LANCASTER, Pa. – Heading into the NCAA Tournament and getting to play on its home field, the No. 7 Franklin & Marshall's men's lacrosse team is ready to host first and second round action this Saturday and Sunday inside Shadek Stadium. The undefeated Diplomats (7-0, 6-0 CC) will face-off with John Carroll in the second game Saturday which is slated for a 4 p.m. start. York (Pa.) and Lasell will meet in the first game at 1 p.m. Saturday. The two winners will advance to Sunday's second round game at 2 p.m. The team that emerges with two wins from this weekend will find themselves in the NCAA quarterfinals.
Season Links
NCAA Tournament Information
NCAA Tournament First Round
Saturday, May 15 | 4 p.m. | Shadek Stadium
John Carroll at No. 7 Franklin & Marshall
* John Carroll and Franklin & Marshall will be playing for the first time in program history on Saturday.
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
Spectators
Each participating institution will be limited to two (2) spectators per student-athlete and coach. No general admission tickets will be sold.
Masks and physical distancing are required at all times on campus and in Shadek Stadium. Additional health and safety protocols for spectators will be sent directly to participating institutions.
Tailgating is not permitted at any time, and spectators must depart the facility and campus following the conclusion of the contest.
Live video and live stats to follow all of this weekend's first and second round action will be available on GoDiplomats.com.
Series History
Franklin & Marshall's opening round game against John Carroll will mark the first-ever men's lacrosse game between these two schools. The only opponent coming to Lancaster that the Diplomats have played previously is York (Pa.) and those schools have not met since 2014. F&M won the first-ever meeting between these two programs in 2002 (w, 18-11). York won the two most recent battles during the 2013 and 2014 season. The Diplomats have also never played Lasell should both of those program's advance to Sunday's game.
F&M's Road
Franklin & Marshall is one of eight teams in this year's championship field that will enter the tournament undefeated. The Diplomats have faced several challenges throughout the year in a daunting Centennial Conference schedule. Nevertheless, they have prevailed each time. F&M officially clinched the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament when the Diplomats took down then-No. 7 Gettysburg, 16-11. With the conference champion decided by the final regular season standings this year, the Diplomats clinched gained sole possession of the championship trophy with a 20-9 victory at Dickinson to close the regular season.
John Carroll's Road (John Carroll Preview)
John Carroll, a team receiving votes in the latest USILA national rankings, defeated Baldwin Wallace, 12-6, in the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship to earn the team's fifth straight conference title. In four previous NCAA appearances, the Blue Streaks have a 2-4 mark, with three of those losses coming to RIT.
York (Pa.)'s Road (York (Pa.) Preview)
The No. 6 Spartans captured the MAC Commonwealth title following an 11-0 victory over previously unbeaten and then-No. 7 Stevenson. That victory avenged the Spartans' only defeat of the season as they had previously fallen to Stevenson by an 11-8 score. The conference title was the second in program history for York and their first MAC Commonwealth title as 2021 was their inaugural season in the conference.
Lasell's Road (Lasell Preview)
Lasell will be making its second appearance in NCAA Tournament play. The team's first appearance was in 2017. Lasell captured its second Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship with a 15-7 victory over Norwich University. The Lasers will bring a seven-game winning into the NCAA Tournament.
F&M in the Tournament
The 2021 NCAA Tournament will be the seventh all-time appearance by the Diplomats. That success includes making it to the national tournament during three of the last four seasons in which the NCAA conducted championship events. The Diplomats won NCAA Tournament games in 1988, 2003, and 2017.
With a reduced bracket size, the Diplomats begin their postseason in the Round of 32 which would traditionally be the equivalent of a second round contest. The last time F&M won the Centennial Conference Championship, the Diplomats also won their second round matchup with an 11-8 triumph over Elizabethtown. With two wins this weekend, F&M would advance to the national quarterfinals for the fourth time in program history. When the Diplomats qualified for the NCAA Championships in 1988, 1990, and 1995, the tournament started with the quarterfinal round. During the 1988 season, F&M made its deepest run in the tournament before falling in the semifinals to Ohio Wesleyan. The Diplomats started the 2003 season in the Round of 16 where a victory over Lynchburg marked the program's fourth quarterfinal appearance.
F&M has previously hosted NCAA Tournament games during the 1988, 2017, and 2019 seasons. They are 2-2 in those home contests with wins over Cortland State (1988) and Elizabethtown (2017). This weekend will mark the second NCAA Tournament to be held inside Shadek Stadium as F&M's state-of-the-art facility opened for play during the 2017-18 academic year.
