MARIETTA, Ohio – After a rough first quarter, the Marietta College men's lacrosse team continued to chip away at a large deficit and earned a solid victory after shutting out Franciscan University in the second half, claiming a 14-9 win on Saturday (Mar. 2) afternoon. With the win the Pioneers improve to 1-2 overall and with the loss the Barons fall to 2-2 overall.
"I'm proud of the way the guys responded today," said Marietta head coach
Ben Suchomma. "It all started with the energy from the bench and then carried out to the field. Great team win."
Marietta opened the scoring less than a minute into the game as
Nate Neal (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) scored an unassisted goal, giving Marietta a quick 1-0 lead. The rest of the period did not go well for the Pioneers as Franciscan would fire off six unanswered goals. The run by the Barons was bookended by a pair of scores from Joseph James. The Pioneers was able to slow the pace of the quarter for the final five minutes and trailed 6-1 into the second quarter.
James scored again three minutes into the second period for the Barons, but the Pioneers did not give up and began to find some success on the offensive side of the field. Over the next six minutes, Marietta chipped away at the deficit as they fired in four scores while, at the same time, limiting Franciscan to only one shot during the span.
Tyler Reich (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin) scored his first goal of the season at the 10:51 mark and
Chase Franklin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) did the same just two minutes later.
Sam Leininger (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake) then scored unassisted and Neal kept the run going with a score with 5:55 remaining. The Barons slowed the momentum a bit as James scored a pair of goals to close out the half. The Pioneers were able to keep the deficit at a manageable distance, while gaining some confidence along the way, and trailed 9-5 at the intermission.
In the pivotal third period, Marietta was able to keep the pressure on. They scored a pair of goals while keeping the opposition scoreless throughout the period.
Josh Walters (Cleves, Ohio/Taylor) scored at the 12:53 mark for his first score of the season. Franklin added another goal with four minutes remaining and Marietta trailed by two to close out the third period.
The Pioneers played most of the fourth period on the offensive as the Barons were only able to register a single shot. Walters scored a pair of goals to tie the contest at nine with 11:46 remaining. Marietta gained their first lead two minutes later as
Logan Podgorski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bethel Park) scored, from an assist from Neal, giving Marietta a 10-9 lead. Franciscan could not fight back but the Pioneers were not finished. Reich and Neal both scored again and Podgorski fired up another pair of scores to complete the 14-9 victory over the Barons.
Ben Millard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) played the first 30 minutes in goal. He faced 20 shots, 16 of which were on goal, and made 7 saves.
James Cipollone (Forest Hill, Md./Calvert Hall) came in play the second half and earned the decision. He faced only four shots, all of which were on goal, and made four save.
Neal, Walters, and Podgorski all led the Pioneers with three goals and one assist apiece on the afternoon. Franklin and Reich followed with two goals apiece. Neal was an incredible 19-22 in the faceoff and picked up a team high 14 groundballs.
Barrett Lindell (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mariemont) paced the Pioneers defense with three caused turnovers. That defense also limited the Barons to only four shots in the second half.
Marietta will return to the field Saturday (Mar. 9) afternoon when they hit the road to battle Virginia Wesleyan University. The game scheduled to begin at 5 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 X and Instagram.
