COLUMBUS, Ohio (April 5, 2025) -- Rocky River came up on the short end of a hard-fought non-conference tussle at Columbus Watterson Saturday. The Pirates took a 5-2 lead early, but the host Eagles leveraged a later River scoring drought and numerous man-up opportunities in catching up to and overtaking the visitors in the interregional contest. Watterson turned a halftime tie into an 11-9 edge by the end of the third quarter. The Eagles outscored the Pirates 2-1 in the fourth to claim a 13-10 victory.

Shots, shots on goal, draws, and ground balls were all near-even exchanges in a game that featured seven ties and lead changes. The Pirates committed a season-low eight turnovers and were a plus-5 in that category. 

Senior midfielder Grace DeWitt scored three goals en route to Rocky River (5-2) building a 5-2 lead in the first eight minutes of the game. But the Eagles would hold the Buccaneers scoreless over the next 10 minutes. Watterson (3-3) overtook River by the middle of the second. 

The Eagles registered two advantage goals during their comeback. For the game, Watterson was man-up on four of its goals. The game also included three man-down goals -- two by the Pirates and one by the Eagles.

Eagles sophomore Maggie Adkins scored three goals over the key middle quarters, and she finished the day with five goals and three assists. Back-to-back Adkins goals -- at 11:14 and 8:59 of the third -- were the early second-half netfinders that turned a 7-7 tie into a 9-7 Watterson lead.

DeWitt finished with six goals. She has 10G over River's last two games and is tied with Addie Tisler for the team scoring lead with 19G. Tisler filed a goal and four ground balls Saturday. Ellie Holton added 2G, 1A, and 4 GB.

The Maroon & White will return home for their next game, a Tuesday 7 p.m. tilt against Hathaway Brown.

by Skip Snow

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