ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team extended its winning streak to four games with an 18-7 win on the road at North Carolina Wesleyan on Wednesday (March 11) afternoon. The win improves the Pioneers record to 5-1 overall and the loss drops the Battling Bishops to 1-6 on the season.
Head Coach
Malory Nadrah said, "It was a good day for us today once we collected ourselves. I'm very pleased with the team and how well they executed our game plan."
The teams each traded a pair of goals through the first four minutes of play, and the game remained deadlocked at 2-2. The Marietta goals were scored by
Natalie Cocco (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) and
Mackenzie Dyott (Easton, Md./Easton). The Pioneers were able to grab the lead with three consecutive goals to take a 5-2 advantage at the 19:34 minute mark of the first half. The Marietta goals came from
Kayla Kearns (Preston, Md./Easton), Cocco, and
Shelby Millheim (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom). The Battling Bishops halted the Pioneers run with a goal, and the teams swapped goals through the middle of the half, and Marietta maintained a 7-5 edge. Both Pioneer goals were scored by Dyott. Marietta pulled away and ended the first half with four straight goals, to lead 11-5 at the intermission. The Pioneer goals were scored by Dyott,
Rachel Sivie (Washington, Pa./Trinity),
Megan McGriff (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek), and Cocco assisted on the goal by Dyott.
Marietta came out the half ready to play when they scored four of the first five goals to open the second half, and stretched their lead 15-6 at the 14:32 minute mark in the second half. The early second half goals were scored by Dyott, McGriff,
Kelsey Burns (Medina, Ohio/Medina), and Sivie. After a North Carolina Wesleyan goal made the score 15-7, the Pioneers closed out the game with three consecutive goals and won 18-7. The final three goals were scored by Burns, Sivie, and
Megan Marshall (Naples, Fla./Estero).
Marietta was led by Dyott, as she had five goals, three ground balls, and caused a pair of turnovers. Sivie added to the attack with four goals in the game. The Pioneers defense was led by
Natalie Johnson (Uniontown, Ohio/Green), as she had a team high three caused turnovers and picked up two ground balls.
"Mackenzie had a great day, her consistency has been excellent. Rachel did a great job giving us that spark on attack when we needed it," added Coach Nadrah. "
Zionne Newkirk (Youngstown, Ohio/Mooney) had another great day on defense playing a crucial role for us.
Taylor Carr (Charleston, W.Va./St. Albans) and Natalie (Johnson) contributed some great clear plays, and I'm so proud of both of their improvements."
Maddie Leers (Crystal Lake, Ill./Barrington) was in goal for Marietta, she faced 20 shots, 17 of which were on goal, and made 10 saves in the game.
"I couldn't be more proud of being 5-1 at this point in our season, our great spring break trip was capped off with a great team win," concluded Coach Nadrah.
Marietta will return to the field Wednesday (March 18) when they travel to take on St. Vincent College, with the game scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
