LANCASTER, Pa.- Led by a first-career hat-trick from
Megan Dadio, the No. 11 Franklin & Marshall field hockey team (10-3, 4-2 Centennial Conference) sailed to a 5-2 win over visiting Washington College.
Dadio led the offense with three goals, while
Hannah Fitzgerald contributed a career-best three assists, becoming just the sixth Diplomat to assist three goals in a game.
Maya Rorick recorded one goal and one assist,
Caitlin Hoover scored the game-opening goal, and
Sarah Weitzman had one assist.
Meghan Dole faced no shots on goal through the first 45 minutes, while
Sara Davis made three fourth-quarter saves.
It took less than three minutes for Hoover to open the scoring for the Diplomats. Rorick began the sequence with a midfield dispossession and quickly progressed the ball forward. An
Ava Lofgren through ball found Fitzgerald who played a square pass across the circle to Hoover, who drove towards the goal line and converted at the far post from a tight angle.
Dadio doubled the lead in the final moments in the first quarter from a penalty corner. Rorick played a central injection to Weitzman on her left. She put an attempt on target at the near post, where Dadio put a vital redirect over the Shorewomen keeper.
The third goal, and Dadio's second, came with a second left in regulation in the second half from another penalty corner. The ball was passed across the circle's edge to Rorick, who began working towards the goal line. She then put a cut-back pass across the face of goal to Dadio at the far post who beat her defender and put the ball into the cage from a yard away. The goal wrapped a first half where F&M maintained a 22-1 shot advantage.
Rorick scored the team's first goal inside of three minutes in the third period, marking the team's third penalty corner conversion of the game. Dadio's initial shot from the circle's edge got a save from the goalkeeper, but the rebound fell to Rorick at the near post who tapped the ball over the line.
Dadio completed her hat-trick just two minutes later. The sequence started from the Franklin & Marshall defense and involved six different Diplomats in the buildup. Fitzgerald entered the attacking third and played a pass to her left to Dadio. She then drove just inside the circle and converted a backhanded shot.
The Shorewomen got two goals back in the fourth quarter, with both chances coming from penalty corners.
F&M maintained a 37-10 shot advantage, with eight of Washington College's shots coming in the fourth quarter. Their shots on goal advantage was 22-5.
The Diplomats are back in action with a trip to No. 14 Ursinus on Wednesday, October 21, at 7 p.m.
