Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Brittney Jorgenson scored the game-winning goal with 2:25 left to propel No. 6 Franklin & Marshall College past No. 4 Gettysburg College 8-6 in the finals of the Centennial Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship Sunday afternoon at Clark Field.
 
With the victory, Franklin & Marshall (17-2) claimed its sixth conference title and first since 2011. The Diplomats also earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.
 
Jorgenson was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament after scoring three goals in the title game. Grace Saliba added two goals and three assists, while goalie Danielle Harrington recorded seven saves.
 
Senior Mandy Buell (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) paced Gettysburg (15-3) with three goals. Junior Maggie Connolly (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) turned in one goal and two assists.
 
Franklin & Marshall, which fell to Gettysburg 14-11 in the regular season, struck first with Jorgenson grabbing a pass from Grