April 27, 2008

Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. - Jen Pritchard recorded five goals and three assists to lead No. 2 Franklin & Marshall to its second straight Centennial Conference (CC) championship with a convincing 14-6 win over No. 4 Gettysburg in the title game on Sunday.

Pritchard, who tallied six goals and one assist in the semifinals, buried five out of her eight shots to tie the tournament record with 11 goals on the weekend and help seal the Diplomats (16-1) second conference title. Shannon Summers posted four goals, while Meredith Lussier added three goals and one assist.

With the CC crown, F&M earned its third consecutive berth into the NCAA tournament. The NCAA field will be announced next Sunday evening with first-round action slated for May 7.

Megan Moore paced the Bullets (17-3) with three goals, while Katie Ceglarski and Krissy Browning tallied a goal and assist apiece.

Playing against each other in the CC finals for the sixth straight year, the Diplomats used a 4-0 run at the beginning of the game and in the middle of the second half to retain possession of the championship trophy.

Moore gave Gettysburg an early 1-0 lead with a solo run down the middle for her first goal just 47 seconds into the contest, but F&M scored the next four to take command.

Blake Hargest found Pritchard from behind the net at 24:43 for a 1-all tie. Pritchard set up Summers' back-to-back goals and Lussier finished a free-position shot to extend the lead to 4-1.

A goal by Moore off a Krissy Browning assist at 12:32 snapped the Bullets' scoring draught, but Lussier drove through the middle from the left side for her second goal to push the margin back to three and force a Gettysburg timeout. Just over a minute later, Summers restored the four-goal lead with a quick pass from Hargest.

Ceglarski set up Browning to cut the deficit to 6-3 with five and a half minutes remaining in the half.

The Diplomats had the last word before halftime thanks to Pritchard who fired a shot with being parallel to the goal after a Hargest feed with 18 ticks left.

After the break, Pritchard wasted no time getting her third goal immediately off the draw control and putting away a 1-on-1 situation with Bullet goalie Kristen Krammer for an 8-3 lead.

Devi Hensch broke up two Gettysburg goals with her first of the playoffs, grabbing a shovel pass from Sarah Meisenberg with 24:19 left in the second half.

F&M stretched the lead to 13-5 with four consecutive goals and held Gettysburg scoreless for 14 minutes, 35 seconds to end the Bullets hopes of a comeback.

Meisenberg totaled four points with one goal and three assists, while Hargest was the third Diplomat to record three helpers. Netminder Lidia Sanza only needed to make three saves.

The win marks the fifth straight win over the Bullets and second this season.