April 19, 2008

Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - It was the final regular-season showdown between the two undefeated women's lacrosse teams in the Centennial Conference (CC) with the winner earning hosting rights to the upcoming championships and No. 3 Franklin & Marshall made sure they secured the top seed for the second consecutive year with a 10-8 victory over No. 4 Gettysburg on Saturday.

With the win, the Diplomats (14-1, 9-0 CC) posted their second straight undefeated season in conference play with a perfect 9-0 record, giving them home-field advantage for the CC tournament.

Meredith Lussier registered four goals, including two on free-position shots, while Jen Pritchard netted a hat trick and dished out an assist.

The Bullets (15-2, 8-1 CC) got two goals from Krissy Browning and Lexie Hearn. Kristen Krammer made six stops in the cage.

F&M never trailed and strung together three goals late in the second half to take a 10-6 lead that would not relinquish for its seventh consecutive win and fourth straight over Gettysburg.

Lussier made it 1-0 in favor of the Diplomats with her first of two 8-meter shots. Krammer made a fumble on the save and the ball rolled over the line for the early F&M lead. A minute, 20 seconds later, Blake Hargest made a quick, short pass to Pritchard to the left of the goal for a 2-0 advantage.

Hargest almost put the Diplomats ahead by three goals, but her shot hit the post at the 23:10 mark and the Bullets came down the field off the rebound to get their first goal of the day off thanks to Browning. Gettysburg made it 2-all with a quick goal by Nina Emala from a Megan Moore pass to the middle.

Lussier and Browning exchanged unassisted goals to keep it even, and instead of driving to the net Hargest found Pritchard cutting toward the goal for the easy finish for a 4-3 lead at halftime.

The score could have been 5-4 at intermission, however the Bullets had a goal called back due to a crease violation and Shannon Summers hit the post with 1:43 left to play.

F&M started the second half just like the first, getting a free-position goal from Lussier and this time Pritchard assisted Hargest on the second goal for a 6-3 lead.

Gettysburg got within one at 7-6 after scoring consecutive goals over a 2:45 span, forcing the Diplomats to call a timeout. After the break, F&M reeled off three straight goals to grab its largest lead at 10-6 with 12:22 remaining.

A late surge by the Bullets cut the lead to 10-8 with Moore and Hearn getting goals with 1:15 of each other but the Diplomats were able to keep Gettysburg off the board in the final 4:15 of the game for the win.

Sarah Meisenberg tallied a goal and an assist with three ground balls, and Lidia Sanza finished with five saves.

Statistically, F&M held a 23-21 shot advantage and 19-12 edge in ground balls, while converting three of eight free-position shots.

The Diplomats return to action on Saturday when they face the winner of the first-round game between McDaniel and Muhlenberg. Game time is to be determined.