MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team dropped a hard fought game to Washington and Jefferson, 13-12 on Wednesday (Feb. 26) evening on Marietta Field. With the loss the Pioneers are now 1-1 on the season and the win improves the Presidents to 1-1.
"I'm proud of the team's fight and grit through the game. I'm disappointed we fell on the losing side of a one goal game," said Head Coach
Malory Nadrah. "We made a lot of mistakes and gave up some crucial possessions. We have shown improvement from last year which is great, but I don't think we played to our true potential."
Marietta opened the scoring 30 seconds into the match when
Megan McGriff (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek) scored the first goal of her career off an assist from
Lindy Brobeck (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington). Washington and Jefferson responded with back-to-back goals to grab a 2-1 lead two minutes into the game. Over the next four minutes of action the Pioneers answered with a pair of goals to regain a 3-2 edge. The Marietta goals were scored by
Carlee Kernodle (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park) and
Mackenzie Dyott (Easton, Md./Easton), with an assist by
Shelby Millheim (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom). After seven minutes of play, the Presidents tied the game at 3-3 with a goal. The Pioneers regained the lead behind an unassisted goal from Dyott, at the 15:47 minute mark. Washington and Jefferson battled back to take a 5-4 edge with a pair of goals. After seven minutes of scoreless action, Marietta tied the game behind a goal from McGriff off a feed from Kernodle. The Pioneers regained the lead when
Casey Roeder (Milford, Ohio/Milford) scored her first goal of the game. The Presidents scored the final goal of the half, and the teams entered the intermission deadlocked at six goals apiece.
Marietta opened the second half with an unassisted goal by
Rachel Sivie (Washington, Pa./Trinity), to put the Pioneers on top 7-6 two minutes into the half. Washington and Jefferson rattled of the next four goals of game to take a 10-7 edge, with 20 minutes to play in the game. After seven minutes of scoreless action, Marietta cut into the Presidents lead with back-to-back goals from McGriff and Sivie. Two minutes later Washington and Jefferson scored a goal and went up 11-9, before McGriff's fourth goal of the game, off a feed from Dyott, made the score 11-10. The Presidents notched the next two goals of the match, and held a 13-10 edge with just over six minutes to play in the game. Over the final six minutes of play, McGriff scored her fifth and sixth goals of the game to trim the Washington and Jefferson lead to 13-12 with 36 seconds to play in the game. The Pioneers could not complete the comeback and fell, 13-12.
Marietta was led by McGriff as she scored a game high six goals, picked up three ground balls, and caused a turnover in the game. Dyott pitched in with a pair of goals, three ground balls, and had an assist. Sivie also added two goals, and picked up two ground balls. Brobeck,
Lauren Redfern (Bellbrook, Ohio/Bellbrook), and Roeder tied for the team in caused turnovers with two.
"McGriff did a great job stepping up and putting the ball in the back of the net for us, especially when few other attackers were getting marked up," added Coach Nadrah. "Defense did well to make some great plays. Redfern drew two charges, and
Zionne Newkirk (Youngstown, Ohio/Mooney) came up huge in 50/50 scenarios."
Maddie Leers (Crystal Lake, Ill./Barrington) was in goal for the Pioneers, she faced 27 shots, 23 were on goal, and made 10 saves in the game.
Marietta will return to the field Friday (Feb. 28) when they host Hiram College, with the game scheduled to begin at 5 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.