Weekend Schedule
First Round (Saturday, May 16)
Saturday, May 15
1 p.m.: York (Pa.) (14-1, 5-1 MAC Commonwealth) vs. Lasell (10-2, 6-0 GNAC) (Live Video | Live Stats)
4 p.m.: Franklin & Marshall (7-0, 6-0 CC) vs. John Carroll (14-1, 8-1 OAC) (Live Video | Live Stats)
Sunday, May 16
2 p.m.: York (Pa.)/Lasell winner vs. Franklin & Marshall/John Carroll winner (Live Video | Live Stats)
The team that emerges with two victories from this weekend's action inside Shadek Stadium will find itself in the national quarterfinals and just three wins away from the national championship. The national quarterfinals and semifinals will take place on Saturday, May 22 and Sunday, May 23. The Division III NCAA Men's Lacrosse Champion will be crowned on Sunday, May 30 as a part of championship weekend on Rentschler Field in Hartford, Connecticut.
Rankings
F&M's No. 7 ranking in United States Intercollegiate Lacorsse Association national polls marks the Diplomats' highest ranking this season. As the undefeated streak remains alive, the Diplomats have risen in the polls during each of the last four weeks. F&M was ranked 16th at the start of the season and briefly slid to 17th before starting its climb up the national rankings over the past month. York (Pa.) is the highest-ranked team at this site as the Spartans are No. 6 in the poll after their conference title. Just 21 voting points separate the sixth and seventh spots in the national rankings. John Carroll received 10 voting points in the most recently released USILA poll and is listed fifth among those teams receiving votes. Lasell is not ranked in this week's release.
Complete poll
Quick Look at F&M
Franklin & Marshall had a program-record 10 players earn All-Centennial Conference recognition this season, eclipsing the previous program record of eight set during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Headlining those performances was Luke Keating's second straight Centennial Conference Player of the Year honor. The Diplomats finished the regular season with the highest scoring attack in the conference and the best statistical defense. In addition to Keating, Blake Target was another first-team All-CC selection on attack. The Diplomats had four middies earn All-CC recognition, with A.J. Rigsby and Holden Kammerer (LSM) earning first-team accolades. Will DeMuth and Spencer Hall (DM) were second-team selections. The best defense in the conference had the first-team All-CC goalie (Eric Mueller) and two defenders recognized. Erich Della Volpe was a first-team honoree while Noah Isaacson took home an honorable mention nod. Face-off man Jack Beatty was also a first-team All-CC pick.
Keating, a four-time conference player of the week this season, ranks third in DIII in both assists per game (4.71) and points per game (7.57). The Diplomats' top attacker is quickly closing in on 250 career points as he has scored 142 goals and assisted on 102 more throughout his career. He already ranks fourth in program history with 244 points. He has recorded at least six points during each of F&M's wins this season, including hat tricks during five of the team's seven victories. The Diplomats are ranked second in the nation in shooting percentage (.387). Target leds the Diplomats with the 22nd-best shooting percentage in the nation (.525). The Diplomats have the 28th-best scoring margin in the country (+7.57) and the 30th-ranked defense (7.57 GAA). Mueller is ranked 53rd nationally with his .566 save percentage.
Quick Look at John Carroll (team stats)
Skyler Blake leads all Division III players with 6.33 goals per contest. He has scored 95 goals in just 15 games this season and has 258 goals during his career. Brendan Whitty is ranked seventh in the nation in assists per game as the Blue Streaks lead the country with 179 total assists. They are particularly effective at getting the ball into the attacking zone with a .949 clearing percentage that ranks second in the country. John Carroll's DIII-leading scoring margin is 16.13. The Blue Streaks have the lowest GAA in the country (4.27) and the sixth-highest scoring offense (20.40). John Carroll is 14-1 on the year as its only loss came to Baldwin Wallace, 10-9. The Blue Streaks have avenged that loss twice, including a 12-6 victory during the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship game.
Quick Look at York (Pa.) (team stats)
As has been a theme with all the teams at F&M's site, York (Pa.) shares the ball extremely well as the Spartans rank seventh nationally in total assists (161). They have one of the most efficient man-up attacks in the country, scoring on 51.1% of those changes. As evidenced by their shutout of Stevenson during the conference championship, the York defense is stout and causes 13.47 turnovers per game. When the ball is loose, the Spartans rank fifth nationally with 636 ground balls. Goalie Jack Michael is allowing just 5.19 goals per game in the cage and is saving 62.3% of the shots he faces. Those marks rank fourth and 13th, respectively, in Division III. The win against Stevenson avenged York's only defeat of the regular season.
Quick Look at Lasell (team stats)
Lasell is 10-2 on the year but enjoyed a perfect 6-0 regular season in GNAC action before winning the conference title in convincing fashion. Lasell ranks 38th in Division III in scoring defense, allowing just 8.25 goals per game, and 46th in scoring offense, averaging 14.83 goals per outing. Those totals both led the GNAC. The bulk of Lasell's scoring comes from five players as Andrew Fidalgo (32 goals), Chase Kapuscienski (31 goals), James Anderson (26 goals), Bash Cunningham (25 goals), and Colby Buccheri (22 goals) have accounted for over three-quarters of the team's goals. Alex Beauchemin has started all 12 games in goal. He has an 8.32 goals against average and a .622 save percentage. He ranks 28th in Division III in GAA and 14th in save percentage.
