MARIETTA Ohio — Marietta College withstood a slow first quarter and then put on an offensive display as they claimed an important conference victory over Muskingum University at Marietta Field Wednesday (April 15) evening. Marietta improves to 7-6 overall and 2-2 in the OAC. The Muskies fall to 6-9 on the season and 0-4 in the OAC.
"What a great showing from our entire squad," said Marietta head coach
Lindsay Reho. "We have a great opportunity to keep momentum rolling on Saturday as we celebrate our seniors!"
The Fighting Muskies controlled the better part of the first period as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Despite the early deficit, Marietta kept winning at the draw control and finally broke through the scoreless drought at the 7:05 mark.
Molly Dickens (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) began the possession with a draw control win and finished with a man-up score assisted by
Renee Mulvaney (Midland, Mich./Midland) to cut into the deficit. The two teams alternated scores for the next few minutes as Muskingum's Lindsay Davis scored a pair of goals bookending a goal from Mulvaney.
Maggie Downard (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Jackson) put in a score with less than five minutes left in the period, but Davis countered again to push the lead back to three. The Pioneers were able to close out the period with a score from
Mallory Wiles (Worthington, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) and only trailed 6-4 going into the second period.
Marietta really stepped up in the second period and dropped seven goals on Muskingum.
Lydia McCarter (Fort Mill, S.C./Catawba Ridge) began the comeback three minutes in with a score, Fiona Betzhold then tied it up two minutes later with an unassisted goal, and
Maddie Heyboer (Wyoming, Mich./Grandville) gave the Pioneers their first lead with a score at the 8:51 mark. After a Muskie yellow card, Mulvaney converted a free position score to keep the rally going. After Muskingum scored a goal, Marietta got that goal back, plus one, as Mulvaney and Heyboer added scores to put the lead at three. Davis did her best to keep Muskingum close and added another score, but the Pioneers answered and took an 11-8 lead into the half.
Marietta got off to a quick start in the third period with goals from Dickens and McCarter to give the Pioneers a five-goal margin. The Muskies got a pair of scores in an attempt to stay in the game, but Marietta kept up the scoring spree. McCarter and Wiles added scores as well as another pair of goals from Dickens, stretching the Marietta advantage to 17-10 heading into the fourth quarter.
Marietta kept pouring on the points in the fourth scoring on the first possession, getting another score from Mulvaney. Just one minute later,
Alayna Francis (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) scored a fast break goal and the Pioneers did not look back. Wiles and Betzold completed the rout with a goal apiece and the Pioneers cruised to a 21-12 home conference victory.
Dickens and Wiles led the way with four scores apiece. Mulvaney added three scores and led the Pioneers with six assists. Dickens also set a Marietta single season record with 15 draw controls. Francis also contributed 10 draw controls as Marietta dominated that category. Betzold tied a single season record with five caused turnovers and also led the Pioneers with seven groundballs. Two Pioneers also reached personal career milestones during the game. Malvaney earned her 100th career point during the matchup, putting her third on the all-time Pioneer list. Francis collected her 300th career draw control, extending her all-time leading amount in that category.
Tessa Labrasciano (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior) earned the victory in the nets for the Pioneers and posted seven saves.
"Two single game records from Molly and Fiona and a couple career milestones from Renee and Alayna to cap off a great rivalry win," said Reho. "Molly dominated on the draw control today and really helped us keep momentum our way. Fiona is such a force on the ride and was able to come up huge for us with that pressure. Congrats to Renee on 100 career points and Alayna on 300 career draw controls!"
Marietta hosts Baldwin Wallace University this Saturday (April 18) at 4:00 p.m. as they will be celebrating Senior Day.
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.
