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LANCASTER, PA – The Franklin & Marshall College women’s lacrosse team will seek its first Centennial Conference title this weekend as the Diplomats travel to Gettysburg College for the 2006 Centennial Conference women’s lacrosse championship playoffs on April 29-30. On Saturday, the #1 ranked and top-seeded Bullets of Gettysburg (16-0, 9-0 CC), which are hosting the tournament for the third time in its six-year history, will square off with fourth-seeded Ursinus College (12-5, 6-3 CC) at 1:00 p.m. Ursinus defeated fifth-seeded Swarthmore College 12-9 on April 26 in a first-round game to advance to the semifinals. The tournament’s other semifinal will feature the second-seeded and #8 nationally ranked Diplomats (12-3, 8-1 CC) versus third-seeded and #14 ranked Dickinson College (12-3, 6-3 CC). The game will be played 45 minutes following the conclusion of the first semifinal. The championship game will be held on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Admission is free to all round of the Centennial Conference championship playoffs. The tournament’s champion will earn the Centennial Conference’s automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Division III tournament, slated to begin on Wednesday, May 10. The NCAA field will be announced on Sunday, May 7. F&M is making its sixth straight appearance in the CC postseason, as the Diplomats have fallen to Gettysburg in the last three Centennial Conference title games, including an 11-8 loss at home on Sponaugle-Williamson Field on May 1 last year. Historically, Franklin & Marshall will look to become the fourth school in Conference history to win a CC title as Gettysburg won the 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 crowns, while Ursinus is the only other current CC program to have won a conference championship, capturing crowns in 1996, 1999 and 2001. Johns Hopkins won four of the first five CC titles before moving to Division I after the 1998 season. Further, the Diplomats will look to snap a seven year stretch since their last conference crown as Franklin & Marshall is seeking its first conference championship since 1993 as the Diplomats won the 1980, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1991 and 1993 Middle Atlantic Conference titles. Leading the charge for the blue and white will be a mix of experience and young firepower in the form of attackers Kelly Cassels (Jr., Downingtown, PA/Great Valley) and Jen Pritchard (Fr., Media, PA/Penncrest), midfielders Eileen Keever (Sr., Prospect Park, PA/Interboro) and Sarah Meisenberg (Fr., Severna Park, MD/Severn), defender Holly Rutherford (Sr., Rochester, NY/Brighton) and goalkeeper Kamissa Mort (Sr., Ashton, MD/Sandy Spring) who were named to the 2006 All-Centennial Conference women’s lacrosse team earlier this week. A three time All-Centennial Conference selection with first team honors in 2006 and 2005 and second team accolades in 2004, Cassels has 29 goals and 16 assists for 45 points this year to tie for second in goals with Meisenberg and Kiki Foster (Sr., Denver, CO/Kent Denver) and rank third in assists and points on the Diplomats this year. The team leader in free position goals with nine-on-19 attempts, she has scooped 40 ground balls, caused 14 turnovers and collected 33 draws this year while netting a pair of game-winning goals. She has been a force in Centennial Conference games this year tallying 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points, including five free position goals, to rank second in free position goals, fifth in goals, fourth in assists and third in points. A 2005 second team selection to the Warrior/Inside Lacrosse and womenslacrosse.com All-America teams, Cassels led the team in goals and earned Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association All-Region first team honors as she finished with 47 goals and nine assists for 56 points last year. A 2004 All-Centennial Conference second team selection, she was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2005 ECAC Tournament as she scored three goals and assisted on another to lead the Diplomats to a 12-8 victory over McDaniel College in the ECAC Championship game hosted by the University of Scranton. Overall, she now has 109 goals and 29 assists for 138 points in her 51 game career at Franklin & Marshall as she is tied for 16th in goals, ranks 14th in assists and is tied for 20th in points in the history of the College. The eighth player in Centennial Conference history to earn first team honors three times, Rutherford repeated on the Conference’s top team after earning first team honors in 2004 and 2005. A 2005 All-Eastern College Athletic Conference South Region All-Star, Rutherford has 42 ground balls, 21 draw controls and 41 caused turnovers with one assist this year as she has raised her career scoring total to 29 goals and five assists for 34 points while anchoring an F&M defense which is allowing 7.53 goals per game. A 2004 All-Centennial Conference second team selection, Keever moved up to the first team as a senior as she has tallied seven goals and six assists for 13 points with 31 ground balls, nine draw controls and 11 caused turnovers to raise her career scoring total to 51 goals and 32 assists for 83 points.
