LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 6 Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team will head into Centennial Conference play riding a six-game winning streak after the Diplomats (6-1) took down No. 16 Catholic (3-4) by a 15-6 score during their return to Shadek Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. The victory marked F&M's fourth win over a nationally-ranked opponent this season.

Reigning Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week Ally Marino continued her torrid stretch with a career-best nine points, paced by a career-high seven goals. Lydia Cassilly, Gillian Brennan, and Sydney Lowe also had two goals and an assist each during the victory. Reigning IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week Emily Kitchin was outstanding once again as she stopped 13 of the Cardinals' 19 shots on goal, a 68.4% save percentage.

It was a wire-to-wire victory for the Diplomats as they won all four quarters. The day started off strong and only continued to build as F&M scored the opening three goals in under five minutes and raced out to an eventual 4-0 lead. Cassilly opened the scoring just 45 seconds in, while Brennan also tallied twice during that opening stretch.

Marino already had her hat trick posted by the 10:51 mark of the second quarter, with Maddy Birch also getting into the scoring act during the opening half. The Diplomats held a 7-3 lead as the teams headed to the locker rooms after 30 minutes of action. F&M more than doubled that lead with an overall 8-3 advantage over the final 30 minutes. That effort was bookended by a 4-0 blanking of the visiting Cardinals in the fourth quarter. Marino opened and closed the scoring during the third quarter before tallying her final two goals to cap the Diplomats' offensive output. Madison Bray rattled the back of the cage during the third quarter while both Lowe's goals came during the second half of action.

F&M finished the contest with a 36-26 advantage in shots. The Diplomats held just a 23-19 advantage in shots on goals, but terrific shooting and a huge day from Kitchin loomed large in the victory. The Franklin & Marshall attack certainly made the most of its free position attempts, converting seven of those chances throughout the contest. That total included four FPS goals from Marino. Kitchin stopped three free-position attempts from the Cardinals and watched another attempt sail wide of the cage.

In addition to her 13 saves, Kitchin added a team-leading three caused turnovers and six ground balls to her outstanding afternoon in the crease. Kate McLam, Erin Phillips, and Bray also forced multiple giveaways from Catholic as the Cardinals were limited to just 17-of-23 on their clearing attempts while committing 21 turnovers overall.

The Diplomats will be back at home this Saturday for the start of Centennial Conference play which begins against McDaniel. That contest starts with the opening draw at 3 p.m. and will be the second game of a doubleheader as the men's side squares off with the Green Terror at 12 p.m. noon.