GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The No. 9 Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse team (8-2, 1-1 CC) suffered its first Centennial Conference regular season defeat in nearly three years with a 10-6 setback against No. 13 Gettysburg (7-3, 2-0 CC) on Wednesday afternoon. This game was a rematch of the 2021 contest that went in favor of the Diplomats on their home field as they locked up the Centennial Conference Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

A.J. Rigsby was on the prowl early against the Bullets as he tallied a hat trick just over 11 minutes into the contest, giving his side a 2-0 and eventual 3-2 advantage. However, a strong second quarter would ultimately tip the final score in the Bullets' favor. Gettysburg scored five unanswered goals during those 15 minutes before the half, leading 7-3 before holding on for the win.

The Diplomats got the game down just a two goal deficit, 7-5, as Pierce Archer and Blake Target both connected on goals just over a minute apart during the third quarter. James Moroney later answered Gettysburg's lone tally during the third quarter as he scored with 4:27 left in the period. However, that would be the final offense the Diplomats registered on the scoreboard as the hosts added two more goals over the final 15 minutes.

Gettysburg held just a slight 43-37 advantage in shots, but was much more effective at putting those attempts on target as they finished with a 28-19 edge in shots on goal. Sage Garito came up huge with 18 saves to keep his team in the game. He made seven of those saves during the first quarter alone. However, 13 saves from Gettysburg's Scott MacMillan – including seven during the second half – prevented F&M from coming any closer.

The Bullets also held slight advantages in ground balls (30-26) and face-off wins (12-8) while the Diplomats had a very strong penalty kill that did not allow any goals during four man-up chances for the Bullets. Brendan Murphy registered two of F&M's six caused turnovers on the day while Kyle Craig's four ground balls led those efforts.

Men's lacrosse will have a quick chance to bounce back as the Diplomats return home this Saturday for a 3 p.m. opening face-off versus Swarthmore. That contest will be part of a doubleheader with the women's team taking on the Garnet at 12 p.m. inside Shadek Stadium.