SALEM, Va. - 62 seconds away from defeat, Franklin & Marshall's Cat Serpe streaked into the Salisbury eight-meter fan and dumped the ball inside of the right post. Serpe's shot salvaged the season and sent the 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship into overtime. 162 seconds later, Blake Hargest cashed in on the second life to deliver the Diplomats (21-1) an 11-10 win over the Sea Gulls (20-2) and their second NCAA championship in three years.

2:40 into overtime, Hargest camped on the front of the goal circle. She collected a Sarah Meisenberg feed from behind the net and buried her shot from point blank. Jen Pritchard took the ensuing draw and started the Diplomats on a successful stall that killed the remaining 20 seconds of the first half of overtime. Meisenberg then won the draw that started the second overtime period, and led a three-minute stall to the title.

Serpe's goal marked the eighth tie of the contest, while Hargest's goal represented the sixth and final lead change. Neither team led by more than two goals, largely because of outstanding work by both keepers and defenses. Salisbury's Sonja Stuart stood tall throughout rolling up 10 saves and denying repeated Diplomat quick sticks - often in sprawling fashion. At the other end, Lidia Sanza was equally impressive, turning away eight Sea Gull advances, including a point blank shot at the top of the goal circle just inside of 12 minutes to play.

The keepers were especially dominant in the opening minutes. Meagan Osipowich's goal off of an F&M turnover 1:23 in was the only marker until Meisenberg knotted it up at the 13-minute mark. It was the first of two Meisenberg goals in the game, both coming in the first half. Her second goal was a 12-meter run through the heart of the Salisbury defense, which gave F&M a 4-2 lead with slightly less than ten minutes left in the first half.

Meisenberg's goal was answered by Courtney Sorensen, starting a Salisbury three-goal run to the half. The run, which made it 5-4 at the half, saw Osipowich add her second of the game and a Logan Bilderback tally on the free position. The Gulls made good on four of their six eight meter attempts.

F&M answered on the other side of the break when two of the three-leading point getters in F&M history went to work. Shannon Summers worked out from behind both sides of the net for unassisted goals. Her tallies served as bookends to Jen Pritchard's first goal of the game. Pritchard's tally extended her scoring streak to 69 games, and marked the 83rd time in 84 games she scored at least a goal. Pritchard rolled up two more in the half, both fed by Shannon Summers from behind.

Pritchard's second goal gave F&M a 9-8 lead, but it didn't last for long. Salisbury scored twice moments apart, necessitating Serpe's heroics.

The victory makes Franklin & Marshall's women's lacrosse team the first program to earn a second national championship at the college and avenged F&M's only loss of the season. It also made first-year coach, Laruen Paul, the first coach to win a national championship in women's lacrosse in her first season.

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SALEM, Va. - The final two minutes in the 2009 NCAA Division III women's lacrosse national championship seemed like an eternity for top-ranked Salisbury University, as the Sea Gulls clung to a one-goal lead over No. 2 Franklin & Marshall College. In the end the Diplomats forced overtime and won its second national title in three years, both over Salisbury, with an 11-10 overtime heartbreaking victory against the Sea Gulls before 634 at Donald J. Kerr Stadium at Roanoke College.

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2009-05-17