ALLENTOWN, Pa. - #4 Franklin & Marshall's big guns were blazing in Allentown as the Diplomats rolled to a 19-10 Centennial Conference (CC) win at Muhlenberg on Wednesday. Blake Hargest, Meredith Lussier, Jen Pritchard and Shannon Summers each registered five or more points in the win.

The Centennial Conference's Co-Player of the week, Shannon Summers, got the Diplomats (11-1, 6-0 CC) on the board 18 seconds in off of a feed from Ashley Bevington. Summers' goal was the first of her eight points in the game. She rolled up a hat trick and five assists to mark the third time she has posted eight or more points in a game this season.

The quick lead provided by Summers lasted all of 72 seconds before the Mules' (8-2, 4-2 CC) Ruth Morrongiello knotted it at 1-1 on a free position goal. Then Pritchard went to work for the Diplomats.

Pritchard gave F&M the lead back for good 36 seconds later, scoring the first of her five goals on the day. Blake Hargest picked up the first of her five points on the day less than two minutes later, feeding Pritchard for her second tally. She had four on the board before 15 minutes had run off of the clock.

Pritcard's first half siege on the Mules' cage was broken up by teammate Meredith Lussier, who netted five goals and assisted on another. Lussier scored three goals on three free position shots in the game. She had a hat trick, including the Bevington-assisted, game-winning goal, before the halftime break. Bevington had a goal and two assists on the day.

The Diplomats owned a 14-5 lead through 30 minutes of play.

Amanda McGovern and Danielle Rosen each recorded a hat trick in the loss. Four of their six goals came in the game's final 15 minutes, cutting into the Diplomats 18-6 lead. Morrongiello added an assist to her first half goal.

Diplomats' keeper, Lidia Sanza, turned away five shots in each half to collect the win. Meisenberg continued her daily grind with three caused turnovers, three ground balls and three draw controls. Katie Delaney, Laura Ruppersberger, and Cat Serpe each scored a goal for the Diplomats.

F&M returns to action on Saturday at Washington College. The game will wrap up the Diplomats' three-game road swing.

Notes: Pritchard moved into third on the career points list at F&M. She now has 277 career points, three shy of Alexis O'Meara '05 for second on the list... Summers jumped to fifth on the career points list at 265. She also moved to tenth in career goals (140), surpassing her coach, Lauren Paul... Hargest moved into the top ten in career points, tied for ninth overall with Kelly Cassels '07 with 217. She moved into second in career assists with 109... Meisenberg recorded her 100th career caused turnover on Wednesday

2009-04-08