March 31, 2007

Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. - A pair of freshman from Maryland's St. Paul's School for Girls keyed #5 Franklin & Marshall's 8-7 win over #3 Salisbury in women's lacrosse Saturday. Blake Hargest (Cockeysville, MD / SPSG) tallied the game-winning goal, while Lidia Sanza (Cockeysville, MD / SPSG) turned away six Sea Gull advances to give F&M it's sixth victory over a ranked team this season. Franklin & Marshall remains unbeaten at 9-0, while Salisbury suffered its first setback of the season to fall to 10-1.

Holding a tenuous 7-6 lead with 6:09 left in the game, Hargest set up just off of the right post, where she accepted a pass from Shannon Summers (N. Wales, PA / Hill School), and buried it home. Less than two minutes later, Salisbury's Jessica Liston capitalized on a Sue Ackerman feed for the second time in the second half to cut it to 8-7.

The Diplomats won the ensuing draw, and almost made it a two-goal game, but Summers caught iron, while Salisbury's keeper, Natalie Pappas, caught the carom and pushed the ball upfield. Katie Simmons tried to draw the teams even with 2:03 left, but was denied by Sanza.

F&M appeared poised to kill the clock with a lengthy possession in Salisbury's end, but an isolated Sarah Nyman (Malvern, PA / Great Valley) had the ball knocked from her cross by a Robyn Bishop stick check. Stephanie Shores gathered the loose ball for Salisbury, which used the better part of the remaining seconds looking for the game-tying shot. Bishop finally pulled the trigger with six ticks, but her shot sailed wide, giving the Diplomats possession with 1.7 seconds left, and the win.

The teams traded pairs of goals in the first 13 minutes with F&M getting on the board first. Jen Pritchard (Media, PA / Penncrest) broke the deadlock with 10:57 left in the first half, and Salisbury spent the rest of the game playing catch-up. Pritchard finished the game with a hat trick, including a goal with eight seconds left in the first half that made it 6-4. The Diplomats never led by more than two goals at any point in the contest.

Sue Ackerman assisted on four of Salisbury's goals. In addition to Liston's pair, Salisbury got two from Natalie Degele. Pappas recorded eight saves in the Gulls cage.

Franklin & Marshall returns to action on Wednesday at Muhlenberg.