LANCASTER, Pa.- The No. 12 Franklin & Marshall field hockey team (12-4, 6-3 Centennial Conference) erased an early 1-0 deficit, putting three unanswered goals past visiting No. 14 Swarthmore (11-5, 7-2 Centennial Conference) in Saturday's 3-1 win to cap the regular season.
Hannah Fitzgerald led the Diplomats' attack with two goals and one assist.
The win sealed the fourth seed in the Centennial Conference Field Hockey Tournament, marking the team's fifth-consecutive appearance in the tournament.
Fitzgerald marked a new career high for points with five via her two goals and one assist. At the end of the regular season, she leads Centennial Conference players with eight assists in 2026.
Molly Donadoni had the game-winning goal for the Diplomats, while F&M's defense allowed just four shots against a Swarthmore side that was averaging over 13 shots per game entering the day.
Swarthmore opened the scoring from their first penalty corner just four minutes into the contest. They worked an injection across the circle's edge before driving towards goal on the right side and converting a redirect past the goalkeeper .
The lead lasted for less than three minutes as Fitzgerald's latched on to an errant pass to the center back from Swarthmore, dribbled past the center back and converted into the far post from just right of the penalty spot.
Fitzgerald provided the assist to Donadoni's game winner four minutes after that in the recycled phase of a penalty corner. Rorick played a ball forward to Fitzgerald near the goal line, and she found a gap through multiple defenders for a cutback pass to an unmarked Donadoni in front of goal.
Swarthmore had the lone two shots of the second quarter, as they saw a couple of attempts blocked.
F&M outshot their opponents 9-0 in the second half including an insurance goal from Fitzgerald in the first minute of the third quarter from another penalty corner. Rorick put a ball towards goal from the edge of the circle to begin the sequence, as Fitzgerald had a redirect saved. The save fell to her with space to the right of the keeper, and she turned and slotted the ball into an empty net.
The Diplomats will make their 14th appearance in 15 seasons in the Centennial Conference Field Hockey Tournament. Fourth-seeded F&M's Centennial Conference Tournament begins by hosting fifth-seeded Haverford on Tuesday, November 3, with a time yet to be confirmed. A full preview of the matchup will be released later this week.
