LANCASTER, Pa. – Battling a top-five powerhouse for the second straight game, the Ursinus College women's lacrosse team hung tough for much of the first half before a run of five unanswered goals spanning the intermission break separated Franklin & Marshall for a 12-4 Centennial Conference victory under the lights in Lancaster.

Four days removed from a home loss to then-No. 6 Gettysburg, Ursinus (6-7, 2-4) found itself within one goal of the high-powered Diplomats after back-to-back goals by sophomore Franny Liberatoscioli, who completed her first hat-trick of the season and got the Bears within 4-3 at the 12:49 mark of the opening stanza.

But No. 4 Franklin & Marshall (14-1, 6-0), which came in 15^th in the nation in both scoring offense and scoring defense, responded in a fitting way for a squad that has reached the last 13 CC championship games. The defending champion Diplomats held the Bears scoreless for the next 25-plus minutes – and to just one goal over the final 42:49 – and reeled off five consecutive markers to take control on the way to their eighth straight win.

Paige Moriarty, who leads the CC and ranks 10^th in Division III in points, started the spurt with an unassisted tally at 11:12, which was followed less than two minutes later by Grace Saliba, whose second straight goal – on a feed from Moriarty – put the home side up 7-3 at halftime.

Goals by Anastasia Mergner and Moriarty opened the second-half scoring, the latter extending the F&M lead to 9-3. Ursinus freshman Kaci McNeave ended the drought with a strike on an assist from sophomore Taylor DeBernardi with 17:25 to play, but the Bears never scored again as the Diplomats corralled their 15^th consecutive victory in the series.

Moriarty finished with three goals and two assists to stretch her league-leading point total to 83, while Saliba led all players with four goals and added an assist, the two leading point-getters in the CC combining for ten on this night.

Claire Jackson registered a hat-trick for F&M, which outshot the Bears by a 40-14 margin. Danielle Harrington made six saves between the pipes.

Liberatoscioli continued her recent offensive renaissance, netting her second collegiate hat-trick in just over 17 minutes of game time. After recording one point in her first nine games of the season, Liberatoscioli has nine in her last four games, a span that includes three of her four career multi-goal games.

Freshman Bridget Sherry collected two ground balls and matched a game high with three draw controls, while DeBernardi handed out her second assist of the year. The Bears held F&M – which came in averaging just shy of 15 goals per game – to its lowest goal total in nine games.

Senior Margaret Philbin stood up well to the Diplomats' onslaught, making seven of her 11 saves in the first half, when F&M held a 25-6 advantage in shots. It was the fifth game with double-digit stops for the Bears' net-minder, who also caused a turnover.

The women's lacrosse team continues a three-game road swing at McDaniel on Saturday, April 23.