MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team broke a long losing streak with a pivotal victory over Otterbein University, 17-6, on Wednesday (April 23) to close out the 2025 regular season.  With the victory, and more importantly the goal differential, the Pioneers have put themselves in a possible playoff scenario.
 
"I am so proud of the effort from every single person on this team," said Head Coach Lindsay Reho.  "We were able to connect on the offensive end against a really talented goalie and hold their offense to limited shots. I am so happy we got to send this senior class off Marietta Field with a win."

Both teams played a tight first quarter in this must-win game, but the Cardinals got on the scoreboard first at the 12:23 mark as Ava Robey scored a goal off of an assist from Abby Chappell.  Marietta sent seven shots on goal during the quarter, but Otterbein goalkeeper Maggie Nance made stops on the first four shots, collecting a total of six saves in the period.  Mallory Wiles (Worthington, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) was able to send a shot into the goal with six minutes remaining and both teams took a 1-1 score into the second period.  
 
The Pioneers distanced themselves into the second period as they scored five times, two goals from Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson). The final goal of the period was a breakaway goal scored by Alayna Francis (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) and the Pioneers led Otterbein 6-1 at the half.
 
After the Pioneers got a quick score from Renee Mulvaney (Midland, Mich./Midland), Otterbein showed some fight in the third quarter, delivering a pair of goals in the span of a minute to cut the lead to four.  Marietta answered with a score from Sophi Merickel (Phoenix, Ariz./Cactus Shadows) and another from Mulvaney to extend the lead.  After the Cardinals scored again, the Pioneers answered with a goal from Molly Dickens (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) and the Pioneers led 10-4 going into the final period.  The Pioneers poured it on in the fourth and added seven insurance goals and would cruise to a 17-6 OAC victory.

Abby May (Randolph, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) put together a clutch performance in her 60 minutes in the net for the Pioneers.  May faced 25 shots on goal and made 13 saves.

Wiles led the Pioneers with five scores goals.  Adams added four goals, three assist, and eight draw controls.  Francis led with seven groundballs and three caused turnovers.  Havana Gomez (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) also played well defensively with two caused turnovers.  
 
With the win the Pioneers improve to 5-11 overall, 1-6 in Ohio Athletic Conference play. With the loss the Cardinals finished the season at 2-14, 1-6 in the OAC.  The Pioneers will now wait for the final seedings to be released by the OAC to see if they will be a part of the postseason.
 
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.