April 26, 2008

Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. - Jen Pritchard and Blake Hargest hit their season highs with six and five goals, respectively, to lead second-ranked and top-seeded Franklin & Marshall past McDaniel 18-6 in the Centennial Conference (CC) semifinals on Saturday.

Sarah Meisenberg recorded five points with three goals and two assists, while Shannon Summers tied a career-high with five assists to help the Diplomats (15-1) take one step closer to defending their CC crown. F&M will face Gettysburg in a repeat of last year's championship game on Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m.

The Green Terror (10-7) were led by Brittany Baer's three goals, three draw controls and two ground balls.

The combination of Hargest from Summers happened early and often, starting with the first goal just 2:45 after the opening whistle for a 1-0 lead. Baer responded 31 seconds later with an unassisted goal to tie it up.

The Diplomats took control from here and reeled off the next five goals to push the lead to 6-1. Meisenberg found Pritchard on back-to-back goals with the second happening off a quick spin and finish in front of the net by the junior attacker.

Meredith Lussier drove in from the top of the circle to make it 4-1 at the 21:56 mark and Meisenberg followed with a solo run, tucking her over-the-shoulder shot into the right corner past Sarah White.

It was Hargest and Summers with their infamous play with the pass from behind the goal and quick shot into the back of the cage that gave F&M a five-goal lead.

McDaniel managed to sandwich two more goals between three Diplomats goals before the end of the half. Brittany Lines scored on a free-position shot, before Pritchard tallied an unassisted goal off a counter-attack with 8:37 left to play.

Meisenberg converted an 8-meter shot and Lussier buried a low shot into the bottom left corner, but Baer snuck in her second goal of the game with 1:07 remaining to make it 9-3 at the half.

The second half was similar to the first with F&M scoring nine more goals, including three from Pritchard and Hargest with Summers getting the assist on three of those goals.

Lidia Sanza turned away 11 out of the Green Terror's 27 shots, making nine of those saves in the first half. Meisenberg also added four draw controls and four ground balls in the win.