MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team was victorious over Ohio Athletic Conference opponent Muskingum University, 21-9, Wednesday (April 24). With the win the Pioneers improve to 6-10 overall and 1-7 in OAC play. The win earns Marietta its first OAC win in program history.
Head Coach
Shawn Runyon said, "Tonight was a great team effort as everyone played an essential role in getting the win. The guys have been working very hard every day in practice to finish the season strong, and it's nice to see that hard work pay off."
The first quarter started as a defensive battle with the opening nine minutes of the game being scoreless. Marietta broke the scoring drought when
Zach Klein (Evergreen, Co./Evergreen) scored a man up goal of a feed from
Jackson McGill (New Market, Md./Oakdale). A minute later, the Pioneers tacked on two quick goals from
Jayson White (Salisbury, Md./Wicomico), one of which was assisted by
Quinn Rundgren (Angier, N.C./Fuquay Varina).
Chad Stowell (Watertown, Minn./Delano) scored the final goal of the quarter off an assist from Rundgren, to take a 4-0 lead into the second quarter.
Marietta carried its momentum over to the second quarter when
Connor Ficke (Saint Leonard, Md./Calvert) scored the opening goal of the quarter. The teams swapped goals for a majority of the second quarter as the Pioneers led 7-3 with just under five minutes to play in the half. Marietta's goals were scored by
Blake Chisholm (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) and White. The Pioneers stretched their advantage to 10-3 with three consecutive goals late in the half. McGill, Ficke, and White all found the back of the net during the run. Muskingum ended the second quarter with a goal, but Marietta led 10-4 at the intermission.
The Pioneers came out of the locker room ready to play, as they notched back to back goals in the opening three minutes of the third quarter. Stowell scored the first goal off a feed from McGill and Ficke scored the second goal. The teams traded goals for the remainder of the third quarter, and Marietta led 15-7 to enter the final frame. The Pioneer goals were scored by Ficke, and White.
Marietta extended its lead with the first two goals of the fourth quarter, when White and McGill put the Pioneers up, 17-7. The Fighting Muskies answered with back to back goals to cut the Marietta lead to 17-9, with seven minutes to play in the game. The Pioneers closed out the game, as they scored the final four goals. The goals came in a five minute span, and were scored by Stowell, Rundgren, and Ficke who scored off an assist from
Seth Hower (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley). Marietta won the game, 21-9.
The Pioneers were led by Ficke and White who each tallied six goals, and an assist in the game. Stowell added some offensive fire power with four goals, and had a game high 12 ground balls.
Noah Coleman (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont Kettering) led the defense with a pair of caused turnover, and
Daniel Blaine (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) picked up six ground balls, and caused a turnover in the game for Marietta.
Ryan McLane (Avon, Ohio/Avon) was in net for the Pioneers, be faced 33 shots, 18 of which were on goal, and made nine saves.
Marietta will return to the field Saturday (April 27) when they host Wilmington College in the season finale.
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
