MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team wrapped up its 2019 season with a 20-15 win over Ohio Athletic Conference opponent Wilmington College, Saturday (April 27). With the win the Pioneers end the season with a 7-10 record overall and 2-7 in OAC play, and with the loss the Quakers fall to 2-13 and 0-9 in OAC action.
Head Coach
Shawn Runyon said, "It is always nice to finish the season with a win. This first class has been able to build a strong foundation for the program, which is going to be a big part of our future success."
The first quarter got off to a slow start, as the opening five minutes of the game were scoreless.
Quinn Rundgren (Angier, N.C./Fuquay Varina) broke the scoreless drought for Marietta with an unassisted goal. Wilmington tied the game at 1-1 with a goal two minutes later. Over the remainder of the first quarter the Pioneers tacked on four unanswered goals to enter the second quarter up 5-1. The Marietta goals were scored by
Connor Ficke (Saint Leonard, Md./Calvert),
Zach Klein (Evergreen, Co./Evergreen), and
Chad Stowell (Watertown, Minn./Delano) with assists by Rundgren and
Jackson McGill (New Market, Md./Oakdale).
Marietta carried its momentum over to the second quarter, as they scored a pair of goals three minutes into the quarter. The early second quarter goals were scored by Ficke, and McGill. The Quakers scored three of the next four goals, to trim the Pioneers lead to, 8-4 with just over eight minutes to play in the half.
Marietta answered with three consecutive goals from Rundgren, Ficke, and Klein to stretch the Pioneers advantage to 11-4. Wilmington answered a minute later with a goal, but Marietta ended the half with back to back goals from Rundgren, to lead 13-5 at the intermission.
The Pioneers struck first in the third quarter when Klein found the back of the net for his third goal of the game, four minutes into the quarter. The Quakers scored the next two goals, and cut the Marietta edge to 14-7 at the 6:41 minute mark of the third quarter.
The Pioneers halted the run 30 seconds later when Rundgren scored a man up goal off a feed from Klein. The teams traded goals for the final six minutes of the quarter and Marietta led, 16-9 to enter the fourth quarter. The Pioneers goal was scored by
Jayson White (Salisbury, Md./Wicomico) off an assist by
Daniel Blaine (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty).
Wilmington opened the fourth quarter scoring with a goal 40 seconds into the final frame. Marietta matched the goal three minutes later when McGill scored his second goal of the game. The Quakers answered back with four of the next five goals, which trimmed the Pioneers edge to 18-14 with just over five minutes to play in the game.
Marietta put the game away with a pair of goals from Ficke and Rundgren to put the Pioneers up 20-14, at the 3:48 minute mark of the fourth quarter. The Rundgren goal was assisted by
John Sanford (Monrovia, Md./Urbana). Wilmington notched the final goal of the game, but Marietta won 20-15.
The Pioneers were led by Ficke and Rundgren as they each tallied six goals in the game, and Rundgren added three assists. Klein pitched in with three goals, and McGill and Stowell added two goals apiece. Sanford helped Marietta control the game, as he won 28 face-offs and picked up 17 ground balls. Defensively,
Henry Clark (Moreland Hills, Ohio/Orange) and
TJ West (Kingwood, Texas/Kingwood) tied for a game high two caused turnovers.
Ryan McLane (Avon, Ohio/Avon) was in goal for the Pioneers, he faced 33 shots, 22 of which were on goal, and made seven saves.
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.
