HAVERFORD, Pa. – The No. 2 Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team clinched a first round bye in the Centennial Conference Tournament with a 20-17 victory at No. 24 Haverford on Saturday. The Diplomats raced out to an 8-1 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in locking up at least the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament.
Lydia Cassilly led four hat tricks for the high-powered Diplomats' attack as she scored five goals and dished out two more assists for a total of seven points. Both Lauren Pittman and Gillian Brennan registered six points as they each scored four goals and assisted on two others. Lane Lambeth had the final hat trick with her three goal performance as eight different Franklin & Marshall players found the back of the cage.
The Diplomats were up 7-1 after just 15 minutes, with both Adde Hollander and Megan Bizub adding their names to the scoresheet during the opening period. Cassily and Lambeth each scored twice during the opening period before Cassilly had her hat trick wrapped up just 1:11 into the second quarter which gave the visitors an 8-1 advantage.
Haverford had a pair of 3-0 runs during the second period, but back-to-back goals from Brennan – along with Cassilly's fourth tally of the opening half – kept F&M in front 11-7 at the break. Cassilly's fourth goal of the contest started a span that extended into the third quarter when F&M scored eight of the next 10 goals and led by a game-high nine, 18-9, late in the third quarter before the Fords closed the gap late. Madison Bray and Devyn Crone scored during Franklin & Marshall's extended rally before Haverford's late rally proved to be too little, too late.
Franklin & Marshall finished the contest with a 41-30 advantage in shots. Cassilly scored during her only five shots of the afternoon, while the Diplomats' four leading goal scorers tallied 16 goals with just 20 shots on goal from that lethal quad combination. The Diplomats also held the edge in restarts with a 23-18 advantage in draw controls, led by a team-best seven DCs from Sarah Bowyer. Pittman added four draw controls and three ground balls to her well-rounded effort.
With a first round bye now secured, the Diplomats host their final regular season game this coming Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Dickinson under the lights of Shadek Stadium. Senior Day will still take place on Saturday, April 27 at 12 p.m. However, due to Bryn Mawr having an excessive number of injuries, that game has been declared a no contest and the Diplomats will host a 12 p.m. intersquad scrimmage on that day following the Senior Day festivities.
