MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team set a program record for goals in a game, with 25, in the 25-5 win over Franciscan University on Wednesday (Feb. 26) evening at Don Drumm Stadium. With the win the Pioneers improve to 2-1 overall and the loss drops the Barons to 0-2 overall.
"It was good to have everyone contribute in the win tonight, and battle through the elements," said Head Coach
Shawn Runyon. "One of our keys going into the game was getting off to a quick start. I thought we did a nice job of executing in the first quarter, which put us in a position to control the tempo for the rest of the game."
Marietta dominated the opening quarter, as they scored 10 unanswered goals to lead 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Pioneer goals were scored by
Jiggy Smaha (Frederick, Md./Urbana),
Colton Abate (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township), Quinn Rudngren,
Jackson McGill (New Market, Md./Oakdale),
Connor Ficke (Saint Leonard, Md./Calvert),
Zach Klein (Evergreen, Co./Evergreen),
Jimmy Border (Cranberry Township, Pa. /Seneca Valley), and
Daniel Blaine (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty). The Marietta defense was tremendous in the quarter as they only allowed one shot.
The Pioneers carried their momentum over to the second quarter, as they scored four goals in the first two minutes of the quarter. Rungren scored the first two goals of the quarter off assists from Abate, and
Seth Hower (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley).
Chase Mullen (Cabot, Pa./Knoch) notched the next two goals, with assists by Rundgren and McGill to put Marietta on top, 14-0. After 10 minutes of scoreless action, Marietta scored the final goal of the quarter when Ficke found the back of the net off a feed from Smaha. The Pioneers entered the intermission on top 15-0.
Gavin Honeycutt (Valencia, Pa./Mars) was the first half goalie for Marietta, he faced seven total shots, four of which were on goal, and made four saves, to secure the first half shutout.
After four scoreless minutes of third quarter action, Franciscan scored the first two goals of the quarter to trim the Pioneers lead to 15-2. Marietta answered back with four straight goals, to stretch their lead to 19-2. The Pioneers goals were scored by Hower,
Justin Blasko (Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary),
Nathan Ketner (Nokesville, Vaaa./Brentsville District), and
John Sanford (Monrovia, Md./Urbana) with assists by
Tommy Ferger (Glen Burnie, Md./North County) and Klein. Franciscan responded with a pair of goals, but Hower scored the final goal of the quarter for the Pioneers, and Marietta led 20-4 to enter the final frame.
The fourth quarter started with six minutes of scoreless action before the Pioneers rattled off five consecutive goals. Ferger, Mullen, Sanford, and Klein scored for Marietta with the assists coming from Smaha, and
Jimmy Border (Cranberry Township, Pa. /Seneca Valley). The Barons scored the final goal of the game with four minutes to play in the game, but the Pioneers won 25-5.
Marietta was led by Rundgren, as he had three goals and two assists in the game. Mullen added three goals, and an assist in the match. The Pioneers face-off tandem of
Nathan Grover (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) and Border combined to win 27 of the 31 face-offs in the game.
Marietta will return to the field Sunday (March 1) when they host Washington and Jefferson, with the game scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Fans can follow all of 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.
