Box Score
Box Score

CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Washington College gave No. 4 Gettysburg College a run for its money in a Centennial Conference women's lacrosse match up, but the Shorewomen had no answer for senior Hannah Church who finished with a game-high five goals in a 12-7 victory.

Washington (8-5, 4-3 CC) may have caught Gettysburg (12-1, 7-0 CC) looking ahead to its upcoming contest against conference co-leader Franklin & Marshall College (12-2, 7-0 CC) as the Shorewomen tallied three of the first four goals of Saturday's affair. Corrine Ziccardi gave the hosts a 3-1 advantage with a free-position goal at 18:28 in the first half.

Enter Church, who scored 27 seconds later and added another tally to pull the score even at 16:12. Sophomore Bailey Beardsley gave Gettysburg its first lead at 15:14 before Kalli Parish tied the game once again with the final score of the opening period. Washington goalie Stephanie Siebert made five of her 12 first-half saves in the final 10 minutes to preserve the tie.

Gettysburg picked things up early in the final stanza as junior Lindsey Robinson scored 28 seconds in and Church added her third goal of the game to make it 6-4 at 27:43. After Ziccardi scored to slice the deficit to one, the Bullets ran off the next three goals, including the last two by Church and sophomore Katie Blumenthal on free-position shots just 38 seconds apart.

Gettysburg out-scored Washington 8-3 in the second half with Church tossing in the final tally as time expired.

The Bullets out-shot the Shorewomen 41-18, but Siebert held back the offensive tide with a game-high 16 saves. Gettysburg also led in ground balls (20-17) and draw controls (13-7).

Church made a major move up Gettysburg's all-time list for goals, passing three former All-Americans. She now ranks third in school history with 188 goals and trails 2010 graduate Hollis Stahl by just four for second. Church also tied Pam Williams '88 for sixth in career points with 233.

Sophomore Kelsey Markiewicz and Blumenthal each posted two goals, the former adding two draw controls and the latter posting one assist. Senior Maddie Coleman posted seven saves and three ground balls.

The win also marked another coaching milestone for Gettysburg mentor Carol Cantele '83. Cantele, who earned her 300th career win in women's lacrosse against McDaniel on April 4, earned her 400th victory as a head coach at Gettysburg. The total includes her 121 wins as coach of the field hockey team from 1992 to 2001 and the 279 she has accrued in 20 seasons at the helm of the women's lacrosse team.

Next up for Gettysburg is its annual regular-season showdown with No. 7 Franklin & Marshall at Clark Field on Wednesday, April 18, at 7 p.m. The winner will host the 2012 Centennial Conference Tournament. The Diplomats have won 10 of the last 11 meetings, including a 7-6 decision in last season's conference title game, Gettysburg's last loss before running to the NCAA Division III championship.