WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team defeated Otterbein University in overtime on Wednesday (April 19) evening. With the win the Pioneers improve to 8-6 overall, 2-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference and with the loss the Cardinals are now 6-6 on the season, 2-3 in OAC action. The Pioneers also held on to fourth place in the standings as they continue to fight for a spot in the OAC tournament.
"What a battle. Our players fought hard and showed grit," said Head Coach
Malory Nadrah. "I am so proud of this team. What a win for not only our current team but our alums who helped us get to this point."
Both teams got off to an explosive first quarter. Emily Wilms got Otterbein on the board in the first minute but the Pioneers answered quickly when
Mackenzie Dyott (Easton, Md./Easton) converted a
Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) pass into a score just one minute later. Wilms answered a minute later but was followed by another Marietta score, this time by Adams, to tie game at two. The two teams traded shots throughout remainder of the period and
Lindy Brobeck's (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington) score in the final second once again tied up the contest, 5-5, going into the second period.
In the second period, Wilms found the back of the net twice more for the Cardinals to yet again give them the lead. Jenna Pizzot's goal at the 5:51 mark gave Otterbein a two-goal advantage, but Dyott cut the lead back to one as she was able to score with an extra-man advantage and Marietta trailed by the score of 8-7 going into the intermission.
The third quarter started well for the Pioneers as Adams was able to tie it up at eight in the first few moments of the third period. Otterbein answered with a three-goal rally over the next seven minutes to extend the lead to 11-8, their biggest lead of the contest. Marietta fought back hard as
Kayla Godwin (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central) and
Mallory Wiles (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) both scored to put the lead within reach, 11-10, going into the final period.
Marietta came out aggressively into the final period, controlling the action and scoring three times to take a 13-11 lead with just four minutes remaining in regulation. This time, with the game on the line, it was Otterbein putting together the comeback as they were able to sneak two shots past Marietta goalkeeper
Abby May (Randolph, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary). Marietta attempted two more shots on goal in the final three minutes, but could not score and an overtime period was needed to settle the score. The Pioneers were able to complete the victory when Wiles scored at the 1:53 mark, completing the important conference victory 14-13.
May play the whole way in the net for the Pioneers. She faced 32 shots, 21 of which were on goal, and made eight saves.
Marietta was led by Wiles with five goals and Dyott with three scores. Adams tacked on two goals and added three assists.
Kyla Andreas (Shirley, N.Y./Longwood) scored once and led the team with six draw controls.
The Pioneers will return home Saturday (April 22) to battle Baldwin Wallace University. The scheduled start time is 1 p.m. at Marietta Field.
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.
