Game Notes

Last Time Out

Franklin & Marshall won its 10th Centennial Conference Championship in program history with a 16-15 win against Gettysburg last Sunday to earn the Centennial Conference's automatic qualifier spot to the NCAA Tournament. The title was the second straight for the Diplomats in a game that once again came right down to the final seconds. The Diplomats scored six straight at one point during a thrilling fourth quarter, turning a three-goal deficit into a multi-goal advantage at 15-13 with 6:45 remaining in regulation time. The Bullets answered with back-to-back goals which knotted the score at 15-all with 1:06 to play before Lane Lambeth scored the eventual game-winning goal with 38 seconds left in regulation.

Lambeth's final tally made her one of three Diplomats with hat tricks and one of five F&M players overall who had multiple goals during the team's 10th Centennial Conference Championship – all of which have come since the 2007 national championship season. Lauren Pittman led the way with five goals and one assist, while Gillian Brennan added three goals and three assists to match the team lead with six points. Madison Bray and Lydia Cassilly both tallied twice during the championship victory. Alyssa Moran was once again huge in the F&M victory as she stopped 13 shots, compared to just seven for her counterpart.

Last Time vs. St. Mary's (Md.)

Should Franklin & Marshall and St. Mary's (Md.) meet on Sunday, it would be the second meeting between the two teams this year. Playing two games in one day could not slow down the Diplomats' attack as F&M scored 13 times during the opening half of its 20-10 victory against St. Mary's (Md.). Gillian Brennan paced the attack in this game with five goals and one assist, while Lane Lambeth added three more to the winning total. Lydia Cassilly, Claire Book, and Avery Briggs all added two goals and were among 11 different goal scorers which included the first in the careers of both Emma Smith and Greta Harnish.

The Diplomats outshot the Sea Gulls 23-10 during the first half as they raced out to the early lead and finished the contest with a 35-21 advantage in shots. The Sea Gulls struck first during the afternoon matchup, but the Diplomats ran off the next six goals. However, the biggest run was yet to come as F&M scored nine consecutive goals starting at the 8:33 mark of the second period and continuing until there was 6:35 remaining in the third quarter. The game's largest run put the Diplomats up 16-4. The Sea Gulls scored four straight on their own to bring the deficit back to single digits, but F&M closed on a high note with three of the contest's final four tallies.

Franklin & Marshall finished the contest with a 41-30 advantage in shots. Cassilly scored during her only five shots of the afternoon, while the Diplomats' four leading goal scorers tallied 16 goals with just 20 shots on goal from that lethal quad combination. The Diplomats also held the edge in restarts with a 23-18 advantage in draw controls, led by a team-best seven DCs from Sarah Bowyer. Pittman added four draw controls and three ground balls to her well-rounded effort.

Last Time vs. Grove City

Should Grove City advance to Sunday's second round match against the Diplomats, it would mark the first-ever meeting in program history between the two teams.

St. Mary's (Md.) Preview

The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's lacrosse team was part of the 46-team field for the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament as announced by the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Committee Monday morning after the Seahawks won the 2024 United East Conference automatic qualifying spot. This is St. Mary's College's 11th bid, and third consecutive, to the NCAA Tournament. The Seahawks notched the United East Conference's automatic qualification (AQ) with a 20-4 win over No. 3 seed Wilson College in the championship game on May 4. Grove City, who is making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, took down No. 1 seed Washington & Jefferson College, 13-10, as the No. 3 seed for the Presidents' Athletic Conference title and AQ.

In SMCM's previous 10 trips (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2022, 2023), St. Mary's College owns a 4-10 postseason record and advanced as far as the regional finals (third round) in 2002. The program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win was an 11-8 first-round win over Washington & Lee University in 1998.

For the Seahawks, first-year Allie Greeley picked up the United East Conference Rookie of the Year award. Senior captain Rachael Freeman and junior Hailey Betch gained a spot on the All-United East First Team. Greeley, seniors Bella Dunigan (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville) and MC Mortimer (Baltimore, Md./Friends), sophomore Katelin Scala (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales), and first-year Claire Boudreau (Towson, Md./Towson) earned Second Team honors.

Grove City Preview

Grove City College will make its NCAA Division III Championship Tournament debut Saturday. The Wolverines earned their first tournament berth by winning the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 13-10 victory at top-seeded Washington & Jefferson. Grove City is led by junior defender Amber Wartman who earned Presidents' Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors. Senior midfielder Madison Nazigian, junior defender Sarah Jackson, and freshman attack Taylor Blythe joined Wartman on the conference's First Team.

Junior defender Emily Arnold (Ijamsville, Md./Urbana) earned Second Team All-PAC while junior goalie Elyse Kiggins (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) captured Honorable Mention All-PAC distinction. Wartman has helped lead the Grove City defense this year by causing a program-record 59 turnovers this season. She also leads the team with 57 ground balls while adding 66 draw controls. A three-year starter for the Wolverines, Wartman has added five goals and six assists while starting all 20 games at defender this year.  Nazigian leads Grove City (15-5) with 81 goals and 99 points this year. Nazigian also has a team-leading 132 draw controls this spring. She earned the conference tournament's Most Outstanding Player award after scoring 19 goals last week in Grove City's three wins on the way to the conference title.

The reigning Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division III Offensive Player of the Week, Nazigian is Grove City's all-time leading scorer with 220 goals and 253 points. She also earned First Team All-PAC honors in 2022 and 2023.  Jackson earned First Team All-Conference for the third straight season after accumulating 34 caused turnovers and 56 ground balls through the first 20 games of the season. She owns Grove City's career record with 112 caused turnovers. 

F&M Individual & Team Rankings in NCAA National Rankings

Team Rankings

• 7. Win Percentage (0.842)

• 8. Shots Per Game (35.95)

• 10. Scoring Offense (16.84)

• 11. Turnovers Per Game (13.16)

• 13. Shots on Goal Per Game (27.05)

• 15. Points Per Game (24.63)

• 27. Draw Controls Per Game (16.26)

• 32. Scoring Margin (+6.95)

• 33. Assists Per Game (7.79)

• 33. Clearing Percentage (0.857)

• 48. Free-Position Goal (0.505)

Individual Rankings

Lydia Cassilly

• 54. Points (89)

• 91. Goals (59)

• 94. Assists (30)

Lauren Pittman

• 52. Goals (64)

• 57. Points (87)

• 100. Shots per game (7.26)

Alyssa Moran

• 54. Goals against average (9.77)