tripped up in the penalty area, which resulted in a Brent Huck PK conversion.

Capping all the scoring late in the match, Holdren headed home a net-bender, thanks to Skylar Miracle.

"Jacob Holdren had a great game," said Marietta boys head coach Todd Morris, whose defending leagure champion Tigers improved to 6-1-1 overall and 3-0-1 in the East Central Ohio League. "He's so creative with the ball at his feet, and he played an awesome game tonight. He's so consistent and has great vision of the field."

MHS had New Philadelphia (1-9-0, 1-4-0) in a defensive posture for most of the match but in the first half had nothing to show for it as both schools were tied at 0-0 at the intermission. Quaker keeper Jared Ley had some nice first-saves saves on shots by Huck, Uhrig, and Holdren.

Ley finished the game with 11 saves.

"Their keeper made some nice save and kept them in the game," Morris said.

"But we've got to finish better.

"In the first half, we probably we had 80 percent of the possession."

Early in the second half, Marietta kept the pressure on the New Philadelphia defense, but again couldn't find the back of the net.

With 18 minutes remaining in the match, an MHS defender was whistled for a handball outside the penalty area. On the ensuing direct kick, New Philadelphia's Rob McEwan drilled a long, high shot that beat Tiger keeper Eric Pierce.

All of a sudden, now, Marietta was down 1-0.

"That goal by New Philadelphia fired us up," Holdren said. "We knew we had to come back, because we don't like to lose here."

Said Morris, "When you let the other team hang around, bad things can happen, and that's what...their first shot on goal, they scored.

"It was kind of a wake-up call. This far into the season, with this group, it shouldn't take falling down 1-0 to light a fire. After we got down 1-0, a sense of urgency set in, and we took care of business."

Almost five minutes later, Holdren surged on goal from the left flank inside the penalty area and was able to deliver a pass to Uhrig, who blasted the ball by Ley for the tying score.

"I started with the ball at the mid, and took it up the sideline," Holdren said. "Brennan was where he was supposed to be in the middle. He did a good job of finishing."

The goal was Uhrig's fourth of the season.

Holdren had a hand on Marietta's second goal with 7:48 left in the game. Again, he attacked from the left side, only this time as he crashed on goal, he was tripped by a Quaker defender.

After the foul on Holdren, Huck's penalty kick and team-high sixth goal of the season was a no-doubter, going into the left side of the goal. Ley never had a chance.

With time winding down, MHS continued attacking and it paid off dividends as Holdren was credited with his second goal of the fall.

"I want to give Skylar all the credit on that goal," Holdren said. "He did what he was supposed to do. He's an outside mid and he stayed wide. I was just there and got the goal."

Marietta is scheduled to play at Zanesville Rosecrans in another ECOL match at 7 p.m. tonight.

"We need to put teams away earlier," Morris said. "We'll take the win (vs. New Philadelphia). It's a conference win and we won at home, and that's what we want to do. Hopefully, we can learn from this."

Notes: New Philadelphia was a regional finalist last season, reaching the Elite 8 before being eliminated by Columbus St. Francis Desales 6-0...Marietta has never been beaten by New Philadelphia and owns a 7-0-2 series advantage...Marietta outside midfielder Colin Jordan, who suffered a concussion in the first Warren game earlier this month at Don Drumm Stadium, may be cleared for play for Thursday match at Warren.