CHESTERTOWN — No. 6-ranked Franklin & Marshall opened the game with six unanswered goals as part of a larger 9-1 run and coasted past host Washington, 17-8, in a late-season Centennial Conference women’s lacrosse showdown here Saturday.
The Diplomats (13-2) improved to 6-0 in the Centennial, tightening their grip on the top seed in the conference tournament that begins at the end of the month.
Meantime, the playoff picture is less clear for the locals.
At 3-3 in the conference with two games remaining, Washington (7-8) is still very much in the hunt for one of the six CC tournament berths. But Washington closes out the regular season against nationally ranked Haverford (4-2 CC, 11-4) and Gettysburg (5-1 CC, 13-2).
Saturday’s game on the Kibler pitch of Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium was not as lopsided as the score might suggest.
The Shore ladies’ defense anchored by senior goalie McKenna Seashole (11 saves) played well and junior attacker Mia Salvatierra had another stellar game as she eclipsed 80 points for the season, but the two-time defending conference champion Diplomats had too many offensive weapons.
F&M boasted balanced scoring among eight players, led by All-America attacker Lauren Pittman with five goals and two assists.
Pittman, Alexandra Proefrock and Lydia Cassilly each netted two goals back-to-back in the opening eight minutes, staking the visitors to an insurmountable 6-0 lead.
Junior attacker Piper Evans of Chestertown (Queen Anne’s County High School) broke through for Washington to end the shutout with just under four minutes remaining in the first frame, but F&M answered with three more goals in succession, including a pair from Megan Bizub for the 9-1 advantage with 13 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the half.
Washington responded with its best run of the afternoon, goals in succession from Mac Grogan, Elisabeth Braswell, Evans and Salvatierra to close to 9-5 with 9:08 to play in the third quarter.
The Shore ladies’ comeback bid was short-circuited as F&M scored the next three goals, including two by Pittman in the span of 13 seconds, in a 5-1 run that extended the spread to 14-6 with 8:36 remaining.
F&M closed the game on a 3-0 run, punctuated by Pittman with her team-leading 45th goal of the season with 1:56 to go.
The Diplomats led 40-23 in shots and won 21 of 29 draws. Pittman’s line included seven draw controls.
Salvatierra (52-32-84) led Washington with three goals — all in the second half — and one assist. She is the first Washington player to total 80 points since Emily Hubley (87) and Mollie Shipley (84) did so in 2013.
She is 10th in program history with 187 career points in 50 games — all starts.
WHAT’S NEXT: Washington is home Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. against No. 21-ranked Haverford before closing out the regular season Saturday afternoon at No. 4 Gettysburg.
In a preseason vote of Centennial Conference head women’s lacrosse coaches, Gettysburg received seven first-place votes and 63 points as the favorite.
F&M collected the remaining two first-place votes and totaled 58 points.
Haverford (50 points) was picked to finish third, followed by Dickinson (36), Muhlenberg (35) and Washington (33) as projected playoff teams.
The CC postseason tournament will take place April 30 and May 2-4 at the home fields of the higher-seeded teams in each round.
