#19 Rowan (1-0) at #3 Franklin & Marshall (2-0)

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Series History: Franklin & Marshall and Rowan meet on the lacrosse field for the 15th time this afternoon. The Diplomats hold a 9-5 lead in the series having taken each of the past two meetings and seven of the last eight. F&M won last year's game 15-8. The last Rowan win came when the current crop of seniors were freshmen. The Profs won that one at home, 15-12, snapping a five-game F&M streak in the series.

Last Year's Meeting: Ashley Bevington scored a game-high five goals and Blake Hargest also registered five points (4g,1a) to lead top-ranked Franklin & Marshall to a 15-8 season-opening victory at Rowan. Shannon Summers added a goal and five assists for a game-high six points.

Kelly Angstadt tallied three goals for the Profs (1-1), including two on free-position shots while Lauren Crennan recorded two goals and one assist. F&M scored the first 14 out of 18 goals, using a 10-1 run over a 19-minute span to take a commanding 14-4 lead to hand Rowan its first loss of the season.

Rowan's Last Game: The Rowan University women's lacrosse team rolled over conference opponent Ramapo College, 20-3 on Saturday.
Attack Alli Dickey led the Profs with seven goals and one assist. Midfielders Ali Goodman, Kelly Angstadt, Carly Welsh and Nicole Valianti each contributed with two goals. Welsh also totaled two assists. Attacks Lauren Crennan, Alayna Morris and Tori Hart, midfielder Trish Harrington and defender Brittany Petrella had one goal apiece.

F&M's Last Game: Jen Pritchard scored three second-half goals to lift #3 F&M to an 11-9 win at #7 Washington & Lee. The Diplomats (2-0) carried a 7-3 lead into the break, but the Generals (3-1) dominated the draws and threw a balanced attack at F&M for 10 minutes of the second half to pull ahead. The Generals marched on a 6-1 run with six different players scoring.

She's a Winner: Pritchard scored her 18th game-winning goal of her career at Washington & Lee.

Record Chasers: Pritchard is 14 goals away from tying F&M Hall of Famer, Lauren Petrella '94 for the College's career record in goals. Petrella finished her career with 221 tallies. Pritchard entered the season with exactly 200 goals. Pritchard now has 247 career points, ranking her fifth on the career-points list. 15 more points will tie her with Maria Gaydos '88 for the fourth spot overall. Petrella owns the top spot for career  points with 312.

Pritchard has passed her coach (242) and Sarah Reigner (243) on the points list this season.

Shannon Summers, the tenth Diplomat to join the 200-point club, just passed Kristen Foster '06 for the ninth spot in career points. With 210 points, Summers needs eight points to pass Kelly Cassels '07.

Summers leapfrogged Kara Silberg '98 and Petrella in the assists column on Saturday at W&L. She now has 92 in her career, and is three away from Tami Videon '96 . Only two players have recorded 100 career assists - F&M head coach, Lauren Paul '03 (103) and Alexis O'Meara '05.

Sarah Meisenberg is five points away from becoming the 11th F&M player to reach the 200-point plateau, while Blake Hargest is 18 points away. Hargest needs three assists to tie Silberg at 90 for fifth overall.

Nothing in Life is Free: F&M has struggled on the FPS so far this season. The Diplomats are 4-of-14 on the FPS. The Diplomats shooting percentage is way down as well. F&M has a .354 shooting percentage through the first two games of the year. The Diplomats scored on .512 of their shots last year, and .470 of their shots in 2007.

LP's Takes...

Final Thought on W&L...
"I am bothered by the fact that we had a 7-3 lead at the half and let it get away. There were a number of factors working against us in terms of travel and fresh legs, but that's not an excuse. We got away from fundamentals and struggled with draws letting W&L get back in it. On the other hand, they got a lead, but we didn't go to pieces, so I am thrilled with our poise."

On Overcoming Adversity...
"That was the first time I saw that drive and detemination, not jut in the attitude, but in their play. They showed me that no matter what happens in the first 55 minutes, they'll do what it takes to come out on top."

On the Profs...
"Rowan is a team that cannot be underestimated. They have always proven to be a team that will fight to the end. They are tough and scrappy with a great work ethic, but I think you will see F&M will return to the field with the old swagger that they have been missing so far this season."