LANCASTER, PA -- Evan Gallant scored with 4:27 left on the game clock in the fourth quarter to give Gettysburg College an 11-8 lead as the Bullets held off a rally by Franklin & Marshall and record an 11-10 victory in the Centennial Conference regular season finale for both teams.

Leading 6-4 at halftime, Franklin & Marshall (9-5, 4-4 Centennial Conference) saw their lead dwindle to one goal as Jake Van Nostrand scored an unassisted goal 1:50 into the second half.

F&M pushed the lead back to two goals as Bas Solleveld (Sr., Glenmoore, PA/Shipley) finished a feed from Kevin Kohl (Fr., Manasquan, NJ/Loomis Chaffee) for the Diplomats' seventh goal at 12:43. However, the Bullets responded with four unanswered goals in the third quarter as Chase Stewart scored twice, while Van Nostrand and Gallant found the back of the net once for a 9-7 Gettysburg lead entering the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, the Bullets increased their lead to three goals as John O'Bannon registered an unassisted goal with 9:58 left on the game clock to put Gettysburg in front 10-7.

Franklin & Marshall began to chip away at the margin as Mike Down (Fr., Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) knifed through the Bullets' defense before burying a shot off an assist from Colin Hanley (Jr., Davidsonville, MD/DeMatha) for a man-up goal to move to within two goals with 6:32 to play.

Following Gallant's eventual game-winner to go back in front by three goals, Kohl beat Gettysburg goalie Pat Vaughan with a blast to cut the margin back to 11-9 with 2:11 on the clock.

The Diplomats continued to pressure the Gettysburg defenders as Hanley side-armed a shot which sailed up and over the stick of Vaughan with one minute on the clock to move Franklin & Marshall to within 11-10.

However, Gettysburg won the face-off and stalled to end the game and improve to 11-3, 7-2 in Centennial Conference play.

The Bullets took an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter as Jon Sowanick converted off an assist from Van Nostrand with 9:21 left in the period for a 1-0 lead. The margin grew as O'Bannon tallied an unassisted goal at 8:32 and Matt Twombly scored off a pass from Nick Purkat with 6:56 remaining to take a 3-0 lead.

Franklin & Marshall responded with the next three goals as Solleveld put the Diplomats on the board by connecting on a centering pass from Steve Welsh (Jr., Lewes, DE/Cape Henelopen) with 3:35 left in the first quarter. The combination reversed the order with 13:24 remaining in the second quarter as Welsh scored off an assist from Solleveld before Cyrus Adams (Fr., Nashville, TN/Montgomery Bell) stuck a shot over the shoulder of Vaughan off an assist from Sean Duffy (So., Springfield, PA/Archmere Academy) 18 seconds later to knot the score at 3-3 with 13:06 left in the first half.

Gettysburg reclaimed the lead as Sean McTernan scored off an assist from Van Nostrand at 11:41, but F&M closed out the quarter with three straight scores to hold a two-goal advantage at halftime.

Following McTernan's goal, Welsh tied the score by circling the net and stuffing a shot over the right shoulder of Vaughan for a 4-4 tie with 9:39 remaining in the half. The Diplomats took their first lead three minutes later as Chris Wathey (Sr., South Huntington, NY/St. Anthonys) accepted a pass from behind the net by Welsh and fired a shot over Vaughan's right shoulder and under the crossbar for a 5-4 lead with 6:31 to go. Hanley closed out the first half's scoring by side-arming a shot off an assist from Solleveld as Franklin & Marshall led 6-4 at the break.

In goal, F&M's Mike Sartorius (Jr., Summit, NJ/Summit) made 11 saves on 28 Gettysburg shots, while Vaughan stopped 17 of Franklin & Marshall's 42 shots on goal.

The loss eliminates Franklin & Marshall from contention for a playoff berth, while Gettysburg will face Dickinson College on May 7 at #1 seed Washington College in the semifinals of the 2004 Centennial Conference playoffs.

SCORE BY PERIODS
Gettysburg (11-3, 7-1 CC) 3-1-5-2 -- 11
Franklin & Marshall (9-5, 4-4 CC) 1-5-1-3 -- 10

Goals:
F&M - Bas Solleveld (2), Steve Welsh (2), Colin Hanley (2), Cyrus Adams (1), Kevin Kohl (1), Mike Down (1), Chris Wathey (1)
GC - Jake Van Nostrand (2), John O'Bannon (2), Evan Gallant (2), Chase Stewart (2), Sean McTernan (1), Matt Twombley (1), Jon Sowanick (1)

Assists:
F&M - Steve Welsh (2), Bas Solleveld (2), Kevin Kohl (1), Colin Hanley (1), Sean Duffy (1)
GC - Jake Van Nostrand (3), Jon Sowanick (1), Nick Purkat (1)

Goalie (Saves/Shots/Goals Allowed/Minutes)
F&M - Mike Sartorius (11/28/11/60:00)
GC - Pat Vaughan (17/42/10/60:00)

Shots - F&M 42, GC 28

Ground Balls - F&M 21, GC 24

Face-Offs - F&M 17 of 25, GC 8 of 25

Extra man - F&M 2 for 5, GC 0 for 3

Attendance - 564