GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team opened the 2022 campaign with an exciting 12-11 victory over Grove City College on Wednesday (Feb. 23) evening. The Pioneers are now 1-0 on the season and the Wolverines are 0-1 overall.
"Great efforts from our team hanging on during Grove City's great intensity and talented play," said Head Coach Malory Nadrah. "Leeza Jongekryg (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa) and Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) played huge parts in getting crucial draw controls. We've got some work to do all over the field but having the grit to fight until the end was a great job from our team."
The ladies were excited to hit the field and it showed as the Pioneers exploded for five goals in the first period. Megan McGriff (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek) scored the first goal of the season two and a half minutes in the game. Jongekryg scored her very first goal in a Pioneer uniform at the nine-minute mark. Adams then scored a trio of times before the horn sounded and it looked like Marietta was going to run away with the contest.
The second quarter started with a slower pace, but Mackenzie Dyott (Easton, Md./Easton) tacked in another goal five minutes in. Grove City was not able to score until well over half of the period, but once they got one to go through, they were hard to contain after that. The Wolverines scored three times before intermission to cut the lead in half.
After Kayla Kearns (Preston, Md./Easton) scored just one minute into the third period, Grove City went on another run. They blistered the net for another three goals over much of the period. McGriff scored with less than two minutes, but the goal was answered by Grove City and Marietta found themselves clinging to a one-goal lead going into the fourth quarter. The two teams traded goals until Kyla Andreas (Shirley, N.Y./Longwood) had an important draw control with less than a minute. The Pioneers decided to call time with 32 seconds left. The ensuing play was successful as Jongekryg scored the game winner.
"Leeza had an outstanding first ever collegiate lacrosse game. She played a huge role in winning draws and came up huge in the final 8 minutes of the game," said Coach Nadrah. "She has a bright career ahead of her."
Maddie Leers (Crystal Lake, Ill./Barrington) played all 60 minutes in goal and earned her first win of the season. Leers faced 24 total shots, 17 of which were on goal, and made 6 saves.
The Pioneers were led by Adams and Jongekryg, who had three goals apiece. Adams also picked up five groundballs and caused three turnovers.
Marietta will return to the field Saturday (Feb. 26) when they open their home schedule to take on Westminster College, 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.
