LANCASTER, Pa. – No. 7 Franklin & Marshall College scored the final three goals to hand top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Gettysburg College a 9-6 setback in Centennial Conference women's lacrosse action at Shadek Stadium Wednesday night.
 
For the second consecutive season, Franklin & Marshall (8-3, 3-0 CC) handed Gettysburg (9-1, 2-1 CC) its first loss of the season as the No. 1 team in the country. The Diplomats held the Bullets to season lows for goals, shots (20), and draw controls (10). Gettysburg also recorded a season-high four failed clears and saw its 19-game winning streak come to a halt.
 
Junior Courtney Patterson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) and sophomore Kerry McKeever (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) each tallied two goals and four draw controls. Senior goalie Bailey Pilder (Rowayton, Conn./New Canaan) logged a dozen saves and three ground balls, while junior Claire Macatee (Street, Md./North Harford) tallied two caused turnovers and two draw controls.
 
Tabitha Rodriguez scored three goals, while Megan Jackson and Ally Marino each tossed in a pair of goals for Franklin & Marshall. Emily Kitchin recorded nine saves in between the pipes.
 
Jackson handed the initial lead to the hosts, but Gettysburg was quick to answer with back-to-back scores by junior Ella Orzechowski (Elkridge, Md./Howard) and freshman Maddi Seibel (Newtown, Pa./Pennington School) 56 seconds apart.
 
That would be all the offense the Bullets would muster in the opening half as Kitchin came up with three saves and the Diplomat defense forced seven turnovers. F&M's offense rattled off three goals in the meantime with Ally Marino scoring the final tally to give her team a 4-2 edge heading into the break.
 
Patterson broke to the cage twice in the opening 91 seconds of the final stanza, first scoring on a free-position attempt before tossing in another goal to tie the game.
 
Rodriguez and McKeever traded goals over the next 15 minutes, the former putting her team ahead twice and the latter bringing the Bullet into a tie, including at 6-6 with 13:02 to play.
 
The opposing goalies kept the score deadlocked as Kitchin stonewalled a free-position shot by senior Lauren Cole (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) and Pilder stopped shots by Marino and Juliann Lisovicz. Franklin & Marshall would eventually find its way in front again, converting a turnover on one end into a free-position goal by McGarrey on the other. Another turnover by Gettysburg led to a free-position goal by Rodriguez and an 8-6 lead with 4:38 on the clock.
 
The last offensive possession by the visitors resulted in a save by Kitchin and F&M scored an empty net goal as Pilder went out to help her defenders with 35 seconds left.
 
Franklin & Marshall led in shots (31-20), while Gettysburg led in ground balls (18-17) and draw controls (10-7).
 
The Bullets host Swarthmore College this Saturday at 1 p.m.