CORTLAND, NY - Midfielder/attacker Kelly Cassels (Jr., Downingtown, PA/Great Valley) scored four goals, including the go ahead score and the game-winner with 16:25 and 15:37 left on the game clock in the second half, as #8 Franklin & Marshall College rallied from a 6-5 deficit with 17:59 to play to knock off #14 Nazareth College 10-7 in the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Regional Tournament hosted by SUNY-Cortland.

The win puts the Diplomats (15-4) into the regional final at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 14 versus the host Red Dragons as #5 SUNY-Cortland (18-0) handled Colorado College (9-7) 19-11 in the first regional semifinal.

The victor in the regional final will earn a berth in the NCAA Final Four set for May 20-21 at DeBaun Field on the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Trailing 6-5 with 17:59 to play following an unassisted goal by the Golden Flyers Tia Morgia, the Diplomats went on a 5-0 run fueled by a pair of goals by Cassels to take the lead and the program's first NCAA regional victory.

Shannon Summers (Fr., North Wales, PA/The Hill School) started the run by finishing a pass from Jen Pritchard (Fr., Media, PA/Penncrest) at 17:17 to tie the score before Cassels accepted a pass from Eileen Keever (Sr., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) and put a shot over the left shoulder of Nazareth goalie Heather Chaapel to go in front 7-6 with 16:25 left on the clock. Cassels netted the eventual game-winner 48 seconds later as she split two defenders, corralled a pass from Sarah Meisenberg (Fr., Severna Park, MD/Severn) and netted her fourth goal of the game for an 8-7 lead with 15:37 on the clock.

Meisenberg added to the lead as she scored an unassisted goal at 10:20 and Kiki Foster (Sr., Denver, CO/Kent Denver) closed out the Diplomats scoring by putting a pass from Pritchard inside the left post with 8:52 to play for a 10-6 lead.

Nazareth (14-1) attempted to make a comeback, but the Golden Flyers put two shots on goal in the final eight minutes of play, including an unassisted goal by Elizabeth Carney at the 3:30 mark, as the Diplomats' defense locked down on their end of the field to preserve the win.

Overall, the Diplomats dominated the game statistically holding advantages in shots (27-to-18), ground balls (26-to-21) and draw controls (12-to-seven).

In goal, Kamissa Mort (Sr., Ashton, MD/Sandy Spring) made eight saves on 18 Nazareth shots to become the all-time leader in career NCAA wins at the College as she improved to 2-0 following an 18-4 victory over Denison University on May 10 at Sponaugle-Williamson Field in Lancaster. Further, Franklin & Marshall improved to 4-8 all-time in NCAA games and will advance to the regional finals for the first time in program history.

In the first half, the Golden Flyers raced out to a 1-0 lead as Kristyn Lingenfelter netted an unassisted goal 5:50 into the contest, but Cassels answered for F&M by controlling the ensuing draw and racing down the field before putting a shot past Chaapel with 23:57 left in the half to knot the game at 1-1.

F&M took the lead two minutes later as Summers threaded a pass to Pritchard who buried the feed at 21:58 to a 2-1 lead.

Nazareth countered with a pair of goals as Beth Quartier scored an unassisted goal at 19:49 and assisted Carney at 19:12 to go ahead 3-2.

However, Cassels and Meisenberg closed out the first half with goals as Cassels scored off an assist from Foster at 16:37 and Meisenberg tacked on an unassisted goal at 10:13 for a 4-3 F&M lead at the break.

Nazareth tied the game 1:04 into the second half as Caitlin Zimmer left a pass for Melissa Pasano to knot the score at 4-4, but Meisenberg put F&M back in front with 23:48 left courtesy an unassisted goal.

The Golden Flyers rallied to retake the lead as Amy O'Donnell scored a free position goal at 22:10 and Morgia scored an unassisted goal at 17:59 to put Nazareth ahead 6-5 and set up F&M's comeback rally.

For F&M, Meisenberg finished with three goals and an assist, while Pritchard added a goal and two assists. Summers and Foster tacked on a goal and an assist, and Keever chipped in an assist to account for Franklin & Marshall's scoring.

Carney led Nazareth with two goals, while Quartier added a goal and an assist for the Golden Flyers.

In goal, Chaapel took the loss allowing 10 goals with 10 saves as Franklin & Marshall became the first team this year to score more than eight goals against the Golden Flyers defense. Further, Chaapel entered the game ranked first in the nation in save percentage (.647) and goals against average (3.97 gaa).

Franklin & Marshall (15-4) 4-6-10
Nazareth (14-1) 3-4-7

Goals:
Franklin & Marshall: Kelly Cassels (4), Sarah Meisenberg (3), Jen Pritchard (1), Shannon Summers (1), Kiki Foster (1)
Nazareth: Elizabeth Carney (2), Beth Quartier (1), Amy O'Donnell (1), Tia Morgia (1), Melissa Pasano (1), Kristyn Lingenfelter (1)

Assists:
Franklin & Marshall: Jen Pritchard (2), Kiki Foster (1), Eileen Keever (1), Sarah Meisenberg (1), Shannon Summers (1)
Nazareth: Beth Quartier (1), Caitlin Zimmer (1)

Goalies (Minutes/Saves/GA):
Franklin & Marshall: Kamissa Mort (60:00, 8, 7)
Nazareth: Heather Chaapel (60:00, 10, 10)

Shots:
Franklin & Marshall - 27
Nazareth - 18

Ground Balls:
Franklin & Marshall - 26
Nazareth - 21

Draw Control:
Franklin & Marshall - 12-of-19
Nazareth - 7-of-12

Free Position Shots:
Franklin & Marshall - 0-for-4
Nazareth - 1-for-4

Fouls:
Franklin & Marshall - 14
Nazareth - 14

Turnovers:
Franklin & Marshall - 14
Nazareth - 16