Local Sports

Todd Morris collects 200th win as Tigers rally past Bulldogs

DEVOLA -- If Tuesday's 4-3 win was anything like the others then Marietta's Todd Morris definitely earned every one of his 200 victories as the coach of the Tigers boys soccer program.

Entering his 17th season at the helm, Morris maintained a calm demeanor Tuesday night at Jerry Brock Field even when Marietta fell behind 3-2 to Athens with less than 24 minutes remaining in the second half.

"As a head coach to get the 200th that's a pretty significant number," Morris said. "I've been blessed with great players, great assistant coaches, great families over the years and to do it against Athens - an old SEOAL foe from way back in the day - means a lot. To go down and to have the moxie to come back ... this team showed a lot tonight.

"To get 200 on this pitch in our 40th season of soccer with Jerry (Brock) going into the Hall of Fame this year, all kinds of good things on. I'll enjoy it tonight, but then you have to move on.I would be lying if I wasn't proud of this accomplishment. It takes some longevity."

Marietta caught a huge break with 12:15 showing on the clock when Landon Koscho's throw-in deep in Tiger territory tipped off the opposing keeper's glove then continued into the net just below the crossbar.

Koscho, who finished with a pair of goals, also assisted on Cameron Davis' eventual game-winning goal at the 8:51 mark.

"We had to drag this one out - it wasn't pretty," Koscho said.

Marietta freshman keeper Finn Tindall faced only one shot on goal the rest of the match - and came up with a sensational save when Matty Pigman's laser from 40 yards out zeroed in on the far post. Tindall leaped into the air and knocked the possible game-tying goal away without further incident.

"Finn is stepping in there as a freshman," Morris said. "We lost Caden Gebczyk, who was a four-year starter. We threw him in as a freshman, too, so there will be some growing pains. But Finn is poised and takes charge back there.

"The play at the end took him off his line and he got a hand to knock it away. That was big for us."

Athens had one last-ditch effort on a throw-in and only 12 ticks remaining. Athens managed one pass inbounds before a pair of Marietta defenders collapsed and created enough chaos. The Tigers pried possession away and time expired without a sniff of a shot made toward the goal.

Marietta improves to 2-0-0, while Athens slipped to 1-1-0.

"We were a little unorganized - the style of play that can be effective against us is teams that battle and don't try to build then just play the ball long," Morris said. "We have to deal with the first and second ball, and we didn't do that well tonight. But we found a way."

Athens forward Emmanuel Mends gave Marietta fits throughout and finished with a hat trick. After Koscho put the Tigers in front 1-0 barely 15 minutes into the match, Mends showcased his speed and foot skills to dribble past a Marietta defender one-on-one. Tindall was the last line of defense and Mends went high shelf for a 1-1 tie at the 21:06 mark of the first half.

Marietta just beat the halftime horn to post its second goal of the evening. Blake Limegrover earned the assist on Davis' first goal at 20 seconds left before intermission.

Athens came out of the gates quickly in the second half as Mends was the recipient of two pin-point passes. The hockey assist tied the match at 2-2 barely five minutes out of the break.

Fifteen minutes later, a crossing pass from Sully Pelot found Mends for his third goal of the match and a 3-2 Bulldog advantage.

Marietta was given new life on Koscho's throw-in which resulted in his second goal. In order for the goal to count, an opposing player had to touch the ball. This occurred to Koscho a second time - the other time occurring while playing on his club team.

The Tigers kept the gas on the pedal and barely three minutes later, Koscho found Davis sprinting down the left side of the field. The through ball hit Davis in stride and the two seniors combined for the eventual game-winning goal.

"I told Davis if he makes those runs, I'll find him," Koscho said.

Marietta returns home for a Saturday night match against Fairfield Union. Between the junior varsity and varsity match, the program will commemorate 2002 Marietta grad Scotty Pabst, who died tragically this past summer.

Pabst played on the 2001 team which advanced to the district final before losing to eventual state champ Hudson. That same season, the Tigers opened the season with 14 consecutive clean slates.

"We are having the family here and some of his former teammates," Morris said. "We had a plaque made for the side of the building. That 2001 team, he was a big part of that. We want to honor him not just as a player, but he was a good person, too."

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com