CARLISLE, Pa. - The Dickinson women's soccer team put together a late surge in the second-half, but it was not enough as the visiting Franklin & Marshall College tallied twice in the opening 45-minutes to pick up a 2-1 Centennial Conference win at Miller Memorial Field on Wednesday night.

Dickinson earned the first opportunity of the night as a corner kick played into the box that found the head of Lila Brown who sent the offering just to the right of Lucile Fleming in goal. The visitors then put DC under pressure as Alison Francis and Zoe Warne were turned away by keeper Elizabeth Allen within the opening five minutes. After Bridget Merkel missed high of the target the Diplomats found the breakthrough with 15:47 off the clock as Eileen Harvey settled a bouncing ball and buried a shot past Allen. The Devils went searching for an equalizer over the ensuing ten minutes, but neither Georgia Mantione or Ava Prisco could call upon Fleming. F&M would record the next three shots of the match with Allen shutting down Lillian Williams and Bri Skidmore, before Mikaela Timmermans dropped a free kick from about 25-yards over the head of Allen and into the net for the 2-0 lead. Each side tallied one more attempt in the half as Skidmore went wide right, while Prisco fired off target to send the match to halftime.

The Diplomats were on the front-foot to begin half number two as they recorded three shots inside the first ten minutes tasking Allen to make one save. Once Dickinson survived the initial onslaught from the visitors the Red and White finally struck as Maddie St. Amand played a beautiful cross from the right wing to the right-foot of Merkel who slipped a shot just inside the post to cut it down to 2-1 with 56:53 gone. The Devils attempted to find the tying goal in minutes 64 and 81, but both Brown and Merkel were unable to steer their shots on target. Dickinson continued to keep up the pressure recording three more shots in the match, unfortunately, the offerings from Emma Cooney, Ellie Nordwind and Merkel could not beat Fleming allowing the visitors to survive for the 2-1 win. 

Red Devil Leaders
Goals - Merkel (1)
Shots - Merkel (4), Brown and Prisco (2)
Saves - Allen (5)

Diplomat Leaders
Goals - Harvey and Timmermans (1)
Shots - Skidmore, Timmermans and Williams (2)
Saves - Fleming (1)

Next on the Pitch
Dickinson (7-5-1, 3-3-1 Centennial) faces another huge conference challenge on Saturday night at 7pm when they head to 20th-ranked Swarthmore College in a rematch of last season's Centennial Conference Semifinal won by the Red and White 2-1 in extra time.   
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