In a women’s lacrosse game against Gettysburg in 2005, midfielder Eileen Keever ’06 had a decision to make.
The Franklin & Marshall College junior had the ball and in most cases in the past, she would look to pass to a teammate. She always thought her teammates could shoot better than she could. This time, though, she let the shot go and scored, helping the Diplomats to an 8-7 victory.
“It was a huge goal for us,’’ said former F&M women’s lacrosse coach Anne Phillips.
For the 2006 lacrosse season, Keever helped the Diplomats get to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight. F&M recorded a pair of wins vs. Denison (Keever had three goals) and Nazareth before falling to SUNY Cortland. Keever was named to the All-Centennial Conference First Team at the conclusion of the season.
“Eileen was a mentally and physically tough midfielder,’’ Phillips said. “She did all the little things - like get the ground balls, the draws - that made the whole team successful.’’
While F&M didn’t win a national championship with Keever on the team, they did win the season following her graduation. That title might not have happened without Keever and her senior classmates leading the buildup.
“It was the leadership of that class, the talent of that class, the commitment level in that class that made the National Championship achievable for the senior class that followed them,’’ Phillips said.
Keever matched her prowess on the lacrosse field with her exploits in field hockey.
Sprinting out to a 7-1 overall record, there were signs that F&M’s field hockey season could be a special one in 2004.Keever, coming off an All-America season as a sophomore, was the ‘04 captain and in the midst of what the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal described as “a rededication to the (field hockey) program as a whole.’’
The fast start was an omen of what was to come as the Diplomats rolled out to an 8-2 record in the Centennial Conference (CC) and made the playoffs. F&M defeated Swarthmore 2-1 in the first conference playoff game and smoked Dickinson 6-0 in the second. Keever had a pair of goals in that contest.
F&M, however, fell to Ursinus 4-3 in overtime in the CC Title game.
The season, though, was a great success, with F&M going 16-5 overall. The Diplomats finished 11th in the STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III poll.
Keever’s contribution was 21 goals as she became one of just 24 players in CC history to reach the 20-goal plateau in a season.
For her field hockey career, Keever is one of just three F&M players to earn three All-America honors. Her 107 career points remain fifth in the program record books, while her 45 goals rank sixth, and her 17 assists are good for 10th all-time.
Keever listed as some of greatest thrills spending three weeks in Australia one summer, getting to play field hockey with people from the U.S. and Australia, as well as representing F&M by playing in a senior All-Star game with teammate Brittany Croll ’06. In lacrosse, a thrill was advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 (then returning as an alum in 2007 to see Kelly Cassels ’07 and teammates win the 2007 Title).
She is currently a full-time attorney and married with two children.
