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LANCASTER, PA – The #8 Franklin & Marshall College women’s lacrosse team’s season will continue at home as the Diplomats were awarded an at-large bid and hosting rights for a first round game versus Denison University on May 10 at Sponaugle-Williamson Field.
The bid marks the ninth in the 22-year history of the NCAA
Division III women’s lacrosse tournament as the Diplomats
previously appeared in the 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992,
1993, 1994 and 1998 tournaments.
The game will mark the second time F&M (13-4, 8-1 Centennial Conference) and Denison (8-7) will clash in the NCAA Tournament and the second time the two teams will meet in the tournament in Lancaster as Franklin & Marshall knocked off the Big Red 11-7 on May 11, 1991 in the first round. Historically, Franklin & Marshall is 2-8 in its eight previous NCAA appearances, including a 17-13 loss at Hartwick College in the 1998 first round. The Diplomats enter the tournament ranked #5 in the Laxpower.com, #11 in the Inside Lacrosse and #8 in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Polls as Franklin & Marshall fell 8-6 to #1 Gettysburg College in the Centennial Conference championship game on April 30. Led by fourth-year head coach Anne Phillips ’80, the Diplomats boast a mixture of experience and firepower in 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 34 goals and 18 assists for 52 points this year. The team leader in free position goals with 11-on-22 attempts, she has scooped 43 ground balls, caused 16 turnovers and collected 37 draws this year while netting a pair of game-winning goals. 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. 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 46 ground balls, 22 draw controls and 45 caused turnovers with one assist this year while anchoring an F&M defense that is allowing 7.82 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 eight goals and eight assists for 16 points with 35 ground balls, 16 draw controls and 12 caused turnovers.
The 2005 ECAC South Region Goaltender of the Year, Mort earned All-CC first team honors this year following an honorable mention selection last year.
This year she has 105 saves and 121 goals against for a .465 save percentage, 7.81 goals against average and 12-4 record. An All-CC second team selection, Pritchard has experienced a breakout freshman season as she leads the team in goals with 48 and has added eight assists for 56 points. In addition, she has three game winning goals, and has chipped in 32 ground balls, seven free position goals, 31 draw controls and nine caused turnovers. Two other players to watch are Meisenberg and attacker Kiki Foster (Sr., Denver, CO/Kent Denver) as Meisenberg earned All-CC honorable mention accolades for tallying 31 goals and 10 assists for 41 points with three game-winning goals, seven free position goals on 19 attempts, 58 ground balls, 41 draw controls and 27 caused turnovers. Foster leads the team in assists and points as she has tallied 33 goals and 24 assists for 57 points with four free position goals, 35 ground balls, 10 draw controls and nine caused turnovers. Denison is making its first appearance in the NCAA field since 2001 as the Big Red received their 13th bid to the tournament after capturing their 15th North Coast Athletic Conference championship 11-7 over Allegheny College on May 6. The championship capped off a dramatic season for the Big Red who finished the regular season 6-7 to earn the #4 seed for the NCAC playoffs before upsetting Wooster 10-7 and handling Allegheny to earn the NCAC’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. Denison enters the game as an underdog as the Big Red is ranked 84th while the Diplomats rank fifth in the latest Laxpower.com rankings of the nation’s 156 Division III women’s lacrosse programs. A game time will be set on Monday morning after consultation with the NCAA. Franklin & Marshall is one of three Centennial Conference teams to make the NCAA field as #1 nationally ranked and CC champion Gettysburg College received a first round bye and will host the winner of a first-round game between Messiah College and Mary Washington University on Saturday. #13 Dickinson College, who the Diplomats knocked off 15-12 in the Centennial Conference playoff semifinals, also received an at-large bid and will travel to Springfield College for a first round game on Wednesday.
The winner of the F&M-Denison game will advance to the New
York Regional in Cortland, New York to take on #14 Nazareth
College at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 13 at #5 SUNY-Cortland.
In the other regional game set for a 2:30 start, Cortland
will take on the winner of a first round game between Colorado
College and Endicott College. The victor in the first round
regional games will then square off at 1:00 p.m. on May 14
at SUNY-Cortland with the winner advancing to the NCAA “Final
Four” at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey
to take on the winner of the Mid-Atlanti Regional hosted by
Gettysburg College on May 20 at 11:30 a.m.
Directions to Sponaugle-Williamson Field are available online at http://wwwdevel.fandm.edu/departments/Athletics/directions.html, while lodging and restaurant information is available at http://www1.fandm.edu/x1984.xml
Tickets prices for the first round game at F&M are $3.00
for adults and $2.00 for children and students with identification.
One of the most successful Division III women’s lacrosse programs in the nation, Franklin & Marshall has captured six conference titles as the Diplomats have competed in 14 national championship tournaments and recorded a mark of 294-148-3 in 30 years of competition.
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