MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team will be in action Saturday (April 29) when they welcome in Otterbein University, in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament. This is the second playoff appearance and the first ever home playoff game in the brief five-year history of the program.
"I am so proud of our team for earning our second ever playoff berth and earning home field advantage," said Head Coach
Malory Nadrah. "We set clear goals back in the fall and I've seen this group work so hard to achieve them. We had so much fun this season working hard and playing lacrosse. The coaching staff has worked hard to prep and plan for a strong Otterbein team and our players have bought in and are ready to fight for a win on the blue turf."
The Pioneers finished the regular season with a record of 10-6 overall, setting a program record for wins in a season. Marietta earned the fourth seed in the tournament by finishing the season on a three game winning streak, including a 14-13 overtime victory over the Cardinals.
The Pioneer offense has been led by junior
Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson). Adams leads the team in goals with 56, breaking her own record for most single season goals in program history. Adding on her 10 assists this year, Adams also leads the team in points with 66. Freshman
Mallory Wiles (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) made a mark in her first year adding 42 goals, the most by a first year person ever in the program. Team veterans
Megan McGriff (Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek),
Mackenzie Dyott (Easton, Md./Easton),
Lindy Brobeck (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington), and
Kyla Andreas (Shirley, N.Y./Longwood) and newcomers
Maggie Downard (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) and
Kayla Godwin (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central) have all added double-digit goals to the attack this season. Freshman
Alayna Francis (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) broke the program record for draw controls with 69 on the season.
Defensively, the Pioneers are anchored by sophomore goalie
Abby May (Randolph, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary). May was one of the best goalies in the OAC as she currently leads the conference in saves with 190, another program record. May earned OAC defensive player of the week honors once this season. Helping to bolster the team defense, Francis leads with 17 caused turnovers.
Kayla Kearns (Preston, Md./Easton),
Megan Marshall (Naples, Fla./Estero),
Jordan Jeffries (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic),
Marley Phillippe (Easton, Md./Easton),
Casey Roeder (Milford, Ohio/Milford), and Andreas have also provided stingy defense for the Pioneers this season.
If Marietta defeats Otterbein on Saturday, they would then travel to the University of Mount Union to battle the Purple Raiders in the semifinal on Wednesday (May 3).
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.
