LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 3 Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team earned is fourth straight double-digit Centennial Conference victory on Saturday with a 20-5 triumph over Washington College. The Diplomats are now a perfect 5-0 in Centennial Conference play and have won a season-high seven consecutive games. That stretch includes a perfect 6-0 record inside Shadek Stadium.
Lydia Cassilly was one of six Diplomats who finished with multiple goals as she found the back of the cage a team-leading five times and totaled six points throughout the conference victory. Gillian Brennan's hat trick was part of a four-point performance for her, with Avery Briggs, Adde Hollander, Lane Lambeth, and Kate McLam also scoring twice during the win.
Franklin & Marshall scored the first four goals of Saturday's game, and 13 of the first 14 overall, as the hosts conceded just one goal during the opening half. Devyn Crone got the Diplomats on the board first before the slew of multi-goal scorers started to assert their will over the game.
The Diplomats were up 6-1 after the first quarter and saw Cassilly record her hat trick just 30 seconds into the second quarter. By the end of 30 minutes, F&M was leading 13-1 and had amassed a 28-9 advantage in shots. The Shorewomen made 10 saves during the first half, but the consistent pressure proved too much to overcome on a residual basis.
Washington College scored the opening goal of the second half, but a 4-0 run from the Diplomats featured both of Briggs' goals as the hosts took a 17-2 lead into the fourth. WAC also had the opening goal of that period, but goals from Sarah Bowyer, Myranda Beebe, and Julia Carbon gave the Diplomats their largest advantage of the game at 20-4 before the eventual 20-5 final at the final buzzer.
Both teams finished the afternoon with 10 saves as Alyssa Moran got the start and stopped five of the six shots she faced. Sara DiGiovanni made five more saves before Mary Scally came in for the remaining minutes of game action. Franklin & Marshall won both the draw control (14-13) and ground ball (15-9) battle against the Shorewomen while limiting the visitors to just one-of-seven on their free-position shots. Bowyer finished with a team-best four draw controls, while Lambeth was one of two players with multiple caused turnovers to go with two more draw controls.
Up next, the Diplomats will travel to rival Gettysburg on this coming Wednesday, April 17 for a 4 p.m. opening draw. These two perennial Centennial Conference Championship foes are once again tied for first place heading into this nationally-ranked showdown.
