Championship Website
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College women's lacrosse team will look to use the home turf of Clark Field to its advantage once again as the Bullets host the Centennial Conference Championship this weekend.
Gettysburg will be hosting the conference tournament for a league-record sixth time and the team has made the most of its hosting rights. The Bullets have won the CC championship four times at home, including just last spring. Since beginning play at Clark Field in 2005, Gettysburg has lost only nine times in 71 games.
“Hosting was one of the team goals established at the beginning of the season,” said Head Coach
Carol Cantele '83. “We love Clark Field and feel very comfortable at home.”
Gettysburg earned the top seed for the tournament by posting its second consecutive perfect record (9-0) in conference play during the regular season. The Bullets are joined in the tournament by Franklin & Marshall College (13-3, 8-1 CC), Haverford College (13-4, 7-2 CC), Washington College (12-4, 5-4 CC), and McDaniel College (9-7, 5-4 CC).
Washington will host McDaniel in the opening game on Wednesday, May 1, at 7 p.m. The winner will draw Gettysburg in Saturday's first semifinal at 1 p.m. Haverford and Franklin & Marshall will meet in the second semi at 3:30 p.m. Sunday's title game is set for 1 p.m.
Gettysburg defeated all of its potential playoff opponents during the regular season, including a 12-11 win over No. 6 Franklin & Marshall on April 24. The slate is wiped clean for the weekend, however, and Cantele knows her team will need to be at its best to win its record eighth Centennial title.
“The tournament field is strong,” commented Cantele, who is 302-91 in 21 seasons at the Bullets' helm. “I believe it will come down to which team has their individual players playing best as a team. All teams have different styles of play, so we have a lot to prepare for in the coming days.”
Gettysburg has turned in another strong regular season. The Bullets are 16-1 and are in the midst of a nine-game winning streak. Gettysburg has won 133-straight games against teams ranked outside the national top 10, a stretch dating back to 2005. The team leads the conference in a number of stat categories, including goals per game (14.94), draw controls (242), and goals against average (7.07).
Additionally, the Orange and Blue has played in every championship game since the tournament was created in 2001. The team is 18-6 all-time in the Centennial playoffs, winning titles in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2012. Gettysburg also won the conference title in 2000 prior to the creation of the playoff system.
“We will be focusing on taking care of the ball, minimizing our errors and verbal communication on both ends of the field,” said Cantele. “We are going to be focusing on us and playing in the manner that will produce the results we are looking for: taking lots of shots, possessing the ball longer than our opponent, being relentless on ground balls and having fun.”
