Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College field hockey team suffered a 4-1 setback at the hands of No. 8 Franklin & Marshall College Tuesday evening at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
 
The loss leaves Gettysburg (6-8, 4-5 CC) on the outside looking in at the Centennial Conference playoff picture. The Bullets are sixth in the conference standings, one-half game behind Haverford College (8-7, 4-4 CC). A win by the Fords against Washington College (5-10, 2-6 CC) on Wednesday or Swarthmore College (4-12, 0-8 CC) on Saturday would earn them the final spot in the conference playoffs. However, two losses by Haverford coupled with a Gettysburg victory over Johns Hopkins University (7-8, 3-5 CC) this Friday could send the Bullets into the postseason.
 
Franklin & Marshall (12-3, 8-1 CC) made its offensive move early against Gettysburg. Following a penalty corner, the Diplomats fired three quick shots at the cage. Senior defender Nina Diamond (Berwyn, Pa./Academy of Notre Dame) and junior goalie Haley Mowery (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Northern) stopped the first two attempts, but Erin Coverdale's putback gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage 2:24 into the contest.
 
The Bullets tested the Diplomat goal several times in the early stages of the first period with goalie Ilianna Santangelo turning away four attempts in four minutes. Coverdale struck again in the 16th minute, shooting a ball off a defender's stick and into the cage.
 
Diamond and sophomore Brooke Matthews (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth) each recorded defensive saves to keep Franklin & Marshall off the board. After back-to-back stops by Mowery, Coverdale completed her first-half hat trick by touching the ball into the goal in the 34th minute.
 
Melanie Consiglio padded the visitor's lead with a series of shots at Mowery, the last finding its way past the Bullet keeper in the 48th minute.
 
Gettysburg jumped on the scoreboard in the 55th minute when senior Kit Towers (Midlothian, Va./St. Anne's Belfield) tipped a pass to junior Casey Eck (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) along the baseline. Eck fired the shot to the far post for her third goal of the year.
 
Franklin & Marshall finished with a 19-13 lead in shots and a 7-5 advantage in corners.
 
Santangelo picked up 11 saves in the victory, while Mowery tallied eight saves for Gettysburg.
 
The Bullets close the regular season at home against Johns Hopkins this Friday at 3:30 p.m. Gettysburg will recognize its seven seniors prior to the contest.