LATROBE, Pa. (March 19) – Visiting Marietta College defeated Saint Vincent, 15-12, in a back-and-forth women's lacrosse matchup at a rainy UPMC Field.
The visiting Pioneers (6-1) broke open a tie game with three unanswered goals over the final minute of the third quarter and opening five minutes of the fourth, and a late Saint Vincent (4-2) rally fell just short.
Rachel Thatcher led Saint Vincent with seven points, tallying two goals and five assists.
Kaylee Bandow recorded five points, on four goals and a helper, while
Joey Smith netted three goals and dished one assist.
Maggie Edwards,
Caroline Mullineaux and
Hannah-Marie Starner each found the back of the net once.
Starner led SVC with seven draw controls, while Edwards recorded six draw controls, five ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Kyra Lipetzky played all 60 minutes in goal for the Bearcats, finishing with eight saves.
Marietta got off to a fast start, opening up a 3-0 lead after six minutes of play. The Bearcats answered back, with Bandow scoring a pair of goals, to cut the SVC deficit to 4-2 after one quarter.
Saint Vincent outscored Marietta 3-2 in the second quarter, on goals by Thatcher, Bandow and Mullineuax, to make it a one-goal game, 6-5, at the half.
The Bearcats controlled play over much of the third quarter, with Smith scoring two goals and Edwards and Thatcher one apiece, to tie the game at 9-9 with 1:11 left in the frame. Marietta closed the quarter's scoring with a goal with just 11 seconds left, before adding two goals in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter to open up a 12-9 lead with 9:49 left in regulation.
Starner scored with 8:22 left to temporarily halt the Marietta run, but the visitors countered by scoring the next two goals to take its largest lead of the day, 14-10, with 3:33 left to play. The Bearcats looked to mount one final rally, with Bandow and Smith scoring 50 seconds apart to cut the gape to 14-12 with less than a minute left, but the Pioneers scored on a free-position shot with just eight seconds left to ice the game.
Megan McGriff scored six goals to lead Marietta, while teammate Hope Adams scored five goals with one assist.
The Bearcats will now face a quick turnaround, as they host Division II foe Davis & Elkins at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 20, on the UPMC Field turf.
