COLLEGEVILLE, PA - Forward Eileen Keever (Jr., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) scored twice and added two assists as the Franklin & Marshall College field hockey team shutout Dickinson College 6-0 victory at Ursinus College in the Centennial Conference semifinals to advance to the title game.
The title berth marks the first in program history as the Diplomats previously advanced to the semifinals of the 2002 tournament before falling to then #1 seed McDaniel 1-0 on November 9, 2002.
Further, with the team's win over Dickinson, the Diplomats tied the 1982 team (16-3-1) for the most single season wins in program history.
Against the Red Devils, forward Brittany Croll (Jr., Frankford, DE/Indian River) opened the scoring 4:09 into the game as she put in an assist from Keever for a 1-0 lead. Nine minutes later Stacy Swymelar (Jr., Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) drilled an unassisted goal for a 2-0 lead before Maggie Onasch (So., Bowling Green, OH/Maumee Valley) tallied an unassisted goal at the 26:08 mark of the half for a 3-0 lead. Keever closed out the first half scoring as she registered the first of her goals off an assist from Croll assist with 2:26 remaining in the half for a 4-0 advantage going into halftime.
Keever found the back of the cage at 49:15 as she redirected a Lindsay Solar (Fr., King of Prussia, PA/Upper Merion) pass to beat the Dickinson goalie Tara McFadden for a 5-0 advantage. Jess Senior (So., Wilmington, DE/Archmere Academy) finished the scoring at 53:00 off a feed from Keever for the 6-0 final.
In the cage, Michelle Altman (Jr., Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) and Lindsay Klimik (Jr., Brick, NJ/Brick) recorded seven saves off seven Dickinson shots, while McFadden finished with 10 saves on 16 F&M shots.
The win was similar to the regular season meeting between the two teams in Lancaster as F&M recorded a 6-1 victory over the Devils on October 20.
Overall, the Diplomats will meet #1 seed Ursinus College at 1:00 p.m. on November 7 in a rematch of nationally ranked teams as the #11 nationally ranked Diplomats fell to the #4 ranked Bears 4-1 in Lancaster on September 29.
Admission to the title game at Ursinus is free and open to the public.
# 3 Dickinson (11-7) 0-0 -- 0
# 2 Franklin & Marshall (16-3) 4-2 -- 6
Goals: F&M - Brittany Croll (Eileen Keever) 4:09
F&M - Stacy Swymelar (unassisted) 13:42
F&M - Maggie Onasch (unassisted) 26:08
F&M - Eileen Keever (Brittany Croll) 32:34
F&M - Eileen Keever (Lindsay Solar) 49:15
F&M - Jess Senior (Eileen Keever) 53:00
Saves: F&M - Michelle Altman, 2 (35 minutes)/Lindsay Klimik, 5 (35 minutes)
DC - Tara McFadden, 10 (70 minutes)
Shots: F&M 16, DC 7
Corners: F&M 9, DC 5
