MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team earned a hard fought 10-9 victory over Thiel College on Wednesday (March 4) evening at Don Drumm Stadium.  The win improves the Pioneers record to 3-2 overall and the loss drops the Tomcats to 2-3 on the season.  

"It was a back and forth battle all night and we made just enough plays to get the win.  It wasn't perfect by any means but I'm excited we were able to make the adjustments needed from our last game and come away with a win against a tough opponent," said Head Coach Shawn Runyon. 

Marietta opened the scoring a minute into the game when Quinn Rundgren (Angier, N.C./Fuquay Varina) scored off a feed from Jackson McGill (New Market, Md./Oakdale).  Less than a minute later the Pioneers doubled their lead when Rundgren scored his second goal of the game.  Marietta took a 3-0 edge with nine minutes to play in the first quarter when Colton Abate (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) scored an unassisted goal.  Thiel scored a goal less than a minute later, but the Pioneers scored the final goal of the quarter when Zach Klein (Evergreen, Co./Evergreen) scored a man up goal, to put Marietta on top 4-1 at the end of the first quarter.  

The Tomcats scored the opening goal of the second quarter, and trimmed the led to 4-2.  The Pioneers regained a three goal advantage with 10 minutes to play in the second quarter when Connor Ficke (Saint Leonard, Md./Calvert) scored off a feed from Daniel Blaine (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty).  Thiel tied the game, when they scored three unanswered goals, and the game was deadlocked at 5-5 at the 5:15 minute mark of the second quarter.  Marietta scored the final goal of the half when McGill scored off a feed from Jimmy Border (Cranberry Township, Pa. /Seneca Valley), and the Pioneers led, 6-5 at the intermission.  

Marietta scored back to back goals to open the third quarter and grabbed an 8-5 edge, with goals from Ficke and Rundgren.  After a Tomcats goal, Rundgren scored his fourth goal of the game to put the Pioneers up 9-6.  Thiel scored the final two goals of the third quarter, but Marietta led 9-8 to enter the final frame.  

The Tomcats tied the game 14 seconds into the fourth quarter, and the game was deadlocked at 9-9.  The Pioneers regained the lead five minutes later when Ficke scored off a feed from Nathan Ketner (Nokesville, Vaaa./Brentsville District).  The game remained scoreless for the final nine minutes of play.  Thiel had an opportunity to tie the game with under 10 seconds to play in the game, but Dane Barker (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) made a big save to secure the 10-9 Marietta victory.  

The Pioneers were led by Rundgren, he had a game high four goals and picked up four ground balls.  Ficke added to the attack with three goals, and caused a turnover.  Nathan Grover (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) was solid on the face-off, as he won 10-14 face-offs, and picked up six groundballs.  

Barker was in goal for Marietta he faced 31 shots, 18 of which were on goal, and made nine saves in the game.  

The Pioneers will return to the field Saturday (March 7) when they travel to take on Westminster College, with the game scheduled to begin at 2 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.