ALLENTOWN, Pa. – It took over 75 minutes, but the No. 16 Franklin & Marshall field hockey team officially secured its spot as the No. 2 seed in next week's Centennial Conference Tournament with a 2-1 double overtime victory at Muhlenberg on Wednesday night. The Diplomats (12-4, 8-1 CC) racked up a massive 29-5 advantage in shots, but 10 saves from Cathy Barrish, and another defensive save from the Muhlenberg backline kept the match tight all evening.

Carolina Riley finally put home the game-winner during the 76th minute of play, highlighting a pair of overtime periods that saw the Diplomats holding a 10-2 combined edge in shots. The Diplomats took the lead early in the second quarter when Faith DiMantova deflected a cross into the cage from Amelia McCarthy, but the Mules answered with an early strike in the third.

The Muhlenberg defense looked up the task early as a defensive save during the opening minute of game action denied Riley initially as her shot off of a penalty corner was turned away. The Diplomats would maintain a 10-2 advantage in penalty corners throughout the evening. Riley's game-winner eventually came on her team-leading seventh shot attempt of the night.

DiMantova scored her first goal since the season-opening victory against Susquehanna to begin the scoring on Wednesday. McCarthy notched an assist for the second consecutive match and the third time over the last six contests to help F&M go up early. After the Mules tied the game in third, Franklin & Marshall saw two of its shots on target turned away during the final 15 minutes of regulation as the visitors also gained three attacking penalty corner chances.

Playing 7v7 in the overtime, the Diplomats continued to control the pace of play as they doubled up Muhlenberg by a 4-2 edge in shots during the first 10-minute overtime period. That advantage was 6-0 during the second overtime period, with two more saves from Barrish before Riley was able to put away her fourth goal of the season. Riley's goal was the first game-winning effort of her goals this season. She ranks fourth on the team with 12 points, scoring four goals and adding four assists, following Wednesday's conference battle.

Field hockey will wrap up the regular season when it travels to Westminster this Saturday for a 1 p.m. start at McDaniel. With the No. 2 seed secured, the Diplomats now know their playoff pursuit will be get underway at home next Thursday with a time and opponent to be determined this weekend.