GETTYSBURG, Pa. – No. 6 Gettysburg defeated No. 7 Franklin & Marshall 9-5 in the Centennial Conference (CC) Women's Lacrosse Championship Sunday afternoon. The Bullets earned the CC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 16-2 record while the Diplomats (15-5) will have to wait and see if they can receive an at-large bid. The NCAA selection show will air tonight at 9:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. 

Gettysburg led from the start and jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage 10 minutes into the game. Mary Mitchell made it 2-1 when she netted a goal with a shot just outside the goalmouth. The Bullets tallied three straight and went up 5-1 with goals by Kelsey Markiewicz, Mandy Buell and Katie Blumenthal before F&M countered with two of its own. 

Mitchell fed Caroline Krohn from outside the eight-meter twice in a two-minute span to bring F&M within two, 5-3, at 10:21. The teams traded possessions and Gettysburg came away with the ball with a little over three minutes play, ran off some time, and scored on a free position with .7 on the clock to make it 6-3 at the break. 

The Bullets went up 7-3 early in the second half before Grace Saliba found Gabby Frank in transition at 18:31 to bring F&M within three, 7-4. Gettysburg countered with two straight to take a 9-4 edge at 14:37 and possessed the ball most of the second half before Mitchell fired from just outside the eight-meter at 2:05 for the final score of the game. 

Mitchell finished with two goals and two assists, Krohn had two scores and Frank finished with a goal. 

Christie Bonfiglio caused two turnovers and picked up two ground balls for F&M, Samantha Blicht finished with a team-high three grounds and Anastasia Mergner came away with seven draws. 

Kelsey Hoffman had six saves and fell to 13-5 while Shannon Keeler picked up the win with 10 stops. 

F&M had a slight 24-23 edge in shots, caused 11 turnovers and went 13-for-15 in clear attempts.