Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall College earned its second close win over Gettysburg in eight days, as the second-seeded Diplomats edged the third-seeded and 20th-ranked Bullets 10-8 in the Centennial Conference men's lacrosse semifinals Wednesday evening at Tylus Field.

F&M (11-5), which rallied for a 12-11 victory over the Bullets this past Wednesday, used a 4-1 surge spanning the second and third quarters to open up a 10-5 lead with 13:18 left. Gettysburg (9-7) scored the game's last three goals, including two in the final minute, but the rally came up short.

The Diplomats move on to the conference championship game to face top-seeded and second-ranked Dickinson College, a 14-7 winner over fourth-seeded and 10th-ranked Washington College in the other semifinal. The Bullets (9-7) will now hope for an at-large bid in the NCAA Division III Tournament; the field will be announced Sunday night.

Junior Martin Manilla (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) and freshman Jameson Smith (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) posted two goals and one assist apiece for Gettysburg while senior Evan Thomas (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) added two goals. Sophomore Bijan Firouzan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) contributed a goal and two assists while senior J.T. McCook (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep), playing the final 43:24 in goal, made eight saves and yielded the last five goals. McCook and sophomore Jack Harvazinski (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) each picked up five ground balls.

Billy Kempner posted two goals and two assists for F&M while Cameron Setian made 11 saves. Zachary Johannes won 16 of 22 face-offs.

The Diplomats never trailed after A.J. Richert scored the game's opening goal 1:21 into the contest. Thomas answered with 9:40 on the clock, but F&M responded with a 5-1 run to assume a 6-2 lead early in the second quarter. Manilla scored with 2:41 remaining in the opening quarter, but Kempner struck with just seven ticks showing to make it 4-2 heading into the second stanza.

Reichert and Tristan Miller scored early in the second, with McCook replacing starting goalie Jon Maddalone (Newtown, Pa./Choate Rosemary Hall [Conn.]) between goals, to give the Dips their four-goal advantage. But the Bullets cut the deficit in half when Smith and freshman Tim Murphy (Darien, Conn./Darien) each scored to make it 6-4 with 4:08 to go in the period. Miller added another goal for F&M with 1:57 on the clock to give the hosts a 7-4 lead at the intermission.

Neither team would score again before Kempner struck with 7:47 left in the third quarter. Thomas responded for the Bullets with 5:44 remaining to make it 8-5, but Miller answered for Franklin & Marshall, scoring with 4:59 to go in the third and again at the 13:18 mark in the fourth to hand his team a five-goal lead.

Firouzan connected with 11:53 left to cut it to 10-6, but neither side would score again until the final minute after a flurry of seven penalties spanning 32 seconds. Smith scored a man-up goal for the Bullets with 47 seconds remaining before Manilla struck off the face-off 10 seconds later to make it a two-goal game. However, the Diplomats won the final face-off and ran out the rest of the clock.