MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team came back from being down five goals, but gave up two late scores to fell to John Carroll University, 15-13 on Friday (April 14) afternoon.  With the win the Blue Streaks improve to 6-6 overall and are 4-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and with the loss the Pioneers are now 7-6 overall and 1-3 in OAC action.  

"The score reflects so much growth for our program," said Head Coach Malory Nadrah.  "This is a team we have struggled to compete with since we started. Tonight, we played with them for 60 minutes. Phenomenal defense, great finishes on attack, and good fight on the draw."
   
Marietta started quickly with a goal at the 11:23 mark by Mallory Wiles (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne), but the Blue Steaks went on a three goal scoring streak to close out the first period.  Marietta got back on the board in the early seconds of the next period as Casey Roeder (Milford, Ohio/Milford) scored from a great pass from Megan McGriff (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek).  John Carroll would answer with a pair of goals from Olivia Gerlach.  The Blue Streaks would then score twice more to extend the lead to 7-2.  
 
In desperate need of a score, Alayna Francis (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) pulled off a fast break of her own as she collected the draw control and tossed in the goal, providing a spark for the Pioneers.  Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) was finally able to break free for a score a few minutes later and Wiles tacked on a score to cut the John Carroll lead to two.  JCU was able to sneak one last shot in before the half ended and took an 8-5 lead into intermission.
 
Even though Marietta collected a goal from Natalie Cocco (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) and got another goal each from Wiles and Adams, the Blue Streaks were equally effective.  They tacked on a trio of goals to pusher the lead out to 13-8.  Roeder scored off of a great over the net pass from Kayla Godwin (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central) to cut the lead to four at the end of the period.
 
The Pioneers turned up the tempo and got themselves back into the game as Lindy Broback scored in the first minute of the period, then Wiles and Adams tacked on yet another goal apiece, and then finally Brobeck would score the game tying score with 9:53 remaining in the match.  Marietta would have some costly turnovers and the Blues Streaks took advantage with two late goals to regain the lead.  Marietta's comeback fell a bit short as they could not find the net again and John Carroll escaped with a 15-13 victory.
 
Abby May (Randolph, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) got the start and played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pioneers, she faced 47 total shots, 29 of which were on goal, and made 14 saves.  
 
Wiles led the Pioneers with four goals and Adams finished the evening with three scores.  Francis and Megan Marshall (Naples, Fla./Estero) led the way with four draw controls apiece.  Maggie Downard (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) led with five groundballs.
 
"Disappointed to not get the win, but tonight's performance provides momentum heading into next week's conference play," concluded Coach Nadrah.   
 
The Pioneers will return to the field Wednesday (April 19) when they travel to Otterbein University, with the game scheduled to begin at 7 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.