SCRANTON, PA - Midfielder Kelly Cassels (So., Downingtown, PA/Great Valley) scored a game high five goals and attacker Kiki Foster (Jr., Denver, CO/Kent Denver) and midfielder Eileen Keever (Jr., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) scored hat-tricks as #10 Franklin & Marshall College defeated Montclair State University 16-7 in the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Southern Region Women's Lacrosse Championships at Fitzpatrick Field on the campus of the University of Scranton.

Franklin & Marshall College (13-3, 9-0 Centennial Conference), the 2003 Eastern College Athletic Conference Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Lacrosse Champions and the #1 seed in the tournament, also received two goals and an assist from midfielder Sloan Giampa (So., Cortlandt Manor, NY/Yorktown), a goal and three assists from attacker Catherine Onnen (Fr., Lutherville, MD/St. Paul's School for Girls), a goal and two assists from midfielder Brenna Dolphin (So., Wilmington, DE/Archmere Academy) and a goal from midfielder Ellie Lisle (Fr., Gladwyne, PA/Harriton) to advance to Sunday's title game versus #3 seed and Centennial Conference foe McDaniel College (12-5, 5-4 Centennial Conference) which defeated the University of Scranton (12-5, 8-2 Middle Atlantic Conference) 17-6 in the other semifinal.

Montclair State (11-6, 3-1 Knickerbocker Conference) jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the game as Shauna Brocklebank finished a feed from Jennifer Tanis 11 seconds into the game. F&M tied the score at the 2:31 mark as Cassels tallied an unassisted goal before the Red Hawks went back in front at 3:29 on an unassisted goal by Brianna Gillin. The Diplomats tied the game 31 seconds later as Cassels rifled a pass from Dolphin into the goal to knot the game at 2-2.

The Red Hawks answered as Gillin scored another unassisted goal at 5:18 before Keever tied the game at 8:48 to start a 4-0 spurt to give F&M a 6-3 lead.

Following Keever's goal, Giampa netted an unassisted score at 11:42, Cassels finished a pass from Onnen at 16:39 and Foster scored off a feed from Beverly Menghetti (So., Glen Mills, PA/Penncrest) at 17:22 before Bethany Blaine finished a pass from Gillin at 21:36 to break the Diplomats' scoring string and pull Montclair State to within 6-4.

Keever scored off a pass from Giampa at 26:14 to give the Diplomats back a three goal lead before the teams traded goals as Cassels scored on a pass from Onnen at 29:11 and Erin Balint found Brocklebank for a goal at 29:21 as Franklin & Marshall carried an 8-5 lead into halftime.

The Diplomats put the game away in the opening 11 minutes of the second half as Franklin & Marshall scored five straight goals, including a pair by Foster, to take a 13-5 lead.

Dolphin started the run as she scored an unassisted goal at 32:18 before Foster netted an unassisted goal at 37:01 to push the lead to 10-5. Onnen found Cassels for a score at 38:23, Giampa scored on a free position shot at 40:47 and Foster finished a pass from Dolphin at 41:41 to conclude the run as Gillin scored on a free position shot at 47:12 and assisted Nicole LaRocca at 48:11 to pull Montclair State to within 13-7.

However, Franklin & Marshall concluded the game with three unanswered goals as Menghetti found Keever and Onnen for goals at 50:36 and 52:07 and Keever assisted Lisle at 58:47 to set the final score.

In goal, Kamissa Mort (Jr., Ashton, MD/Sandy Spring) made five saves to improve to 12-2 on the season, while Montclair State's Kristen Kuhman was credited with 17 saves in the loss.

The win marks Franklin & Marshall's 13th of the season as the team's 13-3 record marks the third most wins in a season by a Diplomats' squad trailing only the 2003 ECAC champions (14-5) and the 1991 Middle Atlantic Conference champions (15-1).

Historically, the game marked the first ever meeting between Montclair State and Franklin & Marshall in women's lacrosse. Further, Foster's three-goal performance raised her career-scoring total to 111 goals and 29 assists for 140 points as she moved into 15th place in goals and 19th in points in school history.

Franklin & Marshall (13-3, 9-0 Centennial Conference) will conclude the ECAC Tournament and the 2005 season versus McDaniel College in the championship game at 1:00 p.m. on May 15 at the University of Scranton.

The title game marks the third meeting of the year between the two Centennial Conference rivals as F&M defeated the Green Terror 11-7 on April 6 in Lancaster during the regular season and 17-6 on April 30 in the semifinals of the 2005 Centennial Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship playoffs.

Further, the title tilt is a rematch of last year's tournament opener as the Diplomats fell to McDaniel 6-5 in the first round the 2004 ECAC Tournament.

Overall, the Diplomats inclusion in the 2005 tournament marks the sixth appearance by F&M in the ECAC women's lacrosse playoffs following back-to-back bids in 1995 and 1996. In 1995, host and #1 seed Franklin & Marshall defeated Albany in the semi-final round by a 15-9 final before falling to #2 seed Gettysburg College 8-6 at Williamson Field in the title game. F&M fell again in 1996 as Ithaca College won an opening round road shootout, 19-14. In 2001, the Diplomats defeated the University of Scranton (12-9 W) in the opening round, but fell to Gettysburg College (11-9 L) in the semifinals. Franklin & Marshall won the 2003 title as the Diplomats defeated Drew University (17-13 W) and Washington College (15-6 W).

Tickets for the title game are $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for senior citizens and $2.00 for students and children (ages 7-18).

Directions to the University of Scranton's Fitzpatrick Field are available online at http://matrix.scranton.edu/athletics/at_facility_directions.shtml

Score by Half 1-2 - Final
Montclair State (11-6, 3-1 KC) 5-2 - 7
#10 Franklin & Marshall (13-3, 9-0 CC) 8-8 - 16

Goals:
F&M - Kelly Cassels (5), Kiki Foster (3), Eileen Keever (3), Sloan Giampa (2), Catherine Onnen (1), Brenna Dolphin (1), Ellie Lisle (1)
MSU - Brianna Gillin (3), Shauna Brocklebank (2), Nicole LaRocca (1), Bethany Blaine (1)

Assists:
F&M - Catherine Onnen (3), Beverly Menghetti (3), Brenna Dolphin (2), Sloan Giampa (1), Eileen Keever (1)
MSU - Brianna Gillin (2), Erin Balint (1), Jennifer Tanis (1)

Goalies: F&M - Kamissa Mort (60 minutes, 5 saves, 7 GA)
MSU - Kristen Kuhman (60 minutes, 17 saves, 16 GA)

Shots: F&M 42, MSU 15

Draw Controls: F&M 17, MSU 8

Ground Balls: F&M 32, MSU 24

Clears: F&M 15-of-22, MSU 13-of-21

Fouls: F&M 9, MSU 10

Turnovers: F&M 13, MSU 20

Caused Turnovers: F&M 12, MSU 11