LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team is headed back to the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Final Four after a thrilling 11-10 overtime victory against Tufts on Sunday afternoon. The win marks the Diplomats' 13 all-time appearance in the national semifinals, including the 10th of the NCAA era. F&M is making back-to-back trips to the Final Four for the first time since the 2015-16 seasons.
With today's victory, the Diplomats advance to play defending national champion and No. 1 Middlebury in the Final Four matchup which is set for Friday, May 24. That game will be played at either 12 p.m. or 3 p.m. on that day in Salem, Virginia with the winner advancing to the national championship on Sunday, May 26 at 12 p.m. in Virginia.
To make it back to the Final Four, the Diplomats had to erase a 9-3 second half deficit. Senior Gillian Brennan was not going to be denied in her final home game as she scored six goals and had one assist. Lane Lambeth also scored twice in the win to make F&M just the second team in Division III history with four different 60-plus goal scorers. Fellow 60 goal scorers Lydia Cassilly and Lauren Pittman also scored throughout the victory, with Pittman netting the game-winning goal during the second half of the first overtime. Devyn Crone scored the game-tying goal with 6.1 seconds remaining in regulation to force the extra time.
Franklin & Marshall held a 3-2 advantage after the first period with three goals from Brennan during the opening period. However, momentum switched sharply in the Jumbos' favor during the second quarter as they scored six unanswered goals during that period before tallying the opening goal of the third to take a 9-3 lead with 11:57 to play in the third quarter.
Following a number of woman-up chances on Saturday, just one card was issued on Sunday but the Diplomats were able to take full advantage as Brennan took a feed from Cassilly to start a 4-0 run. Brennan, Lambeth, and Cassilly kept that run alive as the Diplomats had the deficit down to 9-7. Tufts eventually snapped that run and made the score 10-7 heading to the final 15 minutes.
A defensive lockdown from both sides saw the Diplomats still facing a 10-7 deficit with 4:29 left in regulation before Brennan's sixth goal of the afternoon. The senior then found Lambeth just 31 seconds later to make the game a 10-9 margin with 3:58 left in regulation. It took until the final seconds, but F&M was able to tie the game at 10-all as Crone rattled the back of the cage with 6.1 seconds remaining to cap a quarter which also saw Alyssa Moran come up with five of her 12 crucial saves.
In the overtime, the Jumbos won the opening draw, but Megan Bizub was able to come up with a huge caused turnover to take away the possession. Tufts answered with a big defensive stop of its own as Jumbos' goalie Pascal de Buren made one of her 13 saves on a free possession attempt to close the opening three minutes of overtime.
Both teams finished the game with 13 draw controls and Pittman won her eighth of the afternoon to start the second half of the first overtime. Just 33 seconds later she scored scored the game-winning goal 33 seconds into the newest period which ultimately sent the Diplomats back to Salem, Virginia.
Sunday's Elite 8 game was exactly what you expect with the No. 3 Diplomats and No. 4 Jumbos battling for a spot in the national semifinals. Tufts held a slight 33-32 edge in shots and 13-12 advantage in shots. F&M held the slight advantage in turnovers, with Tufts giving it away 12 times compared to 11 for the Diplomats. Defensively, Belle Dintino, Bizub, and Lambeth each caused two turnovers, with Dintino and Madison Bray accounting for three ground balls.
Franklin & Marshall has previously made trips to the national semifinals during the 1981, 1982, 1983, 1991, 1993, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, and 2023 seasons. The Diplomats have played for the national championship on five occasions, taking home the national championship trophy during the 2007 and 2009 seasons.
