TIFFIN, Ohio – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team opened the 2021 campaign with a 14-7 win over Heidelberg University on Sunday (Feb. 21) afternoon.  The Pioneers are now 1-0 on the season and the Student Princes are 0-1 overall.  

"I am proud of the team for coming out of halftime and securing the lead, but we have a great list of things to work on for the week.  We expected things to not be perfect with it being our first game without a scrimmage and the weather limitations these past two weeks", said Head Coach Malory Nadrah.  "However there were a lot of areas not impacted by those things we need to clean up."

After two minutes of scoreless action, Mackenzie Dyott (Easton, Md./Easton) opened the scoring for Marietta with a goal off a free position shot.  A minute and a half later Dyott made the score 2-0 Pioneers behind her second goal of the game.

After three minutes of scoreless action the Student Princes got on the board with an unassisted goal.  Marietta answered two minutes later, to take a 3-1 lead, when Megan McGriff (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek) found the back of the net off a feed from Megan Marshall (Naples, Fla./Estero), at the 20:51 minute mark in the half.  

Four minutes later, Heidelberg made the score 3-2.  Kyla Andreas (Shirley, N.Y./Longwood) put the Pioneers on top 4-2 off a free position shot.  The goal by Andreas was the first of her career.  Back to back goals from the Student Princes tied the game at 4 goals apiece, with just under 11 minutes to play in the first half.

Marietta regained a two goal advantage when Rachel Sivie (Washington, Pa./Trinity), and Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) scored back to back goals.  The goal by Adams was the first of her career.  Heidelberg scored the final two goals of the half, and the Pioneers entered the intermission deadlocked at 6-6.  

Marietta dominated the second half of the game, as they outscored the Student Princes 7-1.  The Pioneers opened the scoring in the second half at the 27 minute mark when Sophia Verona (Shinnston, W. Wa./Our Lady of Victory) scored off a feed from Dyott.  Less than a minute later Sivie scored her second goal of the game, to lead 8-6.  

Marietta continued to extend its lead when Adams and Andreas each found the back of the net.  The Pioneers continued to pull away when Marshall scored her first goal of the game, and Adams scored her third goal of the game off a free position shot, to give Marietta a 12-6 edge at the 18:19 minute mark.  

Two minutes later Heidelberg scored its lone goal of the half, to trail 12-7.  The Pioneers closed out the game with two goals over the final nine minutes of play.  The final goals were scored by Sivie, and McGriff.  The Marietta defense of Taylor Carr (Charleston, W.Va./St. Albans), Jordan Jeffries (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic), Marley Phillippe (Easton, Md./Easton), Emma Purington (Columbus, Ohio/Hamilton Township), and Lauren Redfern (Bellbrook, Ohio/Bellbrook) held the Student Princes to one second half goal.    

"Taylor played a tremendous game for us on the defensive end.  She played such great contact in the eight, and transitioned the ball perfect.  All things that didn't show up in the stats, but took a big part in our win today," added Coach Nadrah

Maddie Leers (Crystal Lake, Ill./Barrington) played all 60 minutes in goal, and earned her first win of the season.  Leers faced 30 total shots, 22 of which were on goal, and made 15 saves.  The 15 saves by Leers set a program record for individual saves in a game.  

Coach Nadrah said, "Once Maddie got settled, she played outstanding in the cage.  She had some great stops, and made great decisions on the clear."

The Pioneers were led by Adams, she had three goals, a team leading three draw controls, and picked up a groundball. Sivie pitched in with three goals in the game.  Andreas, Dyott, and McGriff, all tallied two goals in the game.  Sivie and Purington tied for a team high in caused turnovers with two.  

Marietta will return to the field Saturday (Feb. 27) when they travel to take on Ohio Northern University, 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.