Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. – Katie Lowe (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) scored three goals and Ellie Shihadeh (Malvern, PA/Conestoga) collected four points as seventh-ranked Gettysburg won its fourth consecutive Centennial Conference (CC) women’s lacrosse championship with an 11-8 victory over ninth-ranked Franklin & Marshall on Sunday.

Lowe, who along with her six fellow seniors became the first class in program history to win a title all four years, scored twice and dished out one assist in the first half, helping the Bullets (15-3) build a 5-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish despite a number of Diplomat rallies.

With the win, Gettysburg earned the CC’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 11. The NCAA field will be announced on Sunday, May 8. The Bullets will be making the program’s fifth NCAA tournament appearance, and fourth in a row.

Kathy Delauney (Lutherville, MD/Roland Park), also part of Gettysburg’s decorated senior class, scored her team-leading 41^st and 42^nd goals of the season, including one of the Bullets’ season-high five free-position goals. After winning two titles while backing up Liz Borucki, Gettysburg goalie Heather Kelley (Berwyn, PA/Conestoga) back-stopped a championship of her own, finishing the day with four saves.

F&M senior Alexis O’Meara, named the 2005 CC Player of the Year on Thursday, led the Diplomats (12-3) with two goals and two assists while Eileen Keever scored a team-high three goals in the loss, F&M’s third straight set-back to the Bullets in the CC championship game.

Kamissa Mort keyed the Diplomat defense with 14 saves.

Led by the all-conference quartet of Lowe, Shihadeh, Delauney and defender Kate Murphy (Wilton, CT/Wilton), Gettysburg avenged an 8-7 regular-season loss to F&M and maintained its grip on the CC trophy for another year.

Diplomat freshman Catherine Onnen opened the scoring at 7:28, but the Bullets used a deliberate offense and a commanding defense to build a 5-1 halftime lead.

Lowe finished a solo run at 10:15 to put Gettysburg on the board and Katie Ceglarski (Darien, CT/Darien) converted the Bullets’s first free-position goal 37 seconds later for a 2-1 lead. Shihadeh set up Delauney’s first goal and Lowe netted a free-position try of her own to put the Bullets ahead 4-1 with 7:41 left in the first half.

Following a draw control win by Delauney, Mort made back-to-back saves on Katie Hagan (Media, PA/Cardinal O’Hara) before Shihadeh one-timed a pass from Lowe to make it 5-1.

Kelley preserved the four-goal lead heading into halftime with point-blank saves on Kelly Cassels and Kiki Foster in the final 3:06 of the half.

Keyed by two points from O’Meara and two goals from Keever, Franklin & Marshall pulled within 5-4 with 17:45 remaining. Gettysburg, however, needed only 43 seconds to answer when Alexandra Ewing (Monkton, MD/Garrison Forest) circled the net and scored to make it 6-4, snapping a goal drought of nearly 17 minutes.

Delauney converted a free-position opportunity for a three-goal lead, but Foster and Keever netted back-to-back tallies in a span of 33 seconds to cut the deficit to 7-6 with 12:32 left.

The Diplomats had a chance to tie after a Mort save and successful clearing attempt, but Lindsay Barton (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) forced an F&M turnover, leading to an unassisted goal by Lowe that touched off a 4-2 Bullet run over the final 10:10.

O’Meara scored off a feed from twin sister Allison with 8:33 left to pull within 9-7, but the Diplomats would get no closer down the stretch. Shihadeh set up Hagan 24 seconds after O’Meara’s goal, then tallied from the 8-meter arc to seal the title.

Quinn Dougherty (Wading River, NY/Shoreham-Wading River) also scored in the win while Murphy picked up a team-high four ground balls. Barton finished with a team-best three caused turnovers and Ceglarski won four draw controls.

With the win, Gettysburg improved to 9-1 all-time in the CC playoffs, which began in 2001. In addition, the Bullets are the only team to win a championship game on the road, having accomplished the feat in 2002 and 2005.

Foster finished with a goal and two assists for F&M.

 

CC Finals	1	2	-	F
#7 Gettysburg (15-3)	5	6	-	11
#9 Franklin & Marshall (12-3)	1	7	-	8

Goals:

Gettysburg: Katie Lowe 3, Ellie Shihadeh 2, Kathy Delauney 2, Katie Ceglarski, Katie Hagan, Quinn Dougherty, Alexandra Ewing.
F&M: Eileen Keever 3, Alexis O’Meara 2, Catherine Onnen, Kiki Foster, Kelly Cassels.

Assists:
Gettysburg: Shihadeh 2, Lowe 1.
F&M: Foster 2, Alexis O’Meara 2, Allison O’Meara.

Shots: G 32, F 17.

Ground Balls: G 23, F 16.

Goalies: G (Heather Kelley – 60:00, 4 saves, 8 GA), F (Kamissa Mort – 60:00, 14 saves, 11 GA).

Draw Controls: G 11, F 10.

Caused Turnovers: G 10, F 6.

Turnovers: G 12, F 15.

Fouls: G 14, F 27.

Free Position: G 5 of 11, F 1 of 3.