SALEM, Va. – Making its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Final Four and its 13th appearance all-time in the national semifinals, the Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team fell in a hard-fought 15-9 battle against defending national champion and top-ranked Middlebury on Friday afternoon. The Diplomats (19-4), who had pulled off several fourth quarter comebacks throughout the season, were within striking distance at 12-9 of the Panthers heading into the fourth quarter before Middlebury secured the victory.
Senior Gillian Brennan continued her torrid NCAA Tournament with another hat trick as she scored three goals, with Lane Lambeth and Lauren Pittman also finding the back of the cage twice. Madison Bray and Lydia Cassilly also registered goals throughout the Final Four contest.
Franklin & Marshall had the game tied on two occasions during the opening quarter as both Gillian Brennan and Lane Lambeth tallied during the first six-plus minutes of game action. The Panthers would go on to score the next three goals, but the Diplomats continued to fight and had the game down a two-goal deficit on four different occasions throughout the rest of the contest.
The senior combination of Brennan and Bray accounted for those first two opportunities before the Panthers were able to grab a 10-6 lead at the half despite Cassilly scoring in the late minutes of the second period. F&M started the second half strong, as goals from Lambeth and Pittman once again had the Middlebury lead down to just two goals, 10-8, with 8:45 to play in the third quarter. The Diplomats put up a valiant fight down to the final minutes, but the defending national champions showed their resolve by scoring five of the game's final six goals while Pittman tallied her second of the afternoon to interrupt that run.
The Panthers' largest statistical edge came in draw controls where they held a 20-8 edge which led to a 28-19 advantage in shots. A strong defensive effort gained some of those possessions back as the Diplomats were plus-five in the turnover category, with Alyssa Moran making nine more saves on the afternoon. Belle Dintino caused four of those takeaways, with Sophia Geibel 3 CTs) and Caroline Findlay (2 CTs) aiding the strong defensive effort.
Today's loss brings to a close another fantastic for the Diplomats who entered the NCAA Division III Tournament as the No. 3-ranked team in the entire country. In addition to winning the program's 10th Centennial Conference Championship, the Diplomats' 19 wins this season were tied for the fifth-most in a single season. It was also the highest total since F&M tied a program record with 21 victories during its run to the 2016 NCAA Final Four.
