Franklin & Marshall College

BALTIMORE, Md.- The No. 10 Franklin & Marshall field hockey team (8-3, 2-2 Centennial Conference) ended up on the losing side of a double-overtime duel of nationally ranked sides, falling to No. 8 Johns Hopkins (8-4, 4-1 Centennial Conference), 2-1, on a penalty stroke in the second overtime period.

Megan Dadio had the lone goal for the Diplomats, giving F&M the advantage in the second quarter ahead of the Blue Jays' game-leveling goal in the third quarter. Meghan Dole stopped eight of the ten shots that she faced. Caitlin Hoover totaled a team-best eight shots and four shots on goal, while Hannah Fitzgerald recorded four shots and three shots on goal.

Chances were hard to come by in the first 15 minutes, as F&M maintained a 2-1 shot advantage in the first period. Fitzgerald forced the first save of the game in the third minute, as her narrow-angled shot from the goal line was denied. Minutes later, she found Hoover behind the Hopkins defense with a through ball, but her backhanded attempt was saved at the near post from a few yards away. 

The Diplomats held a 5-3 shot advantage in a second quarter that culminated in Dadio's goal that put F&M ahead of Johns Hopkins. After Hoover had another close-range attempt denied early in the period, the Blue Jays generated three shots in a 90-second span that included a pair of blocked shots and Dole's first save of the night on a redirect heading for the far post. 

With four minutes to go, Fitzgerald saw a close-range effort saved following a through ball from Hoover. Dadio's goal came just seconds later, as she dispossessed a Johns Hopkins player entering the midfield, dribbled past a closing defender to her right, and slotted a ball inside of the far post from the edge of the circle to put the Diplomats ahead. Hoover had a great chance to double the advantage with two minutes remaining, as she won a line-breaking aerial ball from Dadio and dribbled past defenders into space. Her breakaway shot just missed the mark, hitting the side of the cage at the near post from a few yards away.

The third-period shot creation came exclusively from the Blue Jays, as they totaled five shots including the game-tying goal. Hopkins had three shots denied from a run of three penalty corners in the first two minutes, forcing a blocked shot by Dadio followed by a save from Dole on a recycled shot. The last of those three attempts saw Hopkins narrowly miss the far post on a penalty-corner attempt from five yards away. The Blue Jays took advantage when the Diplomats found themselves down a defender due to a green card, as they scored from a top-of-the-circle shot low and to Dole's right directly from a penalty corner injection.

F&M pushed for a another go-ahead goal in the fourth period, but they were unable to hit the back of the cage despite nine shots that forced six saves from the Blue Jays. Dole made a key save on a close-range shot in the first 30 seconds, while F&M saw their six shots on goal denied in a three-minute spell in the middle of the period, including strong penalty-corner attempts from Sarah Weitzman, Hoover, and Fitzgerald. Dole made one more stop with a minute to go, as she denied a penalty-corner shot destined for her far post to send the game to overtime.

There were few clear-cut chances in the first ten minutes, as the Blue Jays held a 3-0 shot advantage. They saw a pacey shot from ten yards away sail just wide of the far post on a penalty corner midway through the period, while Dole denied a close-range attempt with eight seconds left. F&M's best chance came halfway through the period when Hoover slotted a through ball behind the defense to Riley Carr, although her cutback pass to Hoover was intercepted by a Blue Jays defender.

Dole stopped Hopkins' first chance of the second overtime period after they won the ball directly in front of goal. She made another stop seconds later on a shot from five-yards away on a penalty corner, although a foul was committed dueling for the rebounded ball to give the Blue Jays a chance from a penalty stroke. The shot was put low and to the keeper's right.

The sides were nearly inseparable statistically, as the hosts held a 17-16 shot advantage and each team had ten shots on goal. The Blue Jays find a 11-4 penalty-corner advantage, while F&M conceded three green cards against zero from their opponents. 

The Diplomats play the first of two home games next week when they host Muhlenberg on Wednesday, October 14, at 4:30 p.m.