LANCASTER, Pa. – Devyn Crone scored with four seconds remaining to lift the third-ranked Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team to a 12-11 victory over No. 20 York (Pa.) on Saturday inside Shadek Stadium. The thrilling win makes the Diplomats 2-0 on the year with a pair of nationally-ranked victories.
Crone's goal came just over a minute after the Spartans had tied the game at 11-all and won the ensuing draw to look for their own heroic ending. Nevertheless, Megan Bizub had other ideas as she caused a turnover on the defensive end before passes to Lauren Pittman and Lydia Cassilly got the ball out in transition for Crone to complete the thrilling conclusion to the nationally-ranked showdown.
Crone's goal made her one of three Diplomats who finished with hat tricks as she joined Lane Lambeth (four goals) and Pittman (three goals) in pacing the attach. In addition to making the game-winning pass to find Crone, Cassilly found the back of the cage twice. Cassilly and Pittman both finished the contest with five total points on the attack.
The game started at a high pace from the opening whistle as Lambeth scored just over a minute into the contest as part of a nine-goal first quarter that saw the Spartans holding a 5-4 advantage at the end of 15 minutes. The Spartans had their largest run of the afternoon when they scored four consecutive goals during the opening quarter.
F&M and York (Pa.) were tied on five different occasions. Lambeth knotted the game at five-all with another early goal in the second quarter during a 6-1 run for the Diplomats that saw them leading 9-6 just forty seconds into the third quarter. Taking advantage of their advantage goals was huge for the Diplomats as York (Pa.) was whistled for five yellow cards throughout the contest. The Diplomats scored on four of those chances during the second quarter run.
However, the Spartans were not going to go down without a battle and they tied the contest at both 10 and 11-all during the fourth quarter. The final deadlocked score came with 1:06 remaining in regulation time before the late theatre from the home side.
Reigning national goalie of the year Bella Garabo starred for York (Pa.) in goal with 11 saves on the afternoon, but Diplomats' goalie Sara DiGiovanni was not going to be outdone as she stopped nine shots throughout the contest. That included seven saves during the second half when her team needed her the most. F&M also held a 17-10 edge in draw controls, with Pittman collecting 11 of those possessions off of the restarts. Bizub's final caused turnover was the highlight of her day, but she led F&M with three ground balls and two caused turnovers throughout the contest.
Women's lacrosse closes its three-game home stand to start the 2025 season this coming Wednesday, March 5 at 4:30 p.m. when Messiah visits Shadek Stadium in another regional matchup.
