BALTIMORE – Making its first postseason appearance in seven years, the Gettysburg College men's soccer team put up a stellar effort but the Bullets came up on the short end of a 1-0 decision to Franklin & Marshall College in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference championship tournament Friday evening at top-seeded and tournament host Johns Hopkins University.
 
With the loss, the third-seeded Bullets fell to 13-5 and will now hope for an at-large berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The field will be announced on Monday at 1:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.

Second-seeded F&M (10-5-2) advances to Sunday's conference championship game and face fifth-seeded Dickinson, which tied 24th-ranked Johns Hopkins 2-2 in the first semifinal of the night but advanced by winning a penalty-kick shootout 4-2.
 
The Bullets and Diplomats were scheduled for an 8 p.m. start, but it was backed up 45 minutes due to the first game running long. The final horn sounded at approximately 10:40 p.m.
 
Gettysburg was playing in the postseason for the first time since a 4-1 loss to Johns Hopkins in the 2010 Centennial Conference first-round match.
 
The Bullets outshot F&M 18-10 for the night, including 12-3 in the second half. But that's when Franklin & Marshall converted their lone tally, striking early in the second stanza.
 
Sophomore Thomas Keane (Potomac, Md./Gonzaga College) finished with a season-high five saves for the Bullets while Christopher Amoruso turned aside four shots for the Dips.
 
Keane made a number of big stops in the early going and corralled a blast off the foot of Connor Whitacre in the 13th minute.
 
Gettysburg's 20-goal scorer, senior Patrick Santini (Cos Cob, Conn./Greenwich), had a low rip saved by a diving Amoruso in the 16th minute before Keane registered two more impressive saves at the other end. Facing a 1-on-1, he rushed out high to make a leaping deflection that sent the ball over the crossbar before snatching the ball away on the ensuing corner kick.
 
The Bullets had several good looks at the net in the opening half, including a leaping shot in front of the net by senior Lucas Weissman (Short Hills, Md./Milburn) in the 28th minute that sailed just high.
 
Gettysburg continued to press late in the half, but Amoruso made a backwards-leaping fingertip save to prevent a goal from freshman Sam Lerman (Wayzata, Minn./Field School) from point-blank range in the 32nd minute.
 
Keane made one final spectacular save late in the half, challenging an opponent with a diving stop in the 35th minute.
 
F&M held a 7-6 shot advantage in the opening half, when Keane finished with four saves and Amoruso notched two stops.
 
Although Gettysburg controlled possession for most of the second half, Franklin & Marshall punched in the game's lone goal five minutes into the period. Ryan Fincher intercepted a pass at the top of the box, then dished the ball to an open Jason Tonelli on the left wing. Tonelli chipped in a shot over a diving keeper for his 11th goal of the season and what held up as the game-winner.
 
The Diplomat back row made the lead stand up just over a minute later with a pair of spectacular clears with Amoruso on the ground, knocking away consecutive blasts from sophomore Precious Ozoh (Abuja, Nigeria/Holderness School [N.H.]) inside the box. Then two minutes later, Ozoh nearly pulled the Bullets even when he rocketed a deep shot off the crossbar.
 
Santini made a number of runs in the second half and had a pair of good looks down the stretch, but his diving header was gathered in by Amoruso. Santini's final shot – a low laser in the 85th minute – was also gloved.
 
Gettysburg made one last-ditch effort when it pulled Keane in the final minute. Keane managed to get off a shot in the closing seconds but it sailed over the crossbar.