MARIETTA, Ohio. – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team returned home and handed Bethany College a lopsided 14-4 defeat on Saturday (March 1) afternoon. The Pioneers are now 2-2 on the season and the Bison are 0-2 overall.  
 
Before the matchup began, the Pioneers celebrated their three seniors: Amira El-Masri (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty), Dom Phillips (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls), and Abby May (Randolph, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) for all the great moments they experienced in their Marietta careers.

"I could not be more proud of our group today," said Head Coach Lindsay Reho.  "It was so great to celebrate our three seniors and come out with a win!  Abby Amira, and Dom are such an incredible group and I cannot wait to see them continue to finish out this season strong!" 

The Bison were the first to hit the scoreboard on this blustery Saturday afternoon.  Abbie Carpenter worked her way into the eight-meter box and put a shot past Pioneer goalkeeper May to give Bethany and early lead.  The Pioneers answered with three goals in three straight possessions to storm into the lead.  Mallory Wiles (Worthington, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) started the scoring, followed by a free-position goal from Molly Pickens, and then Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) scored at the 8:33 mark to give Marietta a 3-1 lead.  Wiles and Renee Mulvaney (Midland, Mich./Midland) added two goals apiece to close out period and Marietta led 7-1 after one period of play.

The second quarter saw Wiles tack on a quick score, but both teams went silent over the next several minutes.  May did her part by saving both of the shots on goal sent her way.  Replacement Bison goalie Leah Crihfield did well to keep the Pioneer lead from expanding to double digits as she faced eight shots on goal and made six saves.  Molly Dickens (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) was able to score at the 6:06 mark, but both teams went scoreless for the remainder of the period and the Pioneers took a 9-1 lead into the intermission.

The third quarter began with a scores by Maggie Downard (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) and Wiles to place the game under the continuous clock rule.   Five minutes later, Bethany ended their long scoring drought with a pair of goals.  Tatum Severe scored and then Carpenter tacked on another score a minute later to turn off the running clock.  Neither team could add to their totals and Marietta closed the quarter with a 11-3 lead going into the final period.

Marietta got a score from Fiona Betzhold early in the fourth and Wiles added another score a minute later put it back in a running clock situation.  Bethany put up one final score, but Marietta countered with another goal from Adams and the Pioneers cruised to a 14-4 victory.

Abby May (Randolph, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) played the first three quarters and earned her second win of the season. May faced six shots on goal and made three saves. Tessa Labrasciano (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior) played the final period and faced two shots on goal and made one save.
 
The Pioneers were led by Wiles with six goals and two assists.  Adams, Mulvaney, and Dickens all added two goals apiece.  Alayna Francis (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) led with eight draw controls.  Sophi Merickel (Phoenix, Ariz./Cactus Shadows) added four draw controls and led with seven groundballs and three caused turnovers.
 
Marietta will return to the field Wednesday (March 5) when they travel to Wittenberg University, 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.