MARIETTA, Ohio – Th Marietta College women's lacrosse team fell to John Carroll University, 18-4 on Wednesday (March 17) evening on Marietta Field. With the win the Blue Streaks improve to 7-0 overall and are 7-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and with the loss the Pioneers are now 2-5- overall and 2-5 in OAC action.
"I am so proud of the team. First, we set some team goals for tonight based on things we need to work on as young, growing program. We wanted to fix a few things that we can control when we play. The team did excellent attaining those goals and making crucial adjustments that are going to come into play for the rest of the season and the future of our program," said Head Coach
Malory Nadrah. "Second, the team stuck with an unusual defensive game plan and executed it extremely well. Trusting and executing our game plan is another big accomplishment for our young team. Despite the score, the team performed well on and off the box score and put on a great performance against a great top conference team."
John Carroll opened the scoring in the first half with six straight goals, to lead 6-0, 12 minutes into the game. Marietta ended the Blue Streaks run with a free position goal from
Mackenzie Dyott (Easton, Md./Easton). The goal from Dyott was her eighth of the season. After nearly eight minutes of scoreless action, John Carroll scored three late first half goals, and led 9-1 at the intermission.
The Pioneers opened the second half strong, and outscored the Blue Streaks 3-1 through the first 10 minutes of play. The Marietta goals were scored by
Natalie Cocco (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township), who scored two of the goals, and
Kayla Kearns (Preston, Md./Easton). The quick run made the score 10-4, and forced a John Carroll timeout. Out of the timeout, the Blue Streaks scored the final eight goals of the game and won, 18-4.
Maddie Leers (Crystal Lake, Ill./Barrington) played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pioneers, she faced 50 total shots, 34 of which were on goal, and made 16 saves. The 16 saves sets a program record for saves in a game.
"Maddie played tremendous tonight. She played great in the cage and was also key in our defensive game plans by coming out of the crease and helping stop crease rolls and open cuts," concluded Coach Nadrah.
Marietta was led by a pair of goals from Cocco, with Dyott, and Kearns scoring the other goals. Kearns played solid defense as she forced a game high three turnovers, and picked up a groundball.
Lindsay Horton (Birmingham, Ala./John Carroll Catholic) added to the defensive effort with a pair of caused turnovers in the game.
The Pioneers will return to the field Saturday (March 20) when they host Heidelberg 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.
