March 4, 2007

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DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. - #7 Franklin & Marshall outscored #15 Rowan 9-2 inside of the game's first 14 minutes and never looked back in running to an 18-6 win Saturday evening. Shannon Summers and Kelly Cassels each scored four goals and assisted on a pair for F&M, while Jen Pritchard rolled up five goals in the Diplomat win.

Rowan (1-1) got the early jump when Shana Smeriglio cashed in on a free position shot beating Lidia Sanza 40 seconds in. Sanza stood tall for the duration, however, posting seven saves. The lion's share came in the second half, thwarting any Rowan hopes of a comeback.

Rowan's only lead of the evening evaporated a little more than three minutes later with Cassels' first of the night. She accounted for three of F&M's first four goals, broken up only by Summers' first of the evening which gave F&M a 2-1 lead almost immediately after tying it at 1-1.

Still in the early going, Kelly Angstadt made it 4-2, but her tally was answered by a four-and-a-half minute run on the Profs' cage. F&M lit the scoreboard five times with five different players in that stretch to make it 9-2. The run began with Sarah Meisenberg's free position goal with 20:49 left in the first half. She wrapped up her night with a hat trick.

After a furious start, play settled down and saw Rowan's Katie Kline and Alayna Morris tally back-to-back goals nearly six minutes apart to make it a 9-4 game. The Profs were never closer than that five-goal margin, and both of those goals were answered to leave F&M with an 11-4 lead at the break. Meisenberg set the tone for the second half netting a pair of unassisted goals inside of the second half's first four minutes.

F&M went ahead 10 with 18-14 left. The running clock was not to be stopped.

The Diplomats improved to 2-0 with the victory, while Rowan slid to 1-1. Franklin & Marshall returns to action next Saturday at Washington & Lee before departing for a pair of games in Florida.