By Charles Jardine
Sports Editor
The Franciscan University men’s lacrosse team took their second loss of the season from the Marietta College Pioneers 12-7 on Thursday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m.
The Pioneers, after a successful clearing attempt, scored the first goal of the game in the second minute to put them ahead 1-0. Maintaining the pressure, the Pioneers marched down the field again but their shot was saved by freshman goalkeeper Fabian Onativia.
Junior midfield Gavin Cook responded for the Barons after a Pioneer turnover in the fifth minute. Keeping the momentum up, the Barons caused the pioneers to play solid defense and cleared the ball to release the pressure. After a quick attack, Cook led the counter-attack and put the Barons up 2-1.
Before the end of the quarter, Marietta tied the game at 2-2.
The Pioneers took control in the second quarter winning each of the first two faceoffs and scoring on both offensive attacks in the first minute, giving them a two score lead.
Sophomore attack Dominic Scordino stopped the Pioneer advance with a goal of his own from a won faceoff, assisted by junior attack Sam Marshall.
The teams continued to march down the field and come up empty, until the seventh minute, when the Pioneers seized a penalty opportunity putting them up 5-3.
The Pioneers scored again off the first faceoff in the third quarter, quickly bringing their lead to three.
The Barons didn’t let any momentum carry over, playing excellent defense, and scoring in the second minute of the third quarter, cutting the lead to two.
The Barons unleashed a flurry of shots over the next three minutes, unable to find the back of the net. The Pioneers led the counterattack, unleashing a flurry of their own shots but likewise unable to put one past Onativia.
Both the Pioneers and the Barons tacked on two more goals, making the score 8-6, Pioneers, before heading into the fourth quarter.
Looking to cut in the deficit, the Barons started the last quarter with as much offensive pressure as they could muster with five shots in the first three minutes from Cook, Marshal and graduate student midfield Nicholas Sando. Senior midfielder Michael Francis finally put a shot into the net in the fifth minute to cut the lead to one score.
The Pioneers regrouped and scored four more points unanswered to close out the game, winning by a final score of 12-7.