LANCASTER, PA -- A free position shot by Alexis O'Meara (Jr., Annapolis, MD/Severn School) with one second on the clock went in the cage but was ruled to have broken the plain of the goal after time expired as the #5 seeded McDaniel College Green Terror upset #4 Franklin & Marshall 6-5 in the quarterfinals of the 2004 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
In a see-saw game that saw five lead changes, McDaniel jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Sara Thomas scored an unassisted goal with 21:59 left in the first half. F&M responded to tie the score 2:02 later as O'Meara beat McDaniel goalie Lindsay O'Steen with a blast to knot the game at 1-1. The Diplomats took the lead with 10:23 left in the half as Virginia Rollins (Fr., Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) tallied a fast break score to take a 2-1 lead. McDaniel answered 23 seconds later as Liz Sexton finished a pass from Thomas to tie the score at 2-2. The Green Terror reclaimed the lead 43 seconds later as the team controlled the draw before Emily Funk flipped a shot into the net for a 3-2 lead.
The remainder of the half was all Franklin & Marshall as Kelly Cassels (Fr., Downingtown, PA/Great Valley) finished an assist from Eileen Keever (So., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) with 5:58 left and Brenna Dolphin (Fr., Wilmington, DE/Archmere Academy) ripped a pass from O'Meara into the cage with 1:57 to play prior to halftime as F&M carried a 4-3 lead into the break.
McDaniel tied the game with 21:03 left in the second half as Jillian Farrell netted an unassisted goal, but Keever scored off a free position shot at the 7:23 mark as Franklin & Marshall held a 5-4 margin with the clock winding down.
However, the Green Terror knotted the score with 1:04 on the clock as McDaniel scooped a ground ball and found Tara Smith in front of the cage for a 5-5 game. The game winner came with 22 seconds left as Katie Kirley fired a knee-high free-position shot which found the back of the cage for a 6-5 win.
F&M attempted to tie the game in the closing seconds as the Diplomats scooped a ground ball and worked the ball around the cage before O'Meara was fouled to give Franklin & Marshall a free position shot with less than one second left on the game clock. However, time expired before the ball beat O'Steen as McDaniel escaped with the win.
In goal, O'Steen made 14 saves for McDaniel off 31 F&M shots, while Franklin & Marshall goalie Kim Pleasants (Fr., Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) made 10 saves on 22 Green Terror shots as the Diplomats conclude the season at 10-9.
ECAC Playoffs (First Round) 1-2 -- F
#5 McDaniel (13-3, 8-1 Centennial Conference) 3-3 -- 6
#4 Franklin & Marshall (10-9, 6-3 Centennial Conference) 4-1 -- 5
Goals:
F&M: Alexis O'Meara (1), Virginia Rollins (1), Kelly Cassels (1), Eileen Keever (1), Brenna Dolphin (1)
McDaniel: Sara Thomas (1), Liz Sexton (1), Emily Funk (1), Jillian Farrell (1), Tara Smith (1), Katie Kirley (1)
Assists:
F&M: Eileen Keever (1), Alexis O'Meara (1)
McDaniel: Sara Thomas (1)
Shots: F&M 31, McDaniel 22
Goalies: F&M (Kim Pleasants - 60:00, 10 saves, 6 GA)
McDaniel (Lindsay O'Steen - 60:00, 14 saves, 5 GA)
Draw Controls: F&M 4, McDaniel 8
