April 18, 2006

LANCASTER, PA - Attacker Jen Pritchard (Fr., Media, PA/Penncrest) scored five goals and handed out an assist for six points, collected five draw controls and forced a turnover to lead the #6 Franklin & Marshall College women's lacrosse team to an 18-8 win over #13 Dickinson College in Centennial Conference action at Sponaugle-Williamson Field.

The win clinched a berth in the Centennial Conference playoffs for the Diplomats and secured the team the #2 seed as the Diplomats improved to 11-2 on the season, 7-1 in Centennial Conference play, while Dickinson (11-3 5-3 CC) fell into a tie for the third spot with Ursinus College (9-5, 5-3 CC). In the playoffs, Franklin & Marshall will take on the #3 seed in the semifinals, while #1 seed and host Gettysburg College will face the winner of a play-in game between the #4 and #5 seeds.

Franklin & Marshall put the game away early as the Diplomats reeled off a 5-0 run to open the contest to go in front to stay.

Midfielder Kelly Cassels (Jr., Downingtown, PA/Great Valley) opened the scoring for the Diplomats at the 27:51 mark of the first half as she beat Dickinson goalie Gabby Joffie for a 1-0 lead. Midfielder Sarah Meisenberg (Fr., Severna Park, MD/Severn) followed with an unassisted goal at 25:59 before Cassels added another goal on a free position shot for a 3-0 lead with 25:18 left in the first half.

The run continued as attacker Catherine Onnen (So., Lutherville, MD/St. Paul's School for Girls) finished passes from Pritchard at 19;13 and attacker Kiki Foster (Sr., Denver, CO/Kent Denver) at 19:13 and 18:09, respectively, to go ahead 5-0 before Dickinson's Tara Goss netted an unassisted goal at 16:22 to pull the Red Devils back to within four goals.

The Diplomats countered with a 4-0 run for an 8-1 lead as midfielder Shannon Summers (Fr., North Wales, PA/The Hill School) scored off an assist from Foster at 15:26, Foster scored off an assist from defender Em Gill (Jr., Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) at 13:25 and midfielder Eileen Keever (Sr., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) netted a goal at 13:02 before Foster finished a centering pass from Onnen at 4:16 for a 9-1 lead.

Dickinson trimmed the lead back to seven goals prior to halftime as Lesley Oot scored an unassisted goal with 20 seconds left until the seven-minute break to a 9-2 F&M at intermission.

The Red Devils continued the run to open the second half as Oot netted an unassisted goal at 24:58 and Goss added a free position goal at the 21:29 mark for a 9-4 Diplomats' lead.

Pritchard responded for F&M as she converted on a pass from Foster at 20:28 before midfielder Brenna Dolphin (Jr., Wilmington, DE/Archmere Academy) tacked on a free position goal at 19:28 to give the Diplomats an 11-4 lead.

Amy Jennings scored a free position goal for Dickinson to trim the lead back to six goals with 17:53 to play, but F&M fired in three goals in over two minutes as Pritchard scored an unassisted goal at 17:43, Dolphin threaded a pass to Cassels for a score at 17:25 and Pritchard connected on a pass from Meisenberg at 15:36 for a 14-5 lead

Dickinson caught fire and tallied back-to-back goals at 14:04 and 13:00 as Laura Williams converted on a free position shot and Jennings scored unassisted to pull the Red Devils back to within seven goals, but the Diplomats iced the win with four goals for an 18-7 lead.

Pritchard started the scoring streak with an unassisted goal at 12:40 before Foster scored courtesy an assist from midfielder Sloan Giampa (Jr., Cortlandt Manor, NY/Yorktown) at 10:05. Giampa tacked on a goal off an assist from Keever and Prichard closed out the Diplomats scoring with an unassisted goal at 4:11 before Dickinson's Lizzie Cone netted an unassisted goal with 1:27 to play for the 18-8 final score.

Foster finished the game with three goals and four assists for seven points, while Cassels added three goals and Onnen tallied two goals and an assist as the Diplomats improved to 29-0 all-time against Dickinson in women's lacrosse.

In goal, Kamissa Mort (Sr., Ashton, MD/Sandy Spring) earned the win making seven saves and allowing eight goals on 16 Dickinson shots, while the Red Devils' Joffie took the loss allowing 18 goals with 13 saves.

Franklin & Marshall (11-2, 7-1 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on April 21 at Rowan University in non-conference action. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m.

Score by Half 1-2 - Final #13 Dickinson (11-3, 5-3 CC) 2-6 - 8 #6 Franklin & Marshall (11-2, 7-1 CC) 9-9 - 18

Goals: Franklin & Marshall: Jen Pritchard (5), Kiki Foster (3), Kelly Cassels (3), Catherine Onnen (2), Sarah Meisenberg (1), Brenna Dolphin (1), Eileen Keever (1), Sloan Giampa (1), Shannon Summers (1) Dickinson: Tara Goss (2), Amy Jennings (2), Lesley Oot (2), Lizzie Cone (1), Laura Williams (1), Katie Austin (1)

Assists: Franklin & Marshall: Kiki Foster (4), Brenna Dolphin (1), Sloan Giampa (1), Emily Gill (1), Eileen Keever (1), Sarah Meisenberg (1), Catherine Onnen (1), Jen Prichard (1) Dickinson: None

Shots: F&M 37, Dickinson 16

Goalies: F&M - Kamissa Mort - 60:00, 7 saves, 8 GA Dickinson - Gabby Joffie - 60:00, 13 saves, 18 GA

Draw Controls: F&M 23-for-28, Dickinson 5-for-28

Free Position: F&M 4-for-5, Dickinson 3-for-6

Ground Balls: F&M 28, Dickinson 23

Turnovers: F&M 12, Dickinson 15