MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's lacrosse team lost a match, 26-7, to the University of Mount Union on Wednesday (April 9) evening.  With the win, the Purple Raiders improve to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and the with the loss the Pioneers are now 4-10 overall and 0-5 in the OAC.  
 
The Purple Raiders took early control in the opening period and jumped out to a 6-0 lead, two goals from Eden Kesler and two goals from Emily Funk.  Hope Adams (Delaware, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) finally got the Pioneers on the board at the 4:11 mark with a score and Maggie Downard (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) followed a minute later with another goal to cut the lead to four. Mount Union stopped the mini run and closed out the period with a score from Mackenzie Kolstad, taking a 7-2 lead into the second period. 
 
Marietta broke through first in the second period as Mallory Wiles (Worthington, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) tacked on a Pioneer goal. The Raiders answered quickly with another goal from Kolstad.  Sophi Merickel (Phoenix, Ariz./Cactus Shadows) put in a man-advantage score for the Pioneers at the 8:23 mark but Mount Union answered with a trio of scores to extend the lead to seven. Wiles, Merickel, and Molly added scores but Marietta trailed 13-7 heading into intermission. 
 
Mount Union kept up the torrid pace in the second half with 13 more scores, all the while shutting out the Pioneers and the Raiders went on to claim the victory 26-7. 

Abby May (Randolph, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) got the start in the net for the Pioneers.  She faced 25 shots on goal and made five saves. 
 
Wiles and Merickel led with two goals apiece and Adams led the team with 10 draw controls.  Havana Gomez (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) led the Pioneers with two caused turnovers and three groundballs.

The Pioneers will return to the field Friday (April 18) when they travel to battle Baldwin Wallace University, with the game scheduled to begin at 12 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 Twitter and Instagram.