LANCASTER, PA - Casey Sawma scored her fourth goal of the game with 12.5 seconds left in the second half for the game winner as Washington College defeated Franklin & Marshall 9-8 in Centennial Conference women's lacrosse.
Down 6-0 at halftime, the Diplomats stormed back to knot the game at 7-7 as Brenna Dolphin (Fr., Wilmington, DE/Archmere Academy) split the Shorewomen defense and netted her second goal of the game with 1:23 left to play. However, Sawma answered with a free position score with 1:07 left on the clock for an 8-7 lead before F&M's Allison O'Meara (Jr., Annapolis, MD/Severn School) beat Washington goalie Ashley Crisler with a shot to tie the game at 8-8 with 55.1 seconds left to play.
With the clock winding down and overtime imminent, Washington found the back of the net as Sawma finished a feed from Lindsey Eichner with 12.5 seconds left on the game clock for the eventual game-winner.
F&M had a chance to tie the score and force overtime as the Diplomats won the draw, but a swarm of physical Washington defenders flooded the front of their cage to prevent a score for the 9-8 final.
In the first half, the game was all Washington as the Shorewomen outshot F&M 15-5 while tallying six goals.
Sawma started the scoring at 24:28 as she converted a free position shot for a 1-0 lead. Eichner expanded the lead to two goals 93 seconds later as she fired in an assist from Janet Studdiford at 22:55 before Minta Sayres netted a score off a Studdiford assist for a 3-0 lead with 16:32 left to play in the first half.
Washington continued to score as Emmy Hyde scored an unassisted goal at 14:53 and Sayres netted a goal off an assist from Sawma at 13:05 for a 5-0 lead. The Shorewomen closed out the first half as Eichner scored an unassisted goal with 8:21 left until intermission for a 6-0 lead at the break.
Following 10:56 of scoreless play in the second half, Franklin & Marshall scored as Alexis O'Meara (Jr., Annapolis, MD/Severn School) beat Crisler off a free position shot to trail 6-1 with 19:04 left in the game.
Five minutes later, Kiki Foster (So., Denver, CO/Kent Denver) pulled her team to within four goals as she scored off an Alexis O'Meara assist for a 6-2 game before Sawma netted her third goal to push the lead back to five goals at 7-2 at the 13:08 mark.
F&M chipped away at the margin as Foster scored at 11:12 and Alexis O'Meara converted off an assist from Foster at 8:16 to pull to within 7-4.
Forty-six seconds later, Kelly Cassels (Fr., Downingtown, PA/Great Valley) scored off an assist from Eileen Keever (So., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) for a 7-5 game. F&M closed the gap to a single goal thirty-two seconds later as Dolphin split the Shorwomen defense and raced down the middle of the field to score and trim the lead back to 7-6 with 6:58 remaining on the game clock.
In goal, Leslie Staines (Fr., Villanova, PA/Radnor) recorded four saves with six goals allowed in the first half, while Kim Pleasants (Fr., Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) stopped two shots and allowed three goals in the second half. For Washington, Crisler notched eight saves with eight goals allowed in 60 minutes of play.
The loss snaps a three game winning streak over Washington by the Diplomats as F&M defeated the Shorewomen three times during the 2003 season. Last year, Franklin & Marshall recorded a 17-5 regular season win on April 12 at Washington, a 11-7 win in the Centennial Conference playoffs at Gettysburg and a 15-6 victory at home in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship game. Historically, Franklin & Marshall leads the all-time series 17-5.
F&M (3-6, 1-3 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on April 13 at home versus Dickinson College. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. at Sponaugle-Williamson Field.
Score by Half 1-2 -- Final
Washington (7-4, 4-2 CC) 6-3 -- 9
Franklin & Marshall (3-6, 1-3 CC) 0-8 -- 8
Goals:
Franklin & Marshall: Alexis O'Meara (2), Kiki Foster (2), Brenna Dolphin (2), Kelly Cassels (1), Allison O'Meara (1)
Washington: Casey Sawma (4), Minta Sayres (2), Lindsey Eichner (2), Emmy Hyde (1)
Assists:
Franklin & Marshall: Alexis O'Meara (1), Kiki Foster (1), Eileen Keever (1)
Washington: Janet Studdiford (2), Casey Sawma (1), Lindsey Eichner (1)
Shots: F&M 25, Washington 24
Goalies: F&M (Leslie Staines - 30 minutes, 4 saves, 6 goals allowed/
Kim Pleasants - 30 minutes, 3 saves, 3 goals allowed)
Washington (Ashley Crisler - 60 minutes, 8 saves, 8 goals allowed)
Free Position Shots: F&M 1-for-6, Washington 2-for-3
Draw Control: F&M 10, Washington 9
Turnovers: F&M 11, Washington 8
Ground Balls: F&M 28, Washington 21
