Excerpted from GoDiplomats.com, to view the full article, click here.
LANCASTER, Pa. – No. 3 Franklin & Marshall cruised to 15-3 victory over Swarthmore in Centennial Conference (CC) women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Tylus Field. The Diplomats improved to 12-1, 5-0 CC while the Garnet fell to 7-5, 2-3 CC.
Seniors Christie Huidekoper, Casey Madden, Kimberly Abruzzo, Emily Everdell, Emily D'Erasmo,Megan Kelly and Brittney Jorgenson were honored before the game in a special senior day ceremony.
The Diplomats dominated from the opening whistle and jumped out to a 6-0 lead midway through the first half. Samantha Blicht found Gabby Frank at 27:06 for the first goal of the game and Madden's goal at 19:30 gave F&M an early 2-0 edge. Grace Saliba connected with Jorgenson and Natalie Delinsky on back-to-back scores for the Diplomats before Katie Groenke found Jorgenson at 13:27. A little over a minute later, Emily Everdell found Saliba to put the Diplomats up 6-0.
Swarthmore found the net at 9:07 for its first score of the game and D'Erasmo answered for the Diplomats 40 seconds later to make it 7-1. The Garnet put one through at 6:28 and the Diplomats responded with two straight to end the half. Abruzzo scored unassisted for the first goal and Frank hooked up with Page Morairty with 1.5 seconds in the half to give the Diplomats a 9-2 lead the break.
Elyse Tierney struck for Swarthmore early in the first to bring the Garnet within six, 9-3, but F&M's defense stepped and kept Swarthmore off the board for the final 29:04 of action. Kelly's free position goal at 23:58 made 10-3 and Moriarty assisted Delinsky and Jorgenson on back-to-back scores for a 12-3 F&M lead at 10:58. Madden fed Abruzzo at 9:03 and a free position goal by Jorgenson put the Diplomats up 14-3 with 1:32 left to play before Yen Baker found Claire Jackson a minute later for final score the game.
Caroline Doran paced the defense with three caused turnovers and two ground balls while Samantha Blicht, Megan Kelly and Katie Groenke all finished with two turnovers each. Sarah Bozzo added a team-high five ground balls for the Diplomats.
Kaitlin Hardt picked up the win and improved to 7-0 and Connie Bowen took the loss for Swarthmore with 10 saves.
F&M outshot Swarthmore 36-11, held a 27-12 advantage in turnovers and went 18-for-18 on clear attempts.
The Diplomats return to action on Wednesday when F&M travels to Ursinus for a 7:00 p.m. game.