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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Olivia Hanulak
Sammy Fay
18
Winner John Carroll JCU 7-0, 7-0 OAC
4
Marietta MAR-W 2-5, 2-5 OAC
Winner
John Carroll JCU
7-0, 7-0 OAC
18
Final
4
Marietta MAR-W
2-5, 2-5 OAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
John Carroll JCU 9 9 18
Marietta MAR-W 1 3 4

Game Recap: Women's Lacrosse | | Luke Potosky, Staff Writer

Women's Lacrosse Cruises to 18-4 Win over Marietta

MARIETTA, Ohio -- After going through one of the hardest stretches of their season, John Carroll University Women's Lacrosse could have eased its foot off the gas pedal. But given the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic, their message all season is to treat every game the same; play every game like it's your last.

That type of effort was clearly exhibited as John Carroll defeated Marietta on March 17 at Marietta Field by a score of 18-4, improving to 7-0 on the season. 

The Blue and Gold started the game strong, thanks to persistent defense and goals in the first ten minutes from Lainey Donalson, Carly Ross, and Colleen Grombala to give JCU a 3-0 lead.

Then, Kendall Gessner (assisted by Olivia Hanulak), Claire Mezzoprete (assisted by Carly Ross), and Gessner again (assisted by Jill Jarem) scored within the span of just over a minute to make it a convincing 6-0 lead for the Blue and Gold.

Marietta got on the scoreboard shortly afterward to make it 6-1. Then for a span of over seven minutes, a scoring drought hovered over both teams before Jenna Ginsberg found the net twice in a row to bump the score to 8-1.

Grombala then scored her 35th goal of the season off a free-position shot to increase JCU's lead to 9-1 as they went into halftime. She was often faceguarded, and often double faceguarded. 

Through one half, JCU held distinct advantages in shots (26-7), shots on goal (18-4), ground balls (23-8), and draw controls (9-2).

Marietta scored the first goal of the second half, but a Grombala response made it 10-2. The Pioneers countered with two more goals to trim the John Carroll lead to 10-4.

After a Blue Streak timeout, goals from Maddy Eifert (assisted by Shannon Burdick), Grombala, and Olivia Hanulak gave JCU a 13-4 advantage.

Another score from Claire Mezzoprete (assisted by Olivia Hanulak), a fifth score from Grombala, and a score from Mary Doherty made it 16-4.

Finally, goals from Lainey Donalson (assisted by Olivia Hanulak) and Hanulak cemented an 8-0 run to end the contest as JCU finished on top 18-4 to improve to 7-0 this season.

Once again, the Blue and Gold had an outstanding performance in the stat book, as they finished with a 50-14 shot advantage, a 34-10 shot on goal advantage, a 41-17 ground ball advantage, and a 15-6 advantage in caused turnovers. Remarkably, JCU also finished the night with 17 successful transitional clears in 17 tries.

Colleen Grombala led the way with five goals, five ground balls, and 11 draw controls.

Making a versatile impact with five total points (two goals, three assists) and three ground balls was Olivia Hanulak. "Liv Hanulak is starting to find a groove offensively for us," said Head Coach Rachel Dell. "We were happy with her last game but today she really impressed us and played like an experienced returner.

Carly Ross, Jenna Ginsberg, Claire Mezzoprete, Lainey Donalson, and Kendall Gessner each finished with two points.

"We had many different objectives going into the game today including spreading the scoring and trying new people in different positions," said Dell. "We were happy with having nine different scorers on 18 goals. We were perfect on clears tonight, which is something we are always proud of. That starts with the confidence of the goalie and low defense to possess through a physical redefend like we faced today."

Dell went on to say that the team gave a very balanced effort and gave credit to a tall, tough, and fast Marietta team for running the Blue and Gold hard on defense.

Up next, the Blue and Gold travel to New Concord on Saturday, March 20 to take on Muskingum in the afternoon.
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