LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team officially clinched to No. 1 seed and hosting rights for next week's Centennial Conference Tournament with a 21-4 win against Ursinus on Wednesday night. Those 21 goals represent the highest offensive output for the Diplomats this season. The 17 goal margin of a victory was another season best. Wednesday's contest was also the team's One Love Contest which saw both teams looking to raise awareness for the One Love Foundation.
Nine different Diplomats scored throughout the victory, led by five goals from Lauren Pittman who added three assists for an eight-point outing. Lydia Cassilly (four goals) and Lane Lambeth added hat tricks to the winning effort which saw Devyn Crone, Adde Hollander, and Alexandra Proefrock score multiple times. Crone added three assists to her offensive totals to finish with five points.
The Diplomats did not allow a goal the entire second half, a defensive shutdown that featured no goals allowed during the final 35:56 of game action. Franklin & Marshall scored the final 13 goals of the contest during that time frame. That stretch came after the Diplomats were doubling up the Bears, 8-4, midway through the opening half on the strength of separate 3-0 and 5-0 runs.
The offensive explosion additionally featured the first goals of the season for sophomores Skylar Holmes and Emma Smith, with classmate Gretta Harnish finding her way on the scoresheet as well. Those players scored on their only shot attempts of the night. F&M outshout the Bears 32-8 over the final 45 minutes and finished with a 39-13 advantage in that category. F&M held a 25-6 advantage in shots on goal during a very efficient shooting night.
Julia Carbon tied her career high with 12 draw controls as the Diplomats had a 21-7 advantage on the restarts. Carbon's draw control total represented the second-highest single-game performance in program history, matching her previous high that she had versus Messiah back on March 5. Lambeth added six draw controls while tying for the team lead with three ground balls. Sara DiGiovanni and Sophia Geibel matched that ground ball total, with Geibel causing a pair of turnovers to lead eight Diplomats who forced a giveaway on the evening.
Women's lacrosse wraps up the regular season this Saturday with a 12 p.m. start versus Muhlenberg inside Shadek Stadium. The contest is also Senior Day for the Diplomats who will honor the seven members of the team's Class of 2025 prior to the opening draw this weekend.
