LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 6 Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team was edged on the heels of a huge second quarter by No. 10 Wesleyan (Conn.) on Saturday afternoon. After a low scoring opening quarter, the Cardinals (3-0) scored six of the eight goals during the second period. Despite the Diplomats holding the advantage in second half scoring, that early deficit proved too much to overcome in 12-10 setback.

Lydia Cassilly added yet another hat trick with three goals, while Maddy Birch added two. Seven different Diplomats scoring in the top 10 matchup, with Madison Bray and Devyn Crone each registering multiple points. The Cardinals were paced by five players who recorded multiple goals.

Alyssa Moran came up huge in goal during the first quarter, stopping five of the six shots on goal that she faced during the first 15 minutes. Wesleyan's only goal came following a yellow card, but Lauren Pittman answered just 37 seconds later to level the contest at one. Birch scored the first goal of the second quarter off a pass from Emily Mooney to give her side a 2-1 lead, but the Cardinals responded with a six straight and a run that eventually climbed to seven following the first goal of the third period.

The Diplomats made their charge back in the quarter as Crone, Lane Lambeth, Bray, and Cassilly (twice) helped F&M score five of the next six goals to climb within two, 10-8, heading into the final period.

Cassilly and Sydney Lowe each tallied during the final quarter, but ended up just trading goals with the visitors during the eventual 12-10 final. That final score came after F&M held a 16-9 advantage in shots during the second half. Moran made nine saves in goal during the game, compared to just six for Wesleyan goalie. However, the Cardinals made five saves during the final 30 minutes to prevent F&M from crawling any closer than two goals. The Diplomats doubled up the Cardinals in free-position goals, but the visitors held the advantage in draw controls (18-8), ground balls (19-14), and total shots (29-24).

Women's lacrosse will now head south to Florida where the team can enjoy the Sunshine State and play a pair of games against Rhodes and Shenandoah. Both of those contests are slated for Wednesday, March 15 with 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. respective start times.