LATROBE, Pa. — The Marietta College women's lacrosse team posted a close 15-12 win over Saint Vincent College Saturday (March 19) afternoon. The Pioneers improve to 6-1 on the season, while Saint Vincent falls to 4-3 overall.

"SVC came out with a ton of energy and played great lacrosse today," Marietta head coach Malory Nadrah said. "We could've played better all over the field but at the end of the day we stayed the course and made plays to win a tight game." 
 
The Pioneers got a huge match out of Megan McGriff (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek) and Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson).  Adams got the festivities going in the first period as she found the back of the net at the 12:15 minute mark and McGriff scored 30 seconds later.  The Pioneers would go up 3-0 when McGriff scored off an Adams assist with eight minutes remaining.  The Bearcats would stop the momentum when Kaylee Bandow would score just a minute later.  Adams would get it back to a three-goal differential, scoring at the four-minute mark.  After a late Bearcat goal, the Pioneers would take a 4-2 lead going into the second period.

McGriff would put a score in three minutes into the period and Leeza Jongekryg (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa) would provide another score in the second quarter.  Saint Vincent would make a match of it,  scoring three times in the period.  Rachel Thatcher, Caroline Mullinaeux, and Bandow would all punch in goals to make the score 6-5 with Marietta in the lead going into intermission.
 
After McGriff would score to begin the third period, the Bearcats would tie it up on two consecutive goals by Joey Smith.  The two teams would trade goals for the reminder of the period but Marietta would take the slim lead as Anna Callow (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) would score with 11 seconds left.  Marietta would take a 10-9 lead in the final quarter.
 
McGriff and Adams gave Marietta a bit of breathing room with goals six minute into the final quarter.  The Bearcats would find the net at the 8:22 mark when Hannah Marie-Starner scored.  The Pioneers padded the lead as Rachel Sivie (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and Adams scored.  The Bearcats would get a couple of late goals but the Pioneers would go on to the 15-12 victory.

Maddie Leers (Crystal Lake, Ill./Barrington) got the start for the Pioneers and got the win.  She faced 22 shots, 15 which were on goal, and made 5 saves.  Abby May finished the third and began the fourth periods.  She faced 4 shots, all on goal, and made two saves.
 
McGriff scored six times to lead Marietta.  "McGriff had a great day", said Coach Nadrah. "She matched up well with their defense today and executed composure in front of the cage."
Adams was close behind with five scores and an assist.  Shelby Millheim (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) caused three turnovers as well as picked three groundballs. Kyla Andreas (Shirley, N.Y./Longwood) led with seven draw controls and Jongekyrg had six draw controls to go with her two goals

Marietta begins conference action next Saturday (March 26) with an 11 a.m. match at John Carroll University.

Fans can follow all 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.