Courtesy Tufts Sports Information

LANCASTER, Pa. - Franklin & Marshall's defense clamped down in the second half, limiting Tufts' high-octane offense to three goals in the second half of a 12-7 win in the NCAA Regional Final. Jen Pritchard broke the NCAA Tournament career scoring record with a five-goal performance to spearhead the Diplomats' (19-1) assault.

The Diplomats' defense limited Tufts (16-3) to three second-half goals on nine looks and held the Jumbos' leading scorer, sophomore Amanda Roberts (Wenham, Mass.), to just a single tally on Sunday. Lidia Sanza recorded eight saves, four in each half, when the shots did get through. The Jumbos got three goals from the eight-meter arc. F&M also successfully disrupted Tufts' transition game, stifling six of their 22 clear attempts.

The victory sets up a semi-final rematch of the 2008 National Championship. The Diplomats will face Hamilton, 13-9 winners over Middlebury, on Kerr Field at Roanoke, site of the Continentals 13-6 NCAA Championship game win over F&M a year ago.

Tufts opened the game with a 3-2 lead on goals by senior co-captain Chrissie Attura (Yarmouth, Maine), first-year Stephanie Perez (East Providence, R.I.) and senior Maya Shoham (West Hartford, Conn.). Pritchard went to work, accounting for half of an F&M four-goal run that put the Diplomats ahead for good at 6-3.

Junior Jenna Abelli (Framingham, Mass.) scored the first two goals of the second half and Tufts was within 7-6 with 24:12 on the clock. However, F&M scored the next five goals, two by Pritchard, and led 12-6 with 5:41 remaining.

Pritchard scored five goals, reestablishing the NCAA post-season mark for career goals in the post-season at 48. The record had stood at 46. Meredith Lussier recorded a hat trick and an assist in the in the win. Blake Hargest scored four points and Shannon Summers tallied three points.

Abelli and Perez, who also had an assist, were the lone multiple-point scorers for Tufts. Tufts had previously won two of the highest scoring games in NCAA Tournament history, 22-15 over Drew in the first round and 20-18 against St. John Fisher in the second round. Sophomore goalie Sara Bloom (Summit, N.J.) stopped eight shots for the Jumbos, whose 16 wins are three more than the previous school record.