GREENVILLE, Pa. — The Marietta College women's lacrosse team posted an explosive 25-16 win over Thiel College Wednesday (March 22) evening. The 25 goals is the best output of the program ever, besting the 21 goals scored against Muskingum back on March, 31, 2021. The Pioneers improve to 5-3 on the season, while Thiel falls to 4-3 overall.
"Thrilling, team victory. We won because of each of our athletes and the roles they played," Marietta head coach
Malory Nadrah said. "Whether they were on or off the field, in a uniform or not, this win was the precipitate of each of our players. We needed attack to step up tonight and they did just that. I'm so proud of many of our players making great offensive plays and finishing."
Marietta's
Megan McGriff (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek) wasted little time getting the Pioneers on the board scoring 45 seconds into the game. The Tomcats answered quickly, though, scoring the next four goals over a five minute span, including a trio of tallies from Destiny Johnson.
Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) scored with a McGriff assist at the 9:06 mark and
Maggie Downard (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) followed with a score less than a minute later to cut the lead to one. After the two teams traded goals, the Pioneers closed out the high-powered first quarter with goals from
Mallory Wiles (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) and Adams and took a 7-6 lead into the second quarter.
The Pioneers dominated the second period as they outscored the Tomcats 8-3 during the span. Adams, Downard, McGriff, and Wiles all added to the goal totals, while
Kyla Andreas (Shirley, N.Y./Longwood) and
Sophia Verona (Shinnston, W. Wa./Our Lady of Victory) added scores. Thiel would temporarily slow the momentum with two goals in the final two minutes, but still trailed 15-9 heading into intermission.
Thiel tried to fight back in the third and made up some ground as they outscored the Pioneers by two goals. Adams and Andreas added to their totals with Natalie Cooco found the for her first score of the contest. Marietta withstood the third quarter Thiel rally and took a 19-15 lead into the final stanza.
The Pioneer defensive squad closed the match on a great note, only allowing one score in the final period. The Pioneers offense also closed out great putting in six more goals, giving them a program record and solidifying the victory.
"Huge shout out to
Casey Roeder (Milford, Ohio/Milford) for stepping into a spur of the moment defensive role for us to combat their attack," added Coach Nadrah. "That was instrumental in us containing their goal scorers and getting momentum."
Abby May (Randolph, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) started in the net and got the win for Marietta. She faced 41 shots, 31 of which were on goal, and made 15 saves.
Adams led the Pioneers with eight scores and also ended with four draw controls. Downard scored four times and assisted on three others, picking up three groundballs in the process. Wiles, Verona, and Andreas scored three goals apiece, with Andreas winning seven draw controls. McGriff score twice and led the Pioneers with seven assists.
Alayna Francis (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) led with 11 draw controls and caused two turnovers.
Marietta is back in action on Saturday (March 25) as they return home to play a 4 p.m. match against Franciscan 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.
