MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's lacrosse team trailed decisively at the end of the first half, but came back with a fury, only to fall a bit short to Ohio Northern University, 15-12 on Saturday (March 29) afternoon. Marietta falls to 4-8 overall and 0-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Ohio Northern is now 7-4 overall and 1-1 in the OAC.
 
"No discounting our fight today," said Marietta head coach Lindsay Reho. "If we can clean up the first quarter, it's a different game. Alayna (Francis) had an incredible game today and was the spark to help us get out of that first half hole. We are continuing to get better each game and look forward to show up for another chance to prove that on Wednesday."
 
Ohio Northern dominated the first quarter with six scores, winning also the draw control battle 6-1.  After the Polar Bears added another three scores to their total to begin the second period, the Pioneers showed some spark late as Maggie Downard (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) scored off a Molly Dickens (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) assist at the 3:03 mark and Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) scored unassisted one minute later.  Although ONU answered in the final minute with a score, the Pioneers got a score on the final possession of the half.  Downard, after getting fouled, used her free position attempt to send a pass to Adam. Adams took that pass and found the back of the net with one second left.  The Pioneers trailed 10-3 heading into intermission.

The Pioneers took that late momentum of the period prior and roared into the third quarter with three straight scores, one from Dickens and another pair from Adams, to cut the deficit to four.  The Polar Bears came back with a goal at the 2:23 mark, but Marietta scratched out two more scores, including the first goal of the day by Mallory Wiles (Worthington, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne), and Marietta trailed 11-8 going into the fourth quarter.

Wiles added another score early in the fourth but the Polar Bears tightened up the defense.  They also added three insurance goals to widen the lead to five.  Time ran out on the Pioneers but they still made it interesting with scores from Dickens, Downard, and Fiona Betzold (Metamora, Mich./Oxford).  Despite the awesome comeback from the Pioneers, Ohio Northern would still close out a 15-12 OAC victory.
 
Abby May (Randolph, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) played the whole way in goal for the Pioneers and faced 22 shots on goal, making seven saves.
 
Adams led the scoring with four goals and assisted on two others.  Dickens scored three goals and collected two assists.  Wiles and Downard had two goals and two assists apiece.  One of the big reasons that the Pioneers were able control much of the second half was due to Alayna Francis (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) collecting a total of 11 draw controls.  She also led the Pioneers with three caused turnovers and four groundballs.  
 
Marietta is scheduled to battle Muskingum University on the road Wednesday (April 2), with a scheduled start time of 7 p.m.

Fans can follow all 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.