SWARTHMORE, PA - Goalie Kim Pleasants (Fr., Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) made 14 saves on 16 Swarthmore shots and twins Allison and Alexis O'Meara (Jr., Annapolis, MD/Severn School) combined for five goals and four assists as the Franklin & Marshall College women's lacrosse team blanked Swarthmore College 15-0 in Centennial Conference action.
The shutout marks the second in program history and the first road shutout as the Diplomats' last "goose-egg" came against Philadelphia Textile 21-0 on March 22, 1986 behind six goals and two assists from Maria Gaydos '88 and one save by Liz Eide '88 at F&M's Baker Campus.
Eighteen years later and 61 miles down the road, the Diplomats again blanked a team as Allison O'Meara scored three goals, while twin sister Alexis tallied two goals and handed out four assists in the 15-0 rout.
F&M (7-6, 5-3 Centennial Conference) jumped on the scoreboard with 24:08 left in the first half as Kiki Foster (So., Denver, CO/Kent Denver) buried a pass from Alexis O'Meara for a score. Less than six minutes later, Holly Rutherford (So., Rochester, NY/Brighton) finished a pass from Virginia Rollins (Fr., Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) for a 2-0 lead with 18:29 to go.
With 16:32 left F&M scored again as Eileen Keever (So., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) whipped an assist from Alexis O'Meara past Swarthmore goalie Jen Hart and into the twine for a 3-0 lead at the 16:32 mark.
The margin continued to grow with four consecutive unassisted goals as Brenna Dolphin (Fr., Wilmington, DE/Archmere Academy) scored at 11:59, Keever scored 11:20, Alexis O'Meara at 10:13 and Allison O'Meara at 9:18 for a 7-0 lead.
F&M closed out their first half scoring nearly seven minutes later as Allison converted off an assist from Alexis at the 2:40 mark for an 8-0 lead at halftime.
The Diplomats continued their onslaught 31 seconds in the second half as midfielder Kelly Cassels (Fr., Downingtown, PA/Great Valley) scored off an assist from Alexis O'Meara who added her team's 10th goal with an unassisted score at 28:04. Keever scored again at 27:27 off a feed from Beverly Menghetti (Fr., Glen Mills, PA/Penncrest) before Menghetti assisted Rutherford on a score at 25:01 for a 12-0 lead.
Allison O'Meara scored off another pass from her sister at 21:14, while Cassels and Amy Oliver (Fr., Westborough, MA/Westborough) concluded the scoring with goals at 16:16 and 12:38 for the 15-0 final.
For Swarthmore, the defeat marks the first time the Garnet have been shutout since a 13-0 loss to Wellesley during the 1990 season.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on April 24 at Haverford College. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.
Score by Half 1-2 -- Final
Franklin & Marshall (7-6, 5-3 CC) 8-7 -- 15
Swarthmore (7-6, 2-5 CC) 0-0 -- 0
Goals:
Franklin & Marshall: Allison O'Meara (3), Eileen Keever (3), Alexis O'Meara (2), Kelly Cassels (2), Holly Rutherford (2), Brenna Dolphin (1), Kiki Foster (1), Amy Oliver (1)
Assists:
Franklin & Marshall: Alexis O'Meara (4), Beverly Menghetti (2), Gini Rollins (1)
Shots: F&M 24, Swarthmore 16
Goalies: F&M (Kim Pleasants - 60 minutes, 11 saves, 0 goals allowed)
Swarthmore (Jen Hart - 60 minutes, 5 saves, 15 goals allowed
