MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team returned to Don Drumm Stadium on Wednesday (April 5) evening and was defeated by Capital University, 18-6.  With the win the Comets improve to 9-2 overall, 4-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, and with the loss the Pioneers are now 5-5 on the season, 3-1 in the OAC.  

Capital jumped out to a big first quarter lead with the help of Drew Bolen, Brandon Pelton, Jacob Pool, and Mason Spaulding.  Bolen scored 12 seconds into the game and Pelton and Spaulding followed with goals to give them a 3-0 lead at the 10:02 mark. Capital would score three more to put the lead at 6-0 going into the second period.  After an hour long lightning delay, play resumed with Capital tacking five more goals over the next 11 minutes of play.  Nate Neal (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) was finally able to put the Pioneers on the board with a score and Chase Franklin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) scored with less than a minute to put the score at 12-2 with the Pioneers trailing going into the half.
 
Kyle Fleshman (Davidsonville, Md./South River) tacked on a goal in the third period and Neal scored twice in the fourth, but Marietta could not make up the difference.  Franklin added one last goal in the final seconds but Capital would go on to win, 18-6.
 
Ben Millard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pioneers, he faced 45 shots, 30 of which were on goal, and made 12 saves.  

Defensively for the Pioneers, Carson Meckler (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) led the way with two caused turnovers and picked up five groundballs.  Nathan Grover (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) won 10 faceoffs and picked up seven groundballs.

Marietta will return to the field Saturday (April 8) when they battle Ohio Northern University, 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.