MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team fell, 12-8 to Otterbein University on Wednesday (April 21) evening on Marietta Field.  With the win the Cardinals improve to 8-4 overall and with the loss the Pioneers are now 6-9 on the season.  

"Huge improvement from our first matchup. Our first game with them earlier this season was a very tough game for us, large deficit loss. Tonight we battled right alongside them and did a great job sticking to our game plan. We're not happy about the loss, but we are proud of the accelerated improvement we've made this season," said Head Coach Malory Nadrah.  "The much smaller delta tonight is a better representation of our team's talent and work ethic. There's a lot of positives and areas of improvement to take away from tonight, all things to be proud of & to continue working on to grow as a competitive program in the OAC."

After the first 10 minutes of the game were scoreless, Otterbein tacked on five straight goals, and held a 5-0 lead at the 11:16 minute mark.  Just over a minute later, Marietta scored when Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) found the back of the net.  After a Cardinals goal made the score 6-1, the Pioneers scored the final goal of the half when Megan McGriff (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek) scored off an assist from Adams, to make the score 6-2.  Marietta entered the intermission behind, 6-2.  

Adams scored the opening goal of the second half, and made the score 6-3.  Otterbein answered with three straight goals and led, 9-3 with 18 minutes to play in the game.  The Pioneers answered with back to back goals from Shannon Doyle (Gibsonia, Pa/Mars Area), and Marietta trimmed the lead to 9-5.  After a Cardinals goal, Adam scored her third goal of the game, to make the score 10-6 with just under 14 minutes to play in the game.  Otterbein scored a pair of goals, and held a 12-6 edge.  The Pioneers scored the final two goals when Doyle and Mackenzie Dyott (Easton, Md./Easton) scored, with an assist from Megan Marshall (Naples, Fla./Estero).  

Maddie Leers (Crystal Lake, Ill./Barrington) played all 60 minutes in goal, she faced 26 shots, 19 of which were on goal, and made seven saves.  

Marietta was led by Doyle she scored three goals, picked up eight groundballs, won six draw controls, and caused five turnovers.  Adams added to the offense with three goals and an assist in the game.  Defensively Casey Roeder (Milford, Ohio/Milford), Kayla Kearns (Preston, Md./Easton), Kyla Andreas (Shirley, N.Y./Longwood), Brogan Hurd (Halethrope, Md./Catonsville), and Jordan Jeffries (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic) all caused a turnover in the game.  

"Casey had a great night in the center for us. She did her job and followed our plan well. She and Shannon connected on some great draw controls," concluded Coach Nadrah.  "Very proud of defense tonight. Otterbein has some of the best drivers in the OAC and our defense made some excellent 1v1 stops. Kyla and Marley made some huge transition plays for us after big caused turnovers."

The Pioneers will return to the field Saturday (April 24) when they travel to Heidelberg to play in the regular season finale.  

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.