LANCASTER, PA - Attackmen Steve Welsh (Sr., Lewes, DE/Cape Henelopen) and Noah Wilkinsky (Fr., Ardmore, PA/Valley Forge Military) each scored two goals and two assists to lead the #19 Franklin & Marshall College men's lacrosse team rolled to a 12-7 victory over McDaniel College to clinch a berth in the 2005 Centennial Conference men's lacrosse playoffs.

The win marks the first for the Diplomats over the Green Terror since a 10-9 victory on April 18, 1998 in Westminster, Maryland and improves Franklin & Marshall to 21-16 all-time against McDaniel.

Further, F&M clinches the #4 seed for the 2005 Centennial Conference playoffs as the Diplomats will clash with #1 seed Gettysburg College at the historic battlefield on May 6 with #2 seed Washington and #3 seed Dickinson clashing after the Diplomats-Bullets game.

Tied 5-5 at halftime, the Diplomats took the lead for good 75 seconds into the third period as Welsh angled in a shot at the 13:15 mark for a 6-5 lead.

The goal started a 4-0 run by the Diplomats as Cyrus Adams (So., Nashville, TN/Montgomery Bell) scored via a pass from Wilkinsky at 10:26, Kevin Kohl (So., Manasquan, NY/Loomis Chaffee) netted an unassisted goal at 9:30 and Peter Moon (Fr., Durham, NC/Durham) put in a pass from Sean Duffy (Jr., Springfield, PA/Archmere Academy) at 8:40 for a 9-5 lead.

McDaniel cut into the margin at 7:14 as Steve Hoffman scored an unassisted goal, but defenseman Ed Schellhorn (Sr., Wilton, CT/Wilton) countered ripping a man-down goal into the twine at 6:25 as the Diplomats carried a 10-6 lead into the fourth period.

In the fourth, McDaniel's Matt Keating scored a goal at 8:28 to pull the Green Terror to within 10-7 before Colin Hanley (Sr., Davidsonville, MD/DeMatha) connected with Adams for a goal at 6:13 and Welsh found JB Robichau (Sr., Edgartown, MA/Tabor) in the flat for a man-up score at 5:32 for the 12-7 final.

The Green Terror jumped out to a 1-0 lead to start the game as Kolyn Kirby finished a pass from Rob Weaver at 13:22 in the first period.

The Diplomats countered and took the lead as Wilkinsky scored an unassisted goal at 8:25 and Moon finished a pass from Duffy at 6:47 to put Franklin & Marshall in front 2-1.

McDaniel tied the game at 5:28 on a goal by Matt Buschman off an assist from Steve Hoffman, but Welsh found Wilkinsky at 3:43 to put Franklin & Marshall back into the lead at 3-2.

The Terror finished the scoring in the first period as Hoffman and Buschman netted goals as McDaniel carried a 4-3 lead into the second period.

In the second period, the Diplomats struck for two strikes in the opening minutes as Welsh finished a pass from Wilkinsky at 14:24 and Kohl scored an unassisted goal at 11:12 to go in front 5-4. McDaniel finished the scoring in the first half as Ian Loper tallied a score at 2:23 for a 5-5 tie at the break.

The key to the game was the play of Diplomats' face-off specialist Matt Capone (Sr., Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale) who won 19-of-22 face-offs in the game, including nine-of-10 in the second half.

In goal Mike Sartorius (Sr., Summit, NJ/Summit) made seven saves to record his ninth win of the season, while McDaniel's Chad Schell notched 15 saves and 12 goals allowed on 44 F&M shots to take the loss.

Franklin & Marshall (9-3, 5-2 Centennial Conference) will continue the Centennial Conference season on April 30 at Gettysburg College. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.

SCORE BY PERIODS
McDaniel (5-8, 2-5 CC) 4-1-1-1 -- 7
Franklin & Marshall (9-3, 5-2 CC) 3-2-5-2 -- 12

Goals:
F&M - Steve Welsh (2), Noah Wilkinsky (2), Kevin Kohl (2), Cyrus Adams (2), Peter Moon (2), JB Robichau (1), Ed Schellhorn (1)
MC - Matt Buschman (2), Steve Hoffman (2), Kolyn Kirby (1), Matt Keating (1), Ian Loper (1)

Assists:
F&M - Steve Welsh 2), Sean Duffy (2), Noah Wilkinsky (2), Colin Hanley (1)
MC - Rob Weaver (2), Steve Hoffman (1), Cory Nellissen (1), Jim Petrillo (1)

Goalie (Saves/Goals Allowed/Minutes)
F&M - Mike Sartorius (7/7/60)
MC - Chad Schell (15/12/60)

Shots - F&M 44, MC 23

Face-Offs - F&M 19 of 22, MC 3 of 22

Extra man - F&M 1 for 3, MC 0 for 4