Ewing, NJ...The College of New Jersey women's lacrosse team saw its 18-game home winning streak come to an end as the Lions fell to visiting Franklin & Marshall College 16-12 in a match-up of top-10 teams on Friday.
 
Third-ranked TCNJ, which last fell at home during the 2010 season, dropped to 10-2 on the season, while the eighth-ranked Diplomats improved to 9-2.
 
The Diplomats led by as many as five goals in the opening half before carrying a 10-6 lead into the break. The Lions had trailed 9-4, before junior Alex Spark (Harvey Cedars, NJ/Southern Regional) and senior Leigh Mitchell (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) netted consecutive goals.
 
F&M got one of those back with 30 seconds left in the frame as Cat Serpe (Essex Falls, NJ/West Essex) tallied making it a 10-6 difference at the break.
 
TCNJ came out firing in the second half putting the first four goals of the period up on the scoreboard. Junior Trenna Hill (Syracuse, NY/Lafayette) potted the first of those goals 3:57 into the frame and less than a minute later Spark cashed in on a feed from Mitchell. Spark then scored off of a free-position attempt and then tied the game at 10 goals apiece with an unassisted goal with 19:55 left in the game.
 
The Diplomats then scored two goals 12 seconds apart with Erin Dunne (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Twp.) getting the first of those goals and Lauren Ehrhardt (Westbury, NY/Kellenberg Memorial) scoring the latter. Those goals put F&M back in front at 12-10.
 
Mitchell trimmed that to 12-11 with 16:34 left, but F&M scored four straight goals as their cushion expanded to 16-11.
 
Hill scored the game's final goal 6:51 remaining as the Diplomats were able to protect that lead.
 
Spark led all players with seven goals, while Mitchell had two goals and two assists for the Lions. Spark has been on fire of late with 22 goals in the last three games and leads the team with a career-high 43 on the season.
 
 For F&M, Serpe had five goals and Ehrhardt had four.
 
TCNJ plays again on Tuesday, April 10 when they travel to Montclair State University for a chance to claim the 2012 New Jersey Athletic Conference title. The Lions are 3-0 in conference play. Game time is 7 p.m.
 
The Diplomats are right back in action tomorrow, hosting Swarthmore College at 4 p.m.