PRIDE FALL TO #6 DIPLOMATS IN NCAA FIRST ROUND

LANCASTER, Pa. - The Regis College field hockey team dropped a 6-0 decision to Franklin & Marshall College in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

The Pride had a chance in the opening minutes of the game as Yasmine Akib (Everett, Mass.) dribbled down the left side of the field and deep into the Diplomats' territory, but F&M regained possession and forced the action back towards the Regis net for the majority of the opening half.

The Regis defense and goalkeeper Raegan Heck (Phillipston, Mass.) kept Franklin & Marshall off the board for the first 14 minutes of the game until the Diplomats broke through on a Sydney Cole tally. F&M would add two more scores in the period off the sticks of Maria Guarisco and Tamara Mills, taking a 3-0 advantage into the half.

F&M outshot the Pride 23-0 in the first half and took an amazing 22 penalty corners, but only came away with the three goals.

In the second half, the Diplomats would tack on three more as Cole added her 12th goal of the season before Juliet Dalton rounded out the scoring with a pair of goals to give the game its final score of 6-0.

In the final 12 minutes of play, the Pride were able to change fields on the Diplomats, twice working the ball in deep into the F&M zone, but unfortunately, could not come away with a shot on net.

For the game, Franklin & Marshall outshot the Pride at a 39-0 clip and took all 34 penalty corners in the contest. Raegan Heck made 11 saves for the Pride, while Maresa Malcolm (Barrington, N.J.) made a save on the only shot she faced.

Franklin & Marshall advances in the NCAA Tournament to take on #5 Ursinis College this weekend on the campus of Middlebury. The Diplomats lost to the Bears in the Centennial Conference Championship game last weekend, 2-1.