Box Score
GENEVA, N.Y.—The 17th-ranked Franklin & Marshall field hockey team carried a 3-0 lead into halftime and held on for a 3-1 victory over St. Lawrence in the second game of the William Smith Classic at McCooey Field. Eileen O'Reilly scored the first two goals of the match to lead the Diplomats.
Just 36 seconds into the contest, O'Reilly posted her first tally of the afternoon, taking a cross from Allison McLaren. In the ninth minute, the tandem hooked up for a second goal, this time McLaren took a shot that Saints' goalie Maureen McCoy (3 saves) appeared to have lined up, but O'Reilly tipped the ball at the last second, redirecting it into the cage for her seven goal of the season.
Twenty-seven seconds later, SLU (2-2) sent backup goalie Nicole Matos (7 svs) into the match. She stopped the first two shots she faced, but Becky Willert's blast from the top of the circle beat her to give F&M a 3-0 lead with 20 minutes remaining in the first half. That proved to be the only miss she had in eight chances over the final 61:14 of the match.
After being out shot 14-1 in the first half, St. Lawrence tightened up its defense in the second half. The Diplomats (5-0) still had a 6-4 edge in shots, but it was the Saints who scored the only goal of the final 35. Brooke Maloney found Emma Meyer in front of the cage for the latter's first goal of the season.
F&M goalie Sarah Dileo earned the win with four saves.
In the first game of the Classic, No. 19 William Smith defeated Manhattanville 5-2. The Diplomats and Herons (6-0) will square off on Sunday, Sept. 19, at 3 p.m. The Valiants (1-4) will tangle with the Saints at 1 p.m.
