MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team fell 9-8 in overtime to Muskingum on Wednesday (April 27) evening in the regular season finale, at Don Drumm Stadium.
Muskingum's Spencer Zecchini had a big game for the Muskies scoring four times. His first goal came minutes into the contest.
Quinn Rundgren (Angier, N.C./Fuquay Varina) answered quickly just one minute later. The scoreboard stayed quiet over the next few minutes as the two teams played at a very physical level. The silence was broken at the 3:53 mark when
Connor Ficke (Saint Leonard, Md./Calvert) scored off of a
Jackson McGill (New Market, Md./Oakdale) feed. The Muskies answered quick with a goal of the own from Drew Schneider. In the closing minute, though,
Eren Evensen (Medina, Ohio/Medina) converted a Rundgren pass into a goal and Pioneers led 3-2 after one period.
Marietta was held scoreless in the second period despite firing off four shots on goal. Muskingum was able to tie it upon in the first minute with a goal by Michael Hunnycutt. Grant Webster scored a minute later and Zecchini scored at the 9:23 mark to give the Muskies a two-goal lead going into halftime.
The Pioneers gained momentum back in the third period. Ficke scored unassisted in the first minute. After Luke Schwartz answered in the next minute, Marietta score three consecutive goals, two from Rundgren and one from Evensen, to take back the lead, 7-6, going into the fourth period.
After a scoreless four minutes, Zecchini found the back of the net to tie it back up at seven. Zach Radclliffe was able to get a shot by the Muskies goalkeeper to give the Pioneers the lead once again with less than seven minutes to go. Muskingum answered a minute later as Brycen Craft scored to knot it up again, and that is how it would stay for the end of regulation time.
In the first overtime period of the season, Marietta tried to be the aggressor firing off four shots but none could find the net. Muskingum made the save on the final shot and sent the ball in the other direction. The game winning goal was scored by Zecchini with 1:02 left in overtime and the Muskies claimed the victory.
Dane Barker (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) played all 63 minutes in goal for the Pioneers. He faced 37 shots, 18 of which were on goal, and made nine saves.
Rundgren led the way with the three goals and he also had an assist and picked up six groundballs. Evensen scored the two goals and picked up four groundballs. Ficke scored twice and picked up three groundballs. Defensively,
Cullen Zaferopolos (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Berea-Midpark) picked up four groundballs and caused two turnovers
Nathan Grover (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) won nine face-offs and picked up a team high seven groundballs.
The Pioneers concluded their season with an overall record of 4-12, and compiled a 2-7 record in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
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.
