NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team fell behind early and could not close the gap, dropping a matchup with Westminster College, 9-3, on Tuesday (Feb. 17) evening. With the loss the Pioneers drop to 1-1 overall and the victory evens the Titans record to 1-1 overall.  
 
"Tonight was a hard fought game tonight on both sides," said Marietta head coach Nathan Grover.  "The outcome may not have been what we wanted as a team, but there is a lot to learn from and grow from in this game! Hats off to Westminster!"
 
Westminster got on the board first but not after several minutes silence to begin the game.  After a Marietta turnover, the Titans made a successful clear and then marched down the field for a score at the 8:26 mark. After winning the ensuing faceoff, Westminster once again punched in a score to take a 2-0 lead.  The Pioneers attempted seven shots in the quarter, but only one was on goal. Marietta trailed 2-0 going into the second quarter.
 
Both teams took a few minutes to get moving in the second quarter but Westminster got a goal from Nikolas Stump to extend the lead to three.  After seven minute passed, Brandon Robinson tacked on another goal for the Titans.  Thomas Zerman (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) finally answered for the Pioneers at the 7:30 mark as he scored off of an assist from Cannon Fox (New Concord, Ohio/John Glenn), but Westminster tacked on another pair of scores and led 6-1 going into the intermission. 

Westminster kept up the pressure into the third quarter and tacked on another pair of scores to extend the lead to seven.   In the closing seconds, Marietta scooped up a Titan turnover and quickly moved up the turf.  Donovan Masters (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley) then rifled off a shot for an unassisted goal to cut into the Titan lead. Westminster led 8-2 going into the final period.
 
Four minutes elapsed in the fourth quarter before any offense occurred and, unfortunately, it was the Titans that added to their total first.  Adam Texiera scored unassisted and Marietta was left with not much time to make a comeback.   Marietta got one final score, an unassisted goal from Nathan Hamilton (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City), but the difference was too much to overcome.  The Titans tacked on one more score and would go on to claim the 9-3 victory.
 
Cal Henthorne (Wooster, Ohio/St. Edward) worked all 60 minutes in the nets and faced 37 shots, 17 of which were on goal, and also made eight saves in the game for the Pioneers.
 
The Pioneers were led by Masters, Zerman, and Hamilton with a goal apiece.  Barrett Lindell (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mariemont) led the team with five groundballs picked up.  Bret Dickerson (Troy, Mich./Troy) won 8-of-15 faceoffs.  Alan Schwab (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) led the Pioneers with two caused turnovers.

"I am proud of our team's grit tonight and know we will learn and improve from this game as a collective," concluded Grover.
 
Marietta will return home this Saturday (Feb. 21) as they battle Wittenberg University.  The matchup is scheduled to begin at 4 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.