Diplomats Edge Garnet in OT
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Franklin & Marshall scored twice in the final 5:02 of regulation to tie the game and scored the game-winner 4:32 into overtime to defeat Swarthmore 4-3 on a breezy Saturday afternoon. Pamela Cassidy scored twice for the Dips, while Garnet senior Lindsay Roth scored in her final collegiate contest.
Roth opened the scoring just 6:05 into the match, making an acrobatic deflection of a Neema Patel '07 pass It was Roth's 5th goal of the season and 12th of her career.
The Garnet had two goals called back in quick succession midway through the half. First, the ball illegally went off of Abigail Fischer '08's leg and into the net and Roth put a shot off of a Dip defender and in but was ruled to have been standing just outside the scoring circle.
The ball remained on the Diplomat half of the field for nearly all of the remainder of the half. Swarthmore finished the period with a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal. Garnet senior goalkeeper Karen Lorang made one save in the half before being replaced by classmate Melissa LaVan for the second period.
Fischer quickly extended the Garnet lead to 2-0 just 2:12 into the second half. The junior tapped an Ashley Gunter '09 feed home from just in front of the goal line after Diplomat goalkeeper Jennifer Burdo had made two saves during an extended Swarthmore offensive series. The goal, Fischer's ninth of the season, gives her the 2006 Garnet goal-scoring title.
The visitors cut the Swarthmore lead to one at 2-1 with 21:12 to play. F&M's Anne Christensen made a pretty pass from right in front of the goal mouth to a wide-open Pamela Cassidy, who quickly put it home.
After a long scoreless period, the goals started to come fast and furious. First, with 7:10 to play, Garnet sophomore Sarah Reynolds netted her third score of the year after corralling an Alex Gilbert-Bono '10 shot that had hit the post. This score gave Swarthmore a 3-1 lead.
Once again, Cassidy pulled the Dips back within one, this time threading the ball through a pair of Garnet defenders and past LaVan with 5:02 remaining in regulation.
The visitors (5-12, 5-5 CC) kept the momentum going and were quickly knocking on the door once again. LaVan made a sprawling save on Only 1:53 after Cassidy's goal, Maggie Onasch one-timed a Catie Jones pass into the net for the equalizer and the squads were headed to overtime.
Lorang re-entered at goalkeeper for the Garnet at the start of the extra session.
After some back-and-forth action early in overtime, F&M's Brenna Dolphin took a Jessika Mancino pass around the edge of the circle and blasted it home for the game-winner.
The Garnet ended the match with a 12-6 edge in shots and took seven penalty corners to F&M's three.
Burdo recorded seven saves for the Diplomats while Lorang and LaVan collected one save apiece.
Swarthmore concludes the 2006 season with a record of 9-8, 4-6 in the Centennial Conference.