DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team took to the road during spring break on a very rain-drenched field. After tying it in regulation, Marietta fell to Delaware Valley University, 8-7 on Tuesday (March 5) afternoon in double overtime. With the loss the Pioneers fall to 3-2 overall and with the win the Aggies improve to 2-2.
"Credit to Del Val for coming out hungry and battling the elements," said Marietta head coach
Malory Nadrah. "I'm very proud of our defense for holding them to 8 goals. Another tough day on attack for us. We struggled to finish against their zone. Unfortunate way to lose but this test is good for the tough home slate of non-conference games we have coming up."
Despite the field conditions, Delaware Valley got on the board rather quickly after winning the opening draw control. The Aggies' Ashley Birmingham swept to her right and fired a shot from about ten yards out for the first goal of the contest. Both teams battled for the next few minutes and traded turnovers. After
Maggie Downard (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) intercepted a pass on the back half of the field, the Pioneers quickly drove up the field.
Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) found an open
Mallory Wiles (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) and hit her with a well-placed pass. Wiles caught it and fired a shot into the net to tie the score at one. As the defensive battle continued, Delaware Valley got a free position goal from Susan Rawding in the final two minutes and Marietta trailed 2-1 going into the second period.
The Aggies scored first three minutes into the second period as Samantha Charles scored past Pioneer goalkeeper
Tessa Labrasciano (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior), who got her first start in her Pioneer career. Marietta got back on the board at the 9:28 mark as
Natalie Cocco (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) swung around and found Downard in the middle. Downard scooped up the pass and flipped the ball into the net to cut the lead to 3-2. After Delaware Valley got another score from Birmingham, Marietta was able to counter as
Casey Roeder (Milford, Ohio/Milford) scored to cut the lead back to two. The Aggies found the net one more time as Kyra McKeegan scored and took an 5-3 lead into intermission.
The third quarter saw Marietta make a comeback to take the lead only to fall behind at the end. Downard scored at the 9:03 mark from an assist from Wiles and Adams scored on a free position shot on the next possession to tie the game at five. Marietta took the lead with less than six minutes in the period as Wiles scored an unassisted goal. The lead was short-lived as McKeegan scored a pair of goal to close out the period. Marietta trailed 7-6 going into period four.
Both teams traded shots throughout the fourth period, but scoring was limited. The Aggies put six shots on goal during the period, but Labrascino stopped them all. At the 12-minute mark, Adams was fouled and awarded a free position shot, which she deposited into the net to tie the score at seven. Marietta attempted two other shots on goal in the fourth and Delaware Valley goalie Emily Drake saved them both. As time ticked away in the fourth, both teams remained at seven goals apiece and overtime was needed.
After a scoreless first overtime period, both teams battled into a second three-minutes. With 1:02 remaining, Rawding found the net and the Pioneers would fall to the Aggies, 8-7.
Labrasciano played every minute in the net, facing 28 shots, 20 of which were on goal. She had 12 saves in the match.
Wiles, Downard, and Adams all scored two goals and had one assist in the game. Roeder scored a goal and led the team with two caused turnovers.
Alayna Francis (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) led the team with four draw controls and Cocco led the Pioneers with six groundballs.
The Pioneers will play their first home contest of the season next Wednesday (March 13) when they host the Westminster College, with a start time of 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.
