May 10, 2006

LANCASTER, PA - Attacker Kiki Foster (Sr., Denver, CO/Kent Denver) scored four goals and handed out an assist as the #8 Franklin & Marshall College women's lacrosse team opened the 2006 NCAA National Championship playoffs with an 18-4 win over North Coast Athletic Conference champion Denison University at Sponaugle-Williamson Field.

Courtesy the victory, Franklin & Marshall advances to play #14 Nazareth College on May 13 at SUNY-Cortland in a 2:30 p.m. regional semifinal game. In the early semifinal at 11:30 a.m., #5 SUNY-Cortland will take on Colorado College, which defeated Endicott College in another first round game. On May 14, the winners of the semifinals will square off at 1:00 p.m. at SUNY-Cortland in the NCAA Elite Eight with a bid to the Final Four at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey on the line.

Against the Big Red, Franklin & Marshall jumped out to a 10-0 first half lead as the Diplomats out shot Denison 21-4 in the opening 30 minutes of play to set the pace for the game.

The Diplomats took the lead 4:11 into the contest as Shannon Summers (Fr., North Wales, PA/The Hill School) scored off an assist from Kelly Cassels (Jr., Downingtown, PA/Great Valley) for a 1-0 lead. Foster added to the lead with 23:02 left in the period as she finished a centering pass from Cassels for a 2-0 lead, before Eileen Keever (Sr., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) netted a goal off an assist from Summers at 21:33.

Summers added back-to-back scored to push the margin out to 5-0 as she scored off passes from Cassels and Sarah Meisenberg (Sr., Severna Park, MD/Severn School) at 20:39 and 18:07, respectively.

Meisenberg, Foster and Cassels set the score at 8-0 as Meisenberg scored off an assist from Foster at 17:18, Foster netted an unassisted goal at 9:56 and Cassels registered an unassisted score at 3:45.

Jen Pritchard (Fr., Media, PA/Penncrest) added to the lead with a free position goal at 3:00 and Foster closed out the first half scoring by completing a hat-trick with her third goal of the game at 2:10.

Denison cut the lead to 10-1 to open the second half as Courtney Abrams finished a pass from Rebecca Schoenherr 47 seconds into the half.

The teams traded goals as Keever scored on an assist from Meisenberg at 27:16 and the Big Red's Molly Lamdin netted an unassisted goal at 26:05 to keep Denison within nine goals of tying the game.

Franklin & Marshall clinched the win over the next 14 minutes as the Diplomats went on a 6-0 run to go ahead 17-2.

Pritchard started the run as she tallied an unassisted goal at 20:05 for her 50th goal of the season, as she became the 13th player in F&M history to score 50 or more goals in a season. Further, she is only the second freshman to reach the mark joining All-America selection Alexis O'Meara '05 who scored 52 goals in 2002.

Meisenberg followed Pritchard with a free position goal at 19:19, before Devi Hensch (Fr., Bordentown, NJ/Northern Burlington), Foster, Ellie Lisle (So., Gladwyne, PA/Harriton) netted goals assisted by Catherine Onnen (So., Lutherville, MD/St. Paul's School), Sloan Giampa (Jr., Cortlandt Manor, NY/Yorktown) and Allison Solomon (Fr., Damascus, MD/Holy Cross), respectively, for a 16-2 lead.

Keever closed out the run with a free position goal at the 12:30 mark for push the lead to 15 goals.

Denison scored twice in the final 12 minutes of play as Liz Hollick and Kristin Frost added unassisted goals at 8:06 and 4:28, respectively, while Cassels scored on a free position chance for the Diplomats at 6:25 for the 18-4 final score.

In goal, Kamissa Mort (Sr., Ashton, MD/Sandy Spring) earned the win for the Diplomats making nine saves on 15 shots with four goals allowed, while Carolyn Hicks took the loss for Denison making eight saves with 18 goals allowed.

The key to the game was the Diplomats ability to clear the ball as Franklin & Marshall cleared 11-of-12 opportunities.

The ninth time in the 22-year history of the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse tournament that the Diplomats earned a bid, the win improves F&M to 3-8 all-time in NCAA play as the program previously appeared in the 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1998 tournaments.

The game marked the second time F&M and Denison met as Franklin & Marshall knocked off the Big Red 11-7 on May 11, 1991 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Lancaster.

More information on the Cortland Regional is available online at www.cortland.edu/athletics or ncaasports.com

Score by Half 1-2 - Final Denison (8-8) 0-4 - 4 #8 Franklin & Marshall (14-4) 10-8 - 18

Goals: Franklin & Marshall: Kiki Foster (4), Shannon Summers (3), Eileen Keever (3), Kelly Cassels (2), Sarah Meisenberg (2), Jen Pritchard (2), Ellie Lisle (1), Devi Hensch (1) Denison: Kristin Frost (1), Courtney Abrams (1), Molly Lamdin (1), Liz Hollick (1)

Assists: Franklin & Marshall: Kelly Cassels (3), Sarah Meisenberg (2), Kiki Foster (1), Sloan Giampa (1), Catherine Onnen (1), Allison Solomon (1), Shannon Summers (1) Denison: Rebecca Schoenherr (1)

Shots: F&M 33, Denison 15

Goalies: F&M - Kamissa Mort - 60:00, 9 saves, 4 GA Denison - Carolyn Hicks - 60:00, 8 saves, 18 GA

Draw Controls: F&M 14-for-24, Denison 10-for-24

Free Position: F&M 4-for-6, Denison 0-for-3

Fouls: F&M 13, Denison 10

Ground Balls: F&M 37, Denison 23

Turnovers: F&M 14, Denison 17