LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 4 Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team rolled to its first victory of the season with a 21-5 win during the team's home opener on Saturday afternoon inside Shadek Stadium. Despite the final score, it was the Cardinals that held a 3-0 lead just over three minutes into the game before the Diplomats shut down Catholic and scored 21 of the contest's 23 goals for the resounding victory.
Five Diplomats recorded hat tricks, with Lauren Pittman's six-point outing (four goals, two assists) pacing the attack. Gillian Brennan and Lane Lambeth also matched her team high with four goals while assisting on one other goal. Devyn Crone matched Pittman's team high in points with three goals and three assists, while Lydia Cassilly added three more goals to the winning side. Liv Cooper, Skylar Holmes, and Avery Briggs also got into the scoring outburst inside Shadek Stadium. Madison Bray added a multi-point game to F&M with two assists of her own on the afternoon.
The Cardinals opened the scoring with three goals in a span of just 1:02 of playing time before F&M began to find its rhythm offensively. Pittman, Brennan, and Lambeth got the Diplomats jump-started and tied the game at three midway through the first quarter. F&M would take the lead for good with a 7-0 run that stretched from the 3:04 mark of the first period until 7:21 was showing on the second quarter game clock.
Catholic broke that 7-0 run with a goal at the 4:56 mark of the opening half, but the Cardinals were held scored for the final 34:56 of regulation while they could only watch the Diplomats score the final 11 goals of regulation. That stretch included a 5-0 third quarter advantage and 4-0 fourth quarter edge in favor of the Diplomats.
Franklin & Marshall finished with a 40-16 advantage in shots. The Diplomats also held the advantages in both ground balls (25-14) and draw controls (16-14). In addition to her huge offensive performance, Pittman contributed in a number of other facets as she led her side with five ground balls and four caused turnovers. Belle Dintino forced three Catholic turnovers, as Lambeth and Mia Geignetter also came away with a pair of turnovers from the Cardinals. Pittman, Lambeth, and Sarah Bowyer helped control the restarts with four draw controls each. Alyssa Moran made three saves in goal to anchor the defensive unit that faced just eight shots in half – including none during the third quarter.
Women's lacrosse returns to action this coming Wednesday with the Diplomats make the trip to York (Pa.) to face a Spartans team that was ranked No. 6 in the national preseason poll. Opening draw for that contest is set for 4 p.m.
