Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/28/16
From Press Release
A number of Philly women will lead Franklin & Marshall today when it faces Trinity in the NCAA Division III semifinals at Chester’s Talen Energy Stadium, at 3 p.m. The first semifinal will feature Cortland and Middlebury at noon.
Tournament Schedule
Talen Energy Stadium, 1 Stadium Drive, Chester, Pa. 19013
Cortland vs. Middlebury – 12:00 p.m.
Trinity vs. F&M – 3 p.m.
Sunday, May 29 – National Championship | Chester, Pa., TBD vs. TBD – 3:30 p.m.
Philly women on Franklin & Marshall roster
1 Gabby Frank A Jr. 5-6 Moorestown, N.J. / Moorestown – 43 goals, 29 assists
5 Caroline Doran D Sr. 5-7 Ardmore, Pa. / Haverford – 22 starts, 15 GB
6 Sarah Brooke D Fr. 5-7 Berwyn, Pa. / Conestoga
9 Caroline Kolva M Fr. 5-6 Wyomissing, Pa. / Lancaster Country Day – 8 goals
13 Siobhan Burke M Jr. 5-6 West Chester, Pa. / West Chester East
14 Stephanie Speese D Sr. 5-3 Fort Washington, Pa. / Upper Dublin – 23 starts, 34 GB, 30 CT, 16 DC
20 Claire Jackson A Jr. 5-10 Malvern, Pa. / Conestoga – 31 goals, 21 assists
25 Maddie Hughes M Fr. 5-8 Wilmington, Del. / Ursuline Academy – 17 goals, 11 assists
26 Bridget O’Donnell M Fr. 5-8 Bethlehem, Pa. / Saucon Valley
33 Hannah Thomas D Jr. 5-9 Fort Washington, Md. / St Stephen’s & St. Agnes
36 Madison Valerio A Fr. 5-7 Glen Mills, Pa. / Garnet Valley
Road to the NCAA: The Diplomats were selected to host the first and second rounds after accepting an at-large bid to enter the NCAA Tournament. F&M enters the weekend with a 21-2 record and have won three straight in the tournament. The Diplomats took down Mount Union 14-3 in second round action before defeating Brockport 11-9. F&M punched it’s ticket to the Final Four with overtime win, 6-5, over Salisbury.
In the Tournament: F&M is participating in its 18th NCAA Tournament, and 10th in the last 11 years with a record of 29-15 in NCAA playoff games.
The Diplomats have appeared in the final weekend on eight occasions, including four straight from 2007-10. F&M has played in three title games and won two national championships (2007, 2009).
Same Teams, Different Year: This year’s Final Four features the same four teams that participated in last year’s semifinal. Saturday’s games will be rematches of the 2015 opening weekend contests where Cortland and Trinity both picked up victories to advance to the championship game.
Milestone Watch: Gabby Frank, Grace Saliba, and Paige Moriarty all reached the 100-career goal plateau this season. Earlier this year, Saliba, became just the sixth player in school history to dish out 100 or more assists in a career. Her 131 assists are good for third-most in school history, while Blake Hargest ’10 holds the record with 160. The senior also reached the 200-point plateau and enters the week with 253 career points, which ties her for eighth all time. Hargest has the school record at 341. Moriarty’s 108 points this season reset Lauren Petrella ’94 school record. Anastasia Merger rewrote the school’s draw record earlier in the year and last week she broke the Centennial Conference record with 304 draws. Samantha Blicht (92) and Mergner (84) hold down the second and third spot on the caused turnover list with Sarah Meisenberg ’09 sitting in first at 114.
Sister Act: Franklin & Marshall senior, Anastasia Mergner, will be playing against her sister on Saturday afternoon. Mergner’s sister, Georgia, is a sophomore midfielder for the Bantams. Both sisters played at James Caldwell High School in West Caldwell, N.J.
Dish’n Out: F&M ranks ninth nationwide with a 8.26 assist per game average as the Diplomats have assisted on 190-of-317 (60 percent) goals this season. Paige Moriarty and Grace Saliba lead F&M with 47 and 30 helpers each while Gabby Frank has recorded 29 this season.
High Octane: Five players have scored 30 goals or more this season to lead F&M’s offense. Paige Moriarty (78), Grace Saliba (54), Gabby Frank (43), Anastasia Mergner (33) and Claire Jackson (31) lead F&M potent offense. Moriarty and Saliba have both tallied 100 more points this season as well.
All-Americans: Four members of the Franklin & Marshall women’s lacrosse team were named to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWCLA) All-America. Vanessa Budd, Samantha Blicht and Paige Moriarty were named to the first team and Grace Saliba was placed on the second team. The All-America honor was the second for Budd, Blicht and Saliba while Moriarty picked up her first award to bring F&M’s total All-America honors to 70.
All-Conference: Eight members were named to the 2016 All-Centennial Conference (CC) Team. Paige Moriarty, Grace Saliba, Anastasia Mergner, Samantha Blicht and Vanessa Budd earned a spot on the first team. Sarah Bozzo landed on the second team while Gabby Frank and Danielle Harrington received honorable mention.
Moriarty was named the Offensive Player of the Year, Blicht earned Defensive Player of the Year honors and head coach Mike Faith was picked by his peers as Coach of the Year. The eight selections and five first team nods were the most in the CC this year.
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