LANCASTER, Pa. – The sixth-ranked Salisbury University women's lacrosse team pushed the third-ranked Diplomats of Franklin & Marshall late but ultimately fell by a 13-11 decision on Sunday afternoon at Shadek Stadium.
The Sea Gulls (5-3) answered an early Diplomat goal with a 3-0 first quarter flurry as
Miranda Mears converted a feed from
Grace Doyle 75 seconds into the contest.
Julianna Ott tickled the twine from the eight-meter just 32 seconds later and
Carly Hoffman found paydirt on an
Audrey Harrington delivery to build the 3-1 lead with 9:38 to go in the frame.
After nearly four scoreless minutes, the Diplomats (8-0) closed the opening stanza with a 3-0 swing to lead 4-3 through 15 minutes.
Alexandra Parker led Ott to her second finish not quite five minutes into the second quarter before a two-goal F&M swing established a 6-4 lead for the hosts.
SU yanked the battle back to a tie, using goals from
Regan McDonnell (aided by
Liz Haney) and Ott to match F&M's six. The Diplomats parried with a 5-0 run spanning the intermission and eight minutes of game time to widen the margin to 11-6 through five minutes of second-half action.
The Sea Gulls marred the F&M momentum with a McDonnell player-up missile with 7:33 left in the third quarter. Doyle followed suit to cut the margin to three heading to the final frame, 11-8.
Harrington capitalized on a player-up free-position chance to extend the SU rally to three straight goals and cut the margin to two with 9:40 to go. A player-up chance helped spark consecutive Diplomat tallies, but SU stormed back as Ott's fourth strike and a transition find of Hoffman by Parker slashed the deficit to just two with 2:10 remaining.
Despite the late Sea Gull heroics, the Diplomats fended off the Sea Gulls in the final minutes to escape with the 13-11 decision.
GAME NOTES
- Julianna Ott matched her career-high in goals (4) and added an assist to set a new career mark in points (5). Ott also brought in four draw controls and put four of her five shots on goal in the ranked matchup.
- Regan McDonnell and Carly Hoffman each scored a pair of goals and combined to cause three Diplomat turnovers.
- Abby Fleishell put together a dominant day against the Diplomats, chasing down a career-best five ground balls and disrupting four F&M possessions to tie her career-high while matching Ott's four draw controls. Fleishell's first career 4-CT day came in her fifth career game against Warren Wilson on May 3rd, 2023, a game that also saw her claim five draw controls and dig out three grounders.
- Lauren Wunder picked up three ground balls while Reagan Davis snagged two and caused one turnover.
- Paige Ellis (5-3) was tagged with the loss, making five saves while scooping three ground balls and causing two F&M turnovers.
- The Sea Gulls outshot the Diplomats, 34-24, committed just nine turnovers to F&M's 14 and stacked 17 ground balls against F&M's 11.
Salisbury gets six days to prepare for yet another ranked road battle against 11th-ranked York (Pa.), set to begin at 3 p.m. on Kinsley Field in York, Pa. on Saturday, March 29th.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming) and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have won a combined 23 team national championships, 24 individual national championships, and 202 conference championships, and have produced 50 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
