COLLEGEVILLE, PA - Franklin & Marshall goalie Kim Pleasants (Fr., Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) made 11 saves on 28 Ursinus College shots while allowing eight goals as the Diplomats stayed in the Centennial Conference playoff race with a 12-8 win over the Bears.

The win raises F&M's record to 5-6 on the year, 3-3 in Centennial Conference play, while Ursinus falls to 5-4, 3-3 in CC play. If Ursinus defeats Washington College (7-4, 4-2 CC), and F&M and Washington win the remainder of their games, a three-way tie will occur for the final two CC playoff spots behind #1 Gettysburg and #2 McDaniel.

Against Ursinus, twins Alexis and Allison O'Meara (Jr., Annapolis, MD/Severn School) combined for four goals and two assists to pace the Diplomats attack as Franklin & Marshall College built a 2-0 lead and held an 8-4 advantage by halftime.

With 24:19 remaining in the first half the Diplomats opened the scoring as Beverly Menghetti (Fr., Glen Mills, PA/Penncrest) ripped a shot into the net before Alexis O'Meara found the back of the cage for a score with 22:47 remaining for a 2-0 lead.

Ursinus answered as Ashley Ettinger scored with 19 seconds after O'Meara before Emily Durkin tallied a score with 21:48 left in the half to knot the game at 2-2. Ettinger scored again at the 18-minute mark to give the Bears a 3-2 lead, but the advantage did not last.

The Diplomats began to put the game away with 14:59 left in the first half as Alexis O'Meara juked her defender and rifled a shot past Ursinus net-minder Melissa Scholl. The goal marked the 119th of her career as she tied former teammate Laura Fine '03 for 11th in goals in program history.

Nearly two minutes later Eileen Keever (So., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) beat Scholl with a shot at 13:10 before Holly Rutherford (So., Rochester, NY/Brighton) and Menghetti scored with 11:40 and 9:34 left in the half for a 6-3 lead. The Bears responded as Ettinger tallied a goal at the 5:49 mark, but Kiki Foster (So., Denver, CO/Kent Denver) responded with 2:14 remaining in the half with a score for an 8-4 lead.

Leading by four goals at the break, the Diplomats saw their lead dwindle to three scores as Ettinger and Durkin scored with 27:36 and 23:27 remaining in the game, respectively, while Allison O'Meara found the back of the net with 25:53 remaining for a 9-6 game with under twenty minutes left to play.

However, Franklin & Marshall turned up the pressure and Pleasants shut off the Bears' attack as Rutherford beat the Ursinus defense for a score with 18:23 left to play to push the margin back to four goals.

The lead grew to five goals as Kelly Cassels (Fr., Downingtown, PA/Great Valley) netted a score with 15:13 to go before Casey Leap answered at the 12:21 mark for an 11-7 game. Both teams tacked on scores over the last ten minutes of play as Durkin found the back of the net at 9:38 and Cassels finished off the scoring with 2:59 showing on the clock for the 12-8 final.

Between the pipes, Scholl made four saves in 30 minutes of play for Ursinus to take the loss, while backup goalie Aimee Wright stopped four shots in the second half.

The win raises F&M's record to 6-26-1 against Ursinus in women's lacrosse, including back-to-back victories as the Diplomats knocked off the Bears 19-7 in Lancaster on April 5, 2003.

F&M (5-6, 3-3 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on April 18 at home against Bryn Mawr College. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. at Sponaugle-Williamson Field.

Score by Half 1-2 -- Final
Franklin & Marshall (5-6, 3-3 CC) 8-4 -- 12
Ursinus (5-4, 3-3 CC) 4-4 -- 8

Goals:
Franklin & Marshall: Alexis O'Meara (2), Kelly Cassels (2), Beverly Menghetti (2), Holly Rutherford (2), Allison O'Meara (2), Eileen Keever (1), Kiki Foster (1)
Ursinus: Ashley Ettinger (4), Emily Durkin (3), Casey Leap (1)

Assists:
Franklin & Marshall: Alexis O'Meara (2), Eileen Keever (1), Beverly Menghetti (1)
Ursinus: Ashley Ettinger (1), Oksana Yaworsky (1)

Shots: F&M 28, Ursinus 28

Goalies: F&M (Kim Pleasants - 60 minutes, 11 saves, 8 goals allowed)
Ursinus (Melissa Scholl - 30 minutes, 4 saves, 8 goals allowed)
Ursinus (Aimee Wright - 30 minutes, 4 saves, 4 goals allowed)