MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team played well throughout but was defeated by conference-leader John Carroll University, 11-5 on Saturday (April 20) afternoon. With the win the Blue Streaks improve to 8-4 on the season, 7-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. With the loss the Pioneers are now 7-8 overall, 4-4 in the OAC.
The Pioneers and Blue Streaks play a scoreless first quarter as Pioneer goalkeeper
Ben Millard (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) handled all four of his save opportunities. The scoreless draught was finally broken two minutes into the second period as John Carroll's Josh Lombardo was finally able to get a shot by Millard. Lombardo scored again two minutes later to extend the lead to 2-0. The Pioneers finally got on the board as
Nate Neal (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) fought through the tough Blue Streak defense and fired a shot into the net to cut the lead in half. Morgan Morrell scored in the final three minutes and John Carroll led 3-0 going into intermission.
The Blue Streaks extended the lead further in the third period, getting goals from Colin Morrissey and Larry Voss to give them a 5-1 advantage.
Chase Franklin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) scored an unassisted goal at the 8:50 mark to slow the momentum, but JCU extended the lead to five with a pair of scores.
Tyler Reich (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin) scored neat the close of the period and Marietta trailed 7-3 going into the final period. Neal and Franklin added scores in the fourth period but the lead was too much to overcome and Blue Streaks claimed the 11-5 victory
Millard played the first half for the Pioneers and faced 15 shots on goal, making 12 saves. He also led the team with six groundballs. James Cippollone played the second half and faced 18 shots on goal and made eight saves.
Along with his two scores, Neal was 6-16 on the faceoff for the afternoon and picked up two groundballs. Franklin ended with two goals. Reich and
Sam Leininger (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake) each assisted on scores.
The Pioneers will return to the field Wednesday (April 24) when they return home to take on Otterbein University in their home regular season finale, with the game scheduled to begin at 7 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.
