LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 20 Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team opens the postseason as the No. 2 seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament with a home clash against No. 12 and third-seeded Gettysburg at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon inside Shadek Stadium. The Diplomats (8-8, 7-1 CC) and Bullets (12-5, 7-1 CC) face off in the semifinal opposite of top-seeded Haverford (12-5, 7-1 CC) and fourth-seeded Swarthmore (13-4, 5-3 CC).
Setting the Field
With a three-way tie for first place in the Centennial Conference regular season standings, the Fords won the tiebreak on goal differential versus common opponents (maximum of three goals per game), while the Diplomats earned the home game as the two seed based on their regular season victory over the Bullets. Swarthmore earned its way into the semifinals with a 16-7 victory during the first round game vs. fifth-seeded Washington College on Wednesday.
Let's run it back …
At least the Diplomats hope so. F&M was a 16-5 winner when these teams met during the second Centennial Conference game of the regular season on April 1. They will meet again exactly one month after that match up. The two sides were tied at four-all in a defensive battle with 7:32 left in the third quarter. After Gettysburg tied the game, Myranda Beebe scored just 54 seconds later to jump start a 12-1 run to close the game that was punctuated by the Diplomats scoring the final 10 goals of the contest. When only the final horn could stop the F&M attack, Lauren Pittman and Beebe both had hat tricks to lead nine different Diplomats who found the back of the cage. Sara DiGiovanni faced just 12 shots on goal that night, finishing with seven saves.
Familiar foes in unfamiliar position
The F&M vs. Gettysburg women's lacrosse rivalry is well documented as these schools are the only ones who have been the No. 1 seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament since 2003 until this season. That includes 20 times where the two rivals met in the Centennial Conference Championship. Just once have they met in a Centennial Conference semifinal (2001). One thing that this has stayed the same, these teams are both nationally-ranked as has happened every match up since the 2003 season when the IWLCA national poll was released. Friday's game will be the 45th consecutive contest where both teams are nationally ranked.
Centennial Conference Schedule
There is a still a chance that Gettysburg or F&M will host the Centennial Conference Championship as has been the case since 2003, but the winner of Friday's semifinal will need a little help to make that happen. No. 4 Swarthmore and No. 1 Haverford will meet at 5 p.m. on Friday, with the two semifinal winners playing on Sunday at 1 p.m. on the campus of the highest remaining seed.
Centennial Conference History Lesson
The Centennial Conference Tournament was first contested during the 2001 season and Ursinus was the top seed for the first two tournaments. Prior to that, the regular season champion was given the conference crown. Since 2003, Gettysburg has hosted the tournament 12 times while F&M has hosted nine times. Gettysburg has 12 conference titles to 10 for the Diplomats. Haverford has never hosted nor won a Centennial Conference Championship. The Diplomats have won the last three Centennial Conference Championships. The most consecutive conference titles in a row was five. It was first accomplished by Gettysburg from 2002 through 2006 before the Diplomats ran off five straight tournament titles from 2007 through 2011, including both the 2007 and 2009 national championship seasons.
About the Diplomats
Seniors Devyn Crone and Lauren Pittman have led the high-powered F&M attack. Crone has a team-high 57 points off of 22 goals and 35 assists. Pittman has scored a team-leading 38 goals this season and has 46 total points. Annie Marshall, Myranda Beebe, Alexandra Proefrock, Sophie Harris, and Blaine Cosby make it seven different Diplomats who have scored double digit goals this season, with Rose Dunne just one goal away from joining that group. Pittman leads the team with 68 draw controls as Belle Dintino and Addy McIlvain greatly boost a unit that is winning nearly 56 percent of the draws.
Eight different Diplomats have caused at least 10 turnovers on the defensive end or in transition. Dintino leads that group with 19 caused turnovers in addition to her team-leading 33 ground balls. Sydney Birchard ranks second on the team with 30 ground balls this season. Sara DiGiovanni has started every game in goal. The 2025 Centennial Conference Tournament MVP and reigning first-team All-Centennial Conference selection is stopping 46.8 percent of the shots she has faced while allowing just 9.67 goals per game.
Scouting Gettysburg
Julia Daly sets the tone for the Gettysburg as she leads the team in goals (54), assists (27), and points (81). Maddie Passarello is second on the team with 32 goals, while Riley Kenrick, Nina Marra, and Grace Battle have all eclipsed the 20-goal mark for the season. Battle additionally has 101 draw controls. Gettysburg is winning 55.2 percent of its draw controls as a team. Ally Kennedy and Nora Crowther pace the Bullets on defense as both players have caused at least 20 turnovers. Marin McGuire has taken over the starting duties as a rookie and is stopping 40.4 percent of the shots she faced while allowing 8.44 goals per game.
Looking ahead …
The winner of the Centennial Conference Tournament will earn the Centennial Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament. The conference currently has three teams projected to get to the national tournament. However, the Diplomats currently occupy the very last projected at-large spot with the No. 30 ranking in the most recent NCAA Power Index (NPI). The NPI is the exclusive determining metric of at-large bids for any teams that do not earn an automatic bid.
