MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team was missing some key players as they entered into action this evening, but came away with a great 14-11 victory over Washington and Jefferson College, on Wednesday (Mar. 1) afternoon. With the win, the Pioneers improve to 1-1 overall and with the loss the Presidents fall to 1-2 overall. This was the first collegiate win for Marietta Head Coach
Ben Suchomma.
"I'm really proud of the guys and the way they responded after getting behind in the first period," said Suchomma. "It's great to get our first win but we still have a lot of work to do."
Marietta, who was missing
Connor Ficke (Saint Leonard, Md./Calvert) and
Nathan Grover (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) to injury, got on the board with a score from
Kyle Fleshman (Davidsonville, Md./South River) a little over four minutes into the game. Washington and Jefferson dominated the next five minutes of game play as they sent four shots past Pioneer goalie
Ben Millard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston). Aiden Herman and Paul Shook both scored twice and the Presidents led 4-1 with four minutes left in the period.
Chase Mullen (Cabot, Pa./Knoch) stopped the momentum with a goal and assisted
Nate Neal (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) on another to cut the lead to one going into the second period.
Both teams traded goals over the better part of the second stanza, but Mullen took a great
Colton Abate (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) pass and scored his second goal of the period to tie the game at six. Both teams went scoreless for the rest of the period and took a 6-6 tie into intermission.
It took a few minutes but the Pioneers finally got good rhythm into the third period.
Chase Franklin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) scored at the 6:40 mark, giving Marietta the lead. W&J answered back a minute later with a Ronin Keane score. Abate scored twice more and Fleshman found the net once again and the Pioneers were feeling pretty good as they entered the fourth quarter with a 10-8 lead.
The Pioneers finished the game well as the kept the offensive pressure going and extending the lead. Abate scored twice more, Franklin and Neal both scored again, and the Pioneers defense held up. The Presidents scored a couple more late goals, but could not make up the difference. Marietta collected their first victory of the campaign with a 14-11 win.
Ben Millard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) got the start for the Pioneers in the net. He faced 28 shots, 19 of which were on goal and had eight saves.
Abate led the team with four goals and assisted on one other. Mullen and Franklin score three goals apiece, Mullen assisting on three others. Neal and Fleshman scored two goals apiece. Defensively,
Barrett Lindell (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mariemont) led with four caused turnovers. Neal, replacing Grover in the face off position for the evening, won 19 of 28 faceoffs, including nine in a row to start the second half. He also led with 13 groundballs.
Marietta will return to the field Sunday (Mar. 12) when they travel to take on Saint Vincent 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.
