WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Marietta College men's lacrosse team was defeated, 14-12, in their regular season finale by Otterbein University, on Wednesday (April 22) evening. With the win the Cardinals improve to 8-7 overall and 5-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and with the loss the Pioneers are now 6-9 and 2-6 in OAC action.
"Today's game was a great battle of the conditions and our opponent," said Marietta head coach
Nathan Grover. "We may not have gotten the result we wanted, but we never quit and fought until the very end!"
Both teams had to endure a very lengthy weather and lightning delay, but when play finally began, it was Otterbein that broke the scoreless tie. Jack Regruth put in the first point on the board at the 11:57 mark and Zach Mulligan followed with a score on the next possession to give the Cardinals a two-score lead. The Pioneers converted an Otterbein turnover into a score with less than seven minutes in the period as
Ryan Kenney (Edgemere, Md./Archbishop Curley) got a goal from an assist from
Sam Leininger (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake). After Otterbein scored again, the Pioneers answered with pair of goals from
Jeff McKnight (Port Republic, Va./Ignite Christian Academy) and only trailed 4-3 going into the second period.
Goals were tough to come by in the second period but Marietta finally got on the board with less than eight minutes left as
Cannon Fox (New Concord, Ohio/John Glenn) scored off an assist from
Hutch Melind (Wilmington, N.C./Laney) to tie the score at four. Regruth put the Cardinals back on top with a pair of scores to give Otterbein a 6-4 lead going into intermission.
Otterbein widened the lead in the third period with a trio of scores, but the Pioneers tried to get back into the contest.
Thomas Zerman (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) scored and then Fox followed with another score to cut the lead back to three. Otterbein pushed across another score on the ensuing possession, but Leininger was able to put another point on the board with less than four minutes and 10-7 going into the final period.
The Pioneers got fourth quarter scores from Melind and
Bret Dickerson (Troy, Mich./Troy) and a pair of scores from
Tommy Imhof (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster), but each Pioneers goal was answered by a score from Otterbein, which kept the differential still at three goals with four minutes remaining. Marietta got a bit closer with another score from McKnight, but Otterbein was able to run out the remaining seconds and complete the 14-12 conference victory.
Cal Henthorne (Wooster, Ohio/St. Edward) worked all 60 minutes in the nets for the Pioneers, he faced 29 shots on goal, and made 15 saves.
McKnight led the Pioneers with three goals and two assists. Dickerson went 22-for-27 in faceoffs and led the team with nine groundballs.
Conner Alsing (Manor, Pa./Penn Trafford) led the team with two caused turnovers.
With the loss, the Pioneers were eliminated from playoff contention, but Grover still had great things to say about this year's squad.
"This season carried a lot of learning experiences for a very young core," said Grover. "We will continue to learn from them, improve from them, and be better in the future because of them. A huge thank you to this senior class! Their impact on this program will never be forgotten and they will always a part of the Marietta Lacrosse family!"
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.
