LANCASTER, Pa. – The Dickinson women's lacrosse team entered Wednesday night's Centennial Conference contest with the fourth-ranked Franklin & Marshall College knowing that their postseason fate is in their control with just two games left. A win in just one of their final two games would book the Red and White a spot in the Centennial Conference tournament. Unfortunately, Dickinson will have to wait until the weekend as the Diplomats jumped out to a 7-1 lead through 15 minutes and never looked back winning by a 16-6 margin at Shadek Stadium.
The home side was on the attack from the word "go" as Lauren Pittman test DC keeper
Peyton VanDorpe just 36-seconds in. They would tally two more shots over the next three minutes with both Madison Bray and Pittman finding the net for a 2-0 advantage with 3:55 gone. Two minutes later
Faith Parker knocked the ball loose from Pittman leading to
Emma Wynne finishing the rock behind Alyssa Moran to cut it down to 2-1. The Diplomats continued to attack using their next three shots to pick up goals from three different players making it 5-1 with 6:12 left. Over the ensuing minute each keeper was tested once as Lydia Cassilly was denied by VanDorpe, while
Abby Geary was shutdown by Moran. Pittman extended the gap to 6-1, before Gillian Brennan beat the clock for a 7-1 through the first.
Franklin & Marshall needed 40-seconds of the second to open the lead to 8-1 through Cassilly. Dickinson then recorded chances from both Geary and Wynne that were stopped by Moran, which allowed for Kate McLam and Pittman to head back down the other way and solve VanDorpe once each making it 10-1 with 4:31 gone. Following a draw control win for
Jillian McNulty, Pittman was issued a green card leading to a power-play tally by
Delaney Herbert to close within 10-2. However, 37-seconds later Claire Book found the back of the net (11-2). The next seven shots belonged to the Diplomats with VanDorpe making three stops, while one got behind her. Then, with exactly three minutes left
Liz Barroll cashed in a feed from Herbert on the power play (12-3). Lane Lambeth collected one more goal for the home side with a little over a minute left to set a 13-3 halftime lead.
The Red and White came out of the break on fire as Parker grabbed the opening draw and got the ball ahead to Wynne who hit
Sage Whiteside for a goal. Over the next six minutes the home side recorded three shots picking up one more as VanDorpe notched one more save, while
Syd MacKeigan took the lone shot for DC during that stretch. After a Devils giveaway, Brennan put the ball in the stick of Lambeth for the 15-4 advantage still with six minutes remaining. Later in the period, both
Jenna Nowland and Parker hit the post before
Bella Guckes capped off the scoring for the third at the 14:50 mark (15-5).
It was Dickinson that appeared to have the better of the play to start the fourth as Herbert, Parker and Wynne combined for five shots tasking Moran with making two stops. However, it was the home side that would pick up the first goal with Lambeth tallying for the 16-5 advantage. That marker led to Sara Digiovanni taking over between the pipes for the Diplomats and was immediately put under duress on shots from Herbert and MacKeigan, but she was up to the task. However, the Devils would indeed bag the final goal of the contest with Herbert notching a free-position marker to set the 16-6 final.
Red Devil Leaders
Goals – Herbert (2)
Assists – Herbert and Wynne (1)
Groundballs –
Caroline Pirone and Parker (3)
Draw Controls - Pirone (2)
Saves – VanDorpe (9)
Diplomats Leaders
Goals – Brennan and Pittman (4)
Assists – Brennan (3)
Groundballs – Bray (5)
Draw Controls – Lambeth (6)
Saves – Moran (7), Digiovanni (1)
Next on the Turf
Dickinson (9-6, 4-4 Centennial) will look to guarantee a spot in the Centennial Conference tournament on Saturday afternoon when they host Ursinus College at 3pm on Senior Day.
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