Box Score WESTMINSTER, Md. – A pair of early first half scores put the Franklin & Marshall women's soccer team in a hole it could not climb out from, falling to McDaniel 2-1 in Centennial Conference (CC) action on Wednesday afternoon.
The loss dropped the Diplomats to 4-3-2 on the season and marked the team's first CC defeat, a record that now stands at 2-1-2. The Green Terror improved to 9-2, 3-1 CC on the year.
F&M only needed 10 minutes of action to find the back of the net when Nicole Rynecki notched her team-leading sixth goal of the season to put the Diplomats up 1-0. Making her way down the right baseline, Spencer Plante sent a cross over the middle of the field that found the foot of Rynecki for the score.
Just four minutes later, McDaniel answered when a short pass off the corner was then launched into the box, resulting in a header from Sam Wilson past F&M goalkeeper Amanda McGowan to knot the game at 1-1.
The Green Terror kept their foot on the gas pedal, notching another score in the 16th minute to take the 2-1 advantage, when a long pass from the right side resulted in yet another header that found its way past McGowan.
Opportunities were abundant for the Diplomats in the opening half as F&M forced McDaniel's goalkeeper Haley Jacobs to stop five shots. In the second, neither team hit pay dirt as both squads combined for a mere three shots on goals with the Diplomats holding the edge at 2-1.
On the day, F&M outshot the Green Terror 12-11 but was outmatched on corners at 6-1. Four of those shots came from Plante, with two finding their way on net. Alexa Yarish and Rynecki also registered two shot apiece.
McGowan (4-3-3) was charged with the loss after surrendering a pair of goals on four chances. Jacobs (9-2) earned the win after stopping six of the seven shots she faced.
The Diplomats return to Lancaster on Saturday to face off against Muhlenberg at 2:00 p.m.
