Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Pamela Cassidy poked in a shot off a rebound with 2:56 left in the game, lifting fifth-seeded Franklin & Marshall College to a 2-1 victory over fourth-seeded and No. 19-ranked Gettysburg in the first round game of the Centennial Conference field hockey playoffs Wednesday afternoon at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
With the win, F&M (12-6) moves on to the Centennial Conference semifinals, where it will face top-seeded and No. 4-ranked Ursinus College at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The winner of that game will advance to Sunday's conference championship game to take on the winner of the other semifinal between third-seeded Muhlenberg and second-seeded Johns Hopkins. Ursinus will serve as the host site for both the semifinal and championship rounds. The conference champion receives an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III Championship tournament.
Gettysburg saw its season come to an end at 11-7.
Cassidy's shot was set up by a long hit from the left wing from Millicent Scott, whose injection was deflected off the stick of a defender. Gettysburg goalie Katherine Corkhill (Paoli, Pa./Academy of Notre Dame) played the ball down, but Cassidy was there to collect the loose ball and send it home from the left post.
The Bullets rallied down the stretch, taking a pair of shots in the final two minutes, but F&M keeper Jennifer Burdo saved both shots to finish with six saves for the game.
There were limited scoring opportunities for each team in the opening half, with the team sides taking just two shots apiece. The Diplomats prevented Gettysburg from taking its first shot for nearly 14 minutes to start the game, but the Bullets cashed in on its first attempt.
Shortly following a corner, junior Anne Ritter (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove) directed a centering feed from the right to sophomore Molly Latta (West Chester, Pa./Henderson), who drove in a hard shot into the lower left corner of the cage, putting Gettysburg up 1-0 with 21:33 on the clock. The Bullets carried their one-goal lead into the intermission.
The Diplomats came out of the gates smoking in the second half, reeling off five shots over the opening 6:21. F&M finally broke through when, on the Diplomats' second shot of the period, Eileen O'Reilly took a pass from Brittany Carson and punched in close-range shot inside the right post to knot the score with 32:17 remaining.
F&M out-shot Gettysburg 9-8 in the second half and held a slim 11-10 advantage for the game.
Corkhill finished with four saves in her final collegiate game for the Bullets.
