BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team finished off their spring break trip and battled a very tough Bridgewater College squad and lost 18-6 Saturday (Mar. 14) afternoon.  With the loss, the Pioneers fell to 4-3 overall and with the win the Eagles improve to 6-1 overall.  
 
"Tough loss today to a very talented Bridgewater team," said Marietta head coach Nathan Grover. "We dug ourselves a hole in the first half and couldn't overcome those mistakes.  We fought a lot in the second half and there were positives that came from that. We have an opportunity to learn from this game and become a better team entering OAC play."

The Eagles struck first on their opening possession as they won the faceoff and quickly marched down to field for the score.  Bridgewater then added a trio of scores over the next four minutes to take an early, commanding lead.  The Pioneers finally got on the board as they got a goal from Tommy Imhof (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster), but the Eagles tacked on another three scores and led 7-1 going into the second period. 
 
The Eagles controlled much of the second period as they spread four goals over eight minutes of play.  Nathan Hamilton (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) got a score in the closing minutes to slow the Eagle momentum, but Bridgewater led to 12-2 going into intermission.
 
Both teams got off to slow starts to begin the third quarter, but the Pioneers attempted to chip away at the lead.  Thomas Zerman (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) got the Pioneers on the board with a score and Hutch Melind (Wilmington, N.C./Laney) followed with a goal a minute later to cut the lead to eight.  The Eagles finished the quarter with another three scores entered the fourth quarter with a 15-4 lead.  
 
Marietta got fourth quarter scores from Jeff McKnight (Port Republic, Va./Ignite Christian Academy) and Bryce Lotspeich (Powhatan, Va./Benedictine College Prep) but could not overcome the difference, dropping the matchup to the Eagles, 18-6.
 
Cal Henthorne (Wooster, Ohio/St. Edward) got the start for the Pioneers and faced 25 shots on goal and had seven saves.

Six different Pioneers got into the scoring column with a single goal apiece.  Bret Dickerson (Troy, Mich./Troy) led with five groundballs and went 13-of-25 in faceoffs.  Barrett Lindell (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mariemont) led the defensive effort with two caused turnovers.

Marietta will return to the field Saturday (Mar. 21) when they begin the OAC part of their schedule.  The Pioneers will host Baldwin Wallace University, with the game scheduled to begin at 1 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.