LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team fell in a back-and-forth 16-15 final against Denison on Saturday afternoon during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. The Diplomats (18-3) were up 10-5 with just over nine minutes to play in the second quarter. However, a resilient Big Red (16-4) squad scored the next seven goals to take the lead for the first time all afternoon.
Trailing 12-10 with less than seven minutes to play in the third, the Diplomats scored three consecutive goals to reclaim the lead before the Big Red tied the game at 13 heading to the fourth quarter. Lane Lambeth put her team ahead with the first two goals of the fourth quarter, but Denison closed on a 3-0 run to claim the upset victory. The game-winning goal came at the 5:20 mark before the Big Red held up defensively during the final minutes.
Lambeth's fourth quarter goals gave her a game-high six during the postseason game. Both Lydia Cassilly and Lauren Pittman added hat tricks with three goals each. The Diplomats finished the game with advantages in shots (36-28), shots on goal (29-23), ground balls (21-14), and draw controls (19-16), but six free-position goals and 14 saves from Denison goalie Julianne Henigan helped swing the final decision in the Big Red's favor.
With the win, Denison advances to Sunday's Elite 8 which will be a 2:30 p.m. start at Shadek Stadium. The Big Red will take on Gettysburg who advanced to the Elite 8 with an 18-10 win over Washington and Lee in the second game of Saturday's action.
F&M raced out to a 6-3 lead with two goals from Devyn Crone, Cassilly, and Lambeth. The Diplomats' biggest run of the game came with four straight goals in a span of just over three and a half minutes early in the second quarter. With the hosts leading 10-5, Denison scored the next seven goals as F&M was held off the scoreboard for over 18 minutes. The F&M attack returned to what had been working all year as Cassilly, Pittman, and Lambeth gave the team a 13-12 lead before Lambeth added her final two goals of the afternoon during the fourth quarter.
The Diplomats had a great chance to tie the game late, but a free-position attempt was saved by Henigan as the Big Red were able to kill almost all of the remaining 110 seconds with their own possession. Sara DiGiovanni made seven saves of her own in goal for the home side. Pittman (seven draw controls), Cassilly (five ground balls and two caused turnovers), and Megan Bizub (two caused turnovers) were F&M's leaders in those respective categories.
