LANCASTER, Pa. – Coming off of an undefeated regular season and 2021 Centennial Conference Championship, the Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team looks poised for another strong season as the Diplomats return four All-Americans, seven All-Centennial Conference selections, and nine starters from that championship roster.
Attack
Ally Marino, a 2021 All-American, headlines the attacking unit as the senior scored 29 points (19 goals, 10 assists) in the abbreviated 2021 season. Stepping into a leadership role as captain, Marino contributes in all facets of the game as she also ranked among the Centennial's top 10 players in caused turnovers a season ago. Junior Maddy Birch and sophomore Kate McLam were both second-team All-CC selections on the attack unit last year. McLam took the league by storm as the first-year had the second-most assists in the conference (13) in addition to 11 goals. Birch ranked fifth in the Centennial in helpers (10) on top of her 10 goals.
Several juniors and sophomores will support the attacking unit which averaged 18.4 goals per game in conference play last spring. Sophomore Gillian Brennan registered 15 points with seven goals and eight assists during her rookie campaign while junior Sarah Delaney added eight goals to the vaunted attack. Junior Sydney Lowe showed her goal scoring potential with a hat trick against Ursinus. Junior Ava Turner and sophomore Amelia McCarthy add experience to the explosive unit.
First-years: Lydia Cassilly, Abby Gravel
Midfield
The F&M midfielders will be an experienced group with three seniors and three juniors as the team looks for more leaders to emerge. Marissa McGarrey currently highlights this group as a team captain and the reigning Centennial Conference Midfielder of the Year. The 2021 first-team All-American registered 28 points, ranking third in the Centennial Conference in goals (21) last spring. Sophomore Madison Bray started six of the seven games she played in last year, adding two goals, four ground balls, and two draw controls.
Senior Maisie O'Shea has made 14 starts during her 34 career appearances, totaling 22 goals and 11 assists. Classmate Bridget Kane has played in 24 games for the Diplomats, while juniors Emily Mooney, Gracie Gargiulo, and Lauren Van Buren have all scored during their first two abbreviated seasons and will look to take advantage of a full return to play this spring. The same can be said for sophomore Sarah Bowyer who appeared in five games during her rookie season.
First-years: Megan Bizub, Adde Hollander, Lane Lambeth
Defense
A very experienced unit returns from the 12th-ranked scoring defense in Division III last year. Sophomore Mary Pat McKenna was named the conference's defensive player of the year as a sophomore on her way to earning All-America honors. The honors continued to pour in for McKenna as she was recognized by USA Lacrosse as the Division III Preseason Defender of the Year. Senior captain Erin Phillips has started 35 of her 36 career appearances and earned second-team All-CC accolades last year.
Junior Abbi Boehl emerged as starter on the unit last spring while senior Helen Mackay is another experienced Diplomat with 33 career games played, including 18 starts. Senior Lily Nolan has played 17 games on the defensive unit throughout her career while sophomores Caroline Findlay and Delaney Liston appeared in over half of the team's contests during their rookie seasons.
First-years: Izzy Deubner, Ellen Kelly, Izzy Spagnuolo
Goalies
Senior Emily Kitchin has been named an All-American in every season those awards were presented, including first-team honors last spring. Entering her second year as team captain, the two-time national player of the week ranks fifth in school history in career GAA (7.50) and wins (22) to go along with a .537 save percentage. Her 6.51 GAA a season ago led the Centennial Conference and ranked ninth in all of Division III.
With Kitchin anchoring the defense for the majority of her career, opportunities have been limited for the rest of the goalies on the roster. Junior Molly Donatelli is the most experienced of that unit with four career appearances, recording a 6.20 GAA in just under 39 minutes of action. Junior Emily Toft and sophomore Alyssa Moran have seen playing time in two contests each.
Preseason Polls
Franklin & Marshall was ranked No. 1 in the nation for the entire 2021 regular season before falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Diplomats will start their 2022 season as the seventh-ranked team nationally. F&M was additionally selected as the Centennial Conference preseason favorite after garnering six of the 10 first-place votes among the conference's head coaches.
Schedule
The Diplomats are slated for a number of nationally-ranked showdowns as they open the season at home against No. 5 Washington and Lee on Saturday, February 19 and travel to defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Salisbury on Wednesday, March 30. F&M will also see No. 8 Messiah, No. 12 Denison, No. 14 Catholic, and No. 18 York (Pa.) in non-conference action. Franklin & Marshall is the highest-ranked team in the Centennial Conference as Gettysburg checks in at No. 9 in the preseason poll.
Tradition of Success
Women's lacrosse has made the NCAA Tournament during each of the last eight years that the championship event was held. The Diplomats have appeared in the NCAA Tournament a total of 21 times, capturing the national championship in 2007 and 2009. The team returned to the Final Four during both the 2015 and 2016 campaigns. Last year's Centennial Conference Championship was the program's eighth since 2007.
Coaching Staff
The 2022 season will be head coach Mike Faith's 10th leading the Diplomats. With a career record of 137-33 (64-4 CC) at the helm of the Diplomats, he is the winningest coach in program history. Faith has led F&M to two Final Fours (2015, 16), and six Elite Eights (2013, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19) while guiding his squad to either the Centennial Conference regular season or tournament championship every year since 2015.
Follow at Home
All F&M home contests are streamed in HD video, free of charge, and simulcast on the Centennial Conference Digital Network (CCDN). Fans can also follow the action through the live stats page, found on the team's schedule page.
In addition to its Roku channel, the Conference will have three new over-the-top (OTT) applications to make broadcasts available – Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Android TV. Home broadcasts that are produced by all 11 members will be available on CentennialConference.TV and the OTT apps.
Follow Along (Social Media)
All of your favorite Diplomat athletic teams are available on social media. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram, like them on Facebook.
