HAVERFORD, PA - Kiki Foster (So., Denver, CO/Kent Denver) scored five goals while Alexis O'Meara (Jr., Annapolis, MD/Severn School), Allison O'Meara (Jr., Annapolis, MD/Severn School) and Kelly Cassels (Fr., Downingtown, PA/Great Valley) each scored hat tricks as the Franklin & Marshall College women's lacrosse team clinched the #3 seed in the Centennial Conference playoffs with an 18-4 win at Haverford College.

The win improves F&M to 8-6, 6-3 in Centennial Conference play as the Diplomats are tied with Washington and Ursinus for third place with 5-3 records in Conference. However, per Centennial Conference tiebreaking procedures, F&M clinches third place in the CC playoff race over the Shorewomen and Bears as F&M fell to Washington 9-8, but defeated Ursinus 12-8 for a +2 goals differential among tied teams (victories by three or more goals are only credited as three points in the CC tiebreaking rules), while Ursinus defeated Washington 10-8 for a -1 goals differential to take fourth as the Shorewomen hold a -1 differential but fell to the Bears in head-to-head action.

Against Haverford, F&M wasted little time in taking the lead as Alexis O'Meara scored on a free-position shot for a 1-0 lead 2:46 into the game. Foster added an unassisted score with 26:33 left in the first half before Alexis O'Meara fed a pass to twin sister Allison who buried a shot past Haverford goalie Kate Duffy for a 3-0 lead with 18:39 left in the first half.

The lead continued to grow as Cassels scored an unassisted goal at the 17:56 mark and Brenna Dolphin (Fr., Wilmington, DE/Archmere Academy) finished a feed from Allison O'Meara 25 seconds later for a 5-0 lead. Alexis O'Meara factored in the next two goals as she dished assists to Allison O'Meara and Foster with 16:43 and 15:47 left in the first half for a 7-0 lead. The lead ballooned to 9-0 over the next six minutes before Haverford's Mindy Walman scored on a free-position shot with 8:24 remaining in the first half.

The Diplomats got the goal back with 49 seconds left in the half as Cassels beat Duffy for a score and 10-1 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Haverford struck first as Margaret Sampson scored at the 26:09 mark to cut the Fords' deficit to eight goals, but Foster scored back-to-back unassisted goals at 25:37 and 24:14 and Alexis O'Meara scored with 22:10 left to push the Diplomats' lead out to 13-2 before Jane Nussbaum finished a pass from Mary Van Ogtrop at the 19:10 mark for a 13-3 game.

The teams traded goals as Alexis O'Meara scored on a free position shot with 16:58 left and Sampson netted a score at 13:58 for a 14-4 game before Franklin & Marshall closed out the contest with a four goal flourish to take the win and secure a spot in the playoffs.

Virginia Rollins (Fr., Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) scored at the 9:21 mark, while Allison O'Meara completed an assist from Holly Rutherford (So., Rochester, NY/Brighton) at 4:19 to move the margin to 16-4. F&M closed out the game with scores by Dolphin at 1:07 and Caroline Storrie (So., Phoenix, MD/Delaney) off a pass from Eileen Keever (So., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) with 55 seconds remaining on the game clock for the 14-goal victory.

In goal, Kim Pleasants (Fr., Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) made eight saves on 13 shots in the first half with one goal allowed, while Leslie Staines (Fr., Villanova, PA/Radnor) made one save with three goals allowed on five shots in the second half. For Haverford, Duffy stopped five of F&M's 23 shots on goal to take the loss.

Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on April 27 at Rowan University in non-conference action. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.

Score by Half 1-2 -- Final
Franklin & Marshall (8-6, 6-3 CC) 10-8 -- 18
Haverford (6-8, 2-6 CC) 1-3 -- 4

Goals:
Franklin & Marshall: Kiki Foster (5), Alexis O'Meara (3), Allison O'Meara (3), Kelly Cassels (3), Brenna Dolphin (2), Caroline Storrie (1), Virginia Rollins (1)
Haverford: Margaret Sampson (2), Mindy Walman (1), Jane Nussbaum (1)

Assists:
Franklin & Marshall: Alexis O'Meara (3), Allison O'Meara (1), Eileen Keever (1), Holly Rutherford (1)
Haverford: Mary Van Ogtrap (1)

Shots: F&M 23, Haverford 18

Goalies: F&M (Kim Pleasants - 30 minutes, 8 saves, 13 shots, 1 goal allowed)
F&M (Leslie Staines - 30 minutes, 1 save, 5 shots, 3 goals allowed)
Haverford (Kate Duffy - 60 minutes, 5 saves, 23 shots, 18 goals allowed