GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Chad Gamble netted five goals to lead No. 19 Franklin & Marshall to a 14-12 victory over Gettysburg in Centennial Conference (CC) men's lacrosse action Wednesday evening.  The win is the third straight over the Bullets for F&M as the Diplomats improved to 12-3, 6-1 CC while the Bullets dropped to 8-6, 4-3 CC. 

F&M already had a playoff spot secured coming into the contest, but the Diplomats now have a shot to lock up the second seed with a win against Dickinson on Saturday or a loss by the Red Devils later this evening. 

The game was tightly contested throughout the 60 minute of action as neither team took more than a two-goal advantage. Gettysburg took the early edge with a goal 1:36 into action before Gamble picked up his first at 11:41. Martin Manilla tallied his second goal for the Bullets and Gamble answered two minutes later to tie the game at 2-2.  

Manilla struck again to give Gettysburg a 3-2 edge, but the Diplomats countered with three unanswered to go up 5-3 with 3:44 left in the first. Gamble netted his third to start the run while Will Ballantyne and Billy Kempner teamed up for the other two goals. Kempner scored the first off a feed from Ballantyne and Kempner returned the favor with an assist to Ballantyne. Manilla picked up his fourth with just three seconds left in the first to bring Gettysburg within a goal, 5-4. 

The Bullets started the second quarter off with two goals to take a 6-5 edge before Michael Bossidy found Jamie McCulloch at 10:58 to tie the game at 6-6. Manilla struck again, before John Barney and McCulloch answered for the Diplomats to make it 8-7 at 4:34 and Paul Werner put one through with 2:03 left in the second to make it 8-8 at the break. 

Gamble started the third off with his fourth goal at 11:53 and Gettysburg answered at 8:51 to tie the game at 9-9. The teams traded goals over the next 15 minutes, resulting in an 11-11 at the start of the fourth quarter. Bossidy and Ballantyne scored F&M's two goals off feeds from Philip Gamble and Chad Gamble. 

Philip Gamble lit the scoreboard with unassisted goal at 7:26 in the fourth quarter to give F&M the lead for good and Ballantyne found Bossidy at 5:20 to put F&M up two, 13-11. The Bullets came within a point with a goal by Jameson Smith, but Chad Gamble collected his fifth goal at 1:15 to secure the win. 

Wes Rhudy caused two turnovers to pace the defense while Nils Hansen finished with a team-high five ground balls. 

Cameron Setian turned away six shots to improve to 12-3 and Jon Maddalone took the loss with eight saves. 

F&M outshot Gettysburg 43-37, held a 31-23 advantage in ground balls and went 14-for-17 in clear attempts. 

The Diplomats return to action on Saturday when F&M hosts Dickinson at 3:00 p.m. in the regular season finale.