MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team was defeated by Washington and Jefferson College, 16-10, on Wednesday (March 16) evening on Marietta Field.  The win improves the Presidents to 1-3, and with the loss the Pioneers are now 5-1.  

"This stings," said Head Coach Malory Nadrah. "We knew this would be a tough game but we had a tight game plan and high expectations for our offense. Hard to swallow our first loss, but also humbled and reset for our last non-conference game. We struggled with transition and executing offensive connections."

The first three minutes of the game were scoreless, but Washington and Jefferson broke the ice and took a 1-0 lead on a Sarah Labovitz goal.  The Presidents scored twice more before Natalie Cocco (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) scored her fifth goal of the season, cutting the defect to two with five minutes remaining in the first period.  W&J's Amanda Effland scored two quick goals to close out the quarter and make the score 5-1.

The Pioneers scored three minutes into period two when Anna Callow (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) scored a free position goal.  The Presidents answered back four minutes later with Effland scoring again off a Lebovitz assist.  W&J tacked on one more score to take a 7-2 lead into halftime.

After the Presidents scored four minutes into the third period, the Pioneers went on a bit of a run.  Mackenzie Dyott (Easton, Md./Easton), Cocco, and Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) closed the gap to three with two minutes remaining in the period.  Leeza Jongekryg (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa) found the net for the 11th time of the season in the final seconds of the quarter to keep the lead at three and kept hope alive.

The Presidents closed the game out, well scoring seven times in the fourth quarter.  Megan McGriff (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek), Rachel Sivie (Washington, Pa./Trinity), Callow, and Adams all punched in late scores but could not bridge the gap.  The Presidents scored one last goal with seconds left on the clock, and won 16-10.  

Abby May (Randolph, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) got the start in net for the Pioneers and played in 27 minutes.  She faced 14 shots, 12 of which were on goal, and made one save.   Maddie Leers (Crystal Lake, Ill./Barrington) played the other 34 minutes in net, facing 12 shots, 8 of which were on goal, and also made one save.  

Marietta was led by Adams and Cocco as each had a pair of goals in the game.  Kearns scored a goal in the game.  Casey Roeder (Milford, Ohio/Milford) led the Pioneers in draw controls with three.  Kyla Andreas (Shirley, N.Y./Longwood) caused a game high three turnovers, and picked up four groundballs.  Marley Phillippe (Easton, Md./Easton) added to the defensive effort for four groundballs and one caused turnovers.  

"Very proud of our defense," added Coach Nadrah. "They committed to a new set tonight and did it very well. We caused a ton of turnovers. Excited to see how we can continue working on a pressure defense for conference."

Marietta will return to the field Saturday (March 19) when they travel to Saint Vincent College, with the game scheduled to begin at 12 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.