CHESTER, Pa. – No. 6 Franklin & Marshall fell 6-2 to No. 7 Trinity in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Semifinals Saturday evening at Talen Energy Stadium. F&M dropped to 21-3 while Trinity improved to 19-3 and will face Middlebury in tomorrow's National Championship Game. 

The game was a defensive battle from the opening whistle as both teams struggled to possess the ball and get good looks on the cage. Trinity took the early lead with two goals 30 seconds apart for a 2-0 edge with 7:34 left in the first half.

F&M countered when Anastasia Mergner found Katie Groenke at 5:37 to bring the Diplomats within a goal. Stephanie Speese forced a turnover with 2:40 on the clock and F&M set up to take the last shot after calling a timeout at 1:50. The Diplomats took some time off the clock before Natalie Delinsky fired a pass to Grace Saliba who was standing at the end of the crease and Saliba shot just past the goalie with 3.3 seconds on the clock to make it 2-2 at the break.

Trinity dominated the second half and limited F&M's offensive possession to under four minutes the entire half. F&M managed just four shots in the final frame, hitting the post twice. The Bantams tallied four times in the in the second, with the first score occurring at 14:37 which stood as the game-winner. Trinity ended the game with three goals in a three-minute span to secure the win.

Speese had three caused turnovers to lead the defense while Groenke, Vanessa Budd, Peyton Annese, Rachael Consoli and Mergner each caused a turnover.

Danielle Harrington turned away eight shots and collected four ground balls in the loss and Emily Mooney picked up the win after starting in the second half.

Trinity had the edge in shots 20-11, ground balls 16-12 and draws with an 8-2 advantage.

The senior class finished their four years with a 74-17 mark, went to two Elite Eights and back-to-back Final Fours and tied a school record with 21 wins this season.