GETTYSBURG, PA - Steve Welsh (Sr., Lewes, DE/Cape Henelopen) tallied five assists and Cyrus Adams (So., Nashville, TN/Montgomery Bell) registered four goals and an assist for #19 Franklin & Marshall, but #5 Gettysburg College held on for a 13-12 victory over the Diplomats in the Centennial Conference regular season finale.

For the Bullets, Chase Stewart and Jared Harriman scored hat tricks, while Andrew Mavraganis tallied a goal and two assists to lead Gettysburg as the team clinched first place in the Centennial Conference and hosting rights for the conference playoffs.

The Diplomats appeared poised for an upset in the first period as F&M outscored Gettysburg 6-5.

Adams started the scoring for the Diplomats as he finished a pass from Welsh 38 seconds into the game for a 1-0 lead. The Bullets responded as Jon Sowanick and Kevin Freehill scored unassisted goals at 13:34 and 11:49.

Franklin & Marshall tied the score exactly two minutes later as Adams split the Gettysburg defense to bury a feed from Welsh past Bullets' goalie Pat Vaughan at 9:49. Seventy-six seconds later, Welsh found Noah Wilkinsky (Fr., Ardmore, PA/Valley Forge Military) for a score and a 3-2 Franklin & Marshall lead.

Gettysburg netted the next three goals as Harriman scored at 7:35 before finding the back of the cage again at 5:33 off an assist from Sowanick for a man-up goal and a 4-3 Bullets' lead.

The Blue and Orange added to the margin three minutes later as Mavragnis scored an unassisted goal at 2:32 to put the Bullets in front 5-3.

However, Franklin & Marshall responded with a flurry of scoring as Henry Kusjanovic (Jr., Armonk, NY/Byram Hills) drilled a shot past Vaughan off an assist from Wilkinsky at 2:02 to pull F&M to within one goal. Kevin Kohl (So., Manasquan, NY/Loomis Chaffee) scored at 1:12 to tie the game and Wilkinsky sliced through the Gettysburg defense for a score with two seconds left in the period for a 6-5 F&M lead.

The margin grew to 7-5 at the 11:43 mark of the second period as Kohl blasted a feed from Colin Hanley (Sr., Davidsonville, MD/DeMatha) into the twine. However, Gettysburg scored the next five goals as Chris Renzi, Sowanick, Stewart, Brian Pryor and Freehill found the back of the cage for a 10-7 lead with 2:28 left in the first half.

Franklin & Marshall cut into the margin prior to the break as Adams finished a feed from Welsh with 1:32 left in the second period for a 10-8 Gettysburg lead at intermission.

Adams and Welsh connected again to open the third period at 11:14 to pull F&M to within a goal.

The teams traded goals as Stewart scored at 9:19 and Welsh whipped in an assist from Adams at 6:55 for an 11-10 Gettysburg lead entering the final 15 minutes of play.

In the fourth period, Stewart scored an unassisted goal at 10:55 to put the Bullets in front by two before Hanley scored an unassisted goal at 9:49 to keep F&M within one goal.

The Bullets received the game-winning score with 4:41 left on the game clock as Harriman scored an unassisted goal, while Kusjanovic added a score at the 3:00 mark for the 13-12 final before time ran out.

In goal, Mike Sartorius (Sr., Summit, NJ/Summit) made 14 saves for the Diplomats, while Vaughan stopped 12 of the Diplomats' shots as Franklin & Marshall out shot Gettysburg 41-39.

The game sets up another meeting between the Diplomats and Bullets in less than a week as the pair will face-off at Gettysburg on May 6 in the semifinals of the 2005 Centennial Conference men's lacrosse playoffs. The Bullets earned the right to host their first conference tournament since 2002 with an 8-0 record in the Centennial Conference regular season.

The two teams will square off in the CC semifinals for the third time in the conference tournament's five-year history as the Bullets posted victories in 2001 and 2002.

#2 seed Washington College and #3 seed Dickinson College meet in the other semifinal. Game times for Friday's semifinals and Sunday's championship game will be announced on Monday.

SCORE BY PERIODS
#19 Franklin & Marshall (9-4, 5-3 CC) 6-2-2-2 -- 12
#5 Gettysburg (12-3, 8-0 CC) 5-5-1-2 -- 13

Goals:
F&M - Cyrus Adams (4), Noah Wilkinsky (2), Kevin Kohl (2), Henry Kusjanovic (2), Steve Welsh (1), Colin Hanley (1)
GC - Chase Stewart (3), Jared Harriman (3), Jon Sowanick (2), Kevin Freehill (2), Andrew Mavraganis (1), Chris Renzi (1), Brian Pryor (1)

Assists:
F&M - Steve Welsh (5), Cyrus Adams (1), Colin Hanley (1), Noah Wilkinsky (1)
GC - Andrew Mavraganis (2), Chris Renzi (1), Jon Sowanick (1)

Goalie (Saves/Goals Allowed/Minutes)
F&M - Mike Sartorius (14/13/60)
GC - Pat Vaughan (12/12/60)

Shots - F&M 41, GC 39

Face-Offs - F&M 16 of 27, GC 11 of 27

Extra man - F&M 0 for 2, GC 1 for 1