The award marks the fifth All-Centennial Conference nod of her career as she was named to the 2004 and 2005 All-Centennial first team and 2003 second team in field hockey.
The 2005 ECAC South Region Goaltender of the Year, Mort earned her second All-CC honor this year following an honorable mention selection last year.
This year she has 94 saves and 101 goals against for a .482 save percentage, 7.49 goals against average and 11-3 record as she raised her career totals to 351 goals against, 338 saves in 2769 minutes for a .491 save percentage and 7.61 goals against average.
Further, she is 24-4 over the last two seasons as her only losses have come to #3 Salisbury University and #12 Rowan University this year and to Gettysburg College last year in the Centennial Conference title game and this year in triple overtime. For her career, she is 25-5, including a win over Bryn Mawr College and a loss to William Smith College as a sophomore. On the second team, Pritchard has experienced a breakout freshman season as she leads the team in goals with 42 and is tied with Foster for the team lead in points at 49 as she has added seven assists this year. In addition, she has two game winning goals, and has chipped in 31 ground balls, six free position goals, 27 draw controls and seven caused turnovers. She is among the Conference leaders in goals (second, 2.80 gpg), points (seventh, 3.27 ppg) and shots (fifth, 5.47 spg) as she leads an offense that is averaging 14.27 goals, 6.87 assists and 21.13 points per game. Rounding out the Diplomats selections, Meisenberg ranks among the Conference leaders in goals (14th, 1.93 gpg), game-winning goals (fourth, three), draw controls (fifth, 2.73 dpg) and free position goals (fifth, seven) as she has 29 goals and eight assists for 37 points. Tied for the team lead in game-winning goals at three with Shannon Summers (Fr., North Wales, PA/Hill School), Meisenberg leads the team in ground balls (51) and draw controls (41), and ranks second in caused turnovers (26) and free position goals (seven). Ranked fourth in the April 24 NCAA Metro Region poll and eighth in the Laxpower.com, Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association and Inside Lacrosse national polls, Franklin & Marshall will look to advance to the title game for the fourth consecutive year.
Overall, F&M has never faced Dickinson in the Centennial Conference playoffs, and hold a 0-1 record against Ursinus in the playoffs as the Bears held off the Diplomats 13-7 in the 2002 semifinals. This year, Franklin & Marshall controlled their regular season meetings against Dickinson and Ursinus posting an 18-8 win over the Red Devils in Lancaster on April 18 and knocking off the Bears 15-2 in Collegeville on April 8. Against Gettysburg in the Centennial Conference playoffs, Franklin & Marshall is 0-4 as the Diplomats dropped the 2003 (8-6 L) and 2004 (14-8 L) title games in Gettysburg and lost 11-8 in the 2005 title tilt in Lancaster. Further, F&M lost fell 12-6 to Gettysburg in the 2001 semifinals hosted by Ursinus College. A showdown between F&M and Gettysburg in the title game could be a titanic clash unmatched since the days of Lee and Meade as Gettysburg won the regular season contest on April 5 at the historic battlefield in the ninth minute of overtime on a goal by senior attacker Ellie Shihadeh for an 8-7 Bullets victory. Last year, F&M downed the Bullets 8-7 in Lancaster in the regular season before dropping the championship game at Sponaugle-Williamson Field. Fans unable to make the championship game can listen to the broadcast courtesy the Centennial Conference Broadcast Network that will air the game online beginning at 12:50 p.m. The broadcast can be accessed at http://www.teamline.cc/teampages.html?teamcode=1979.
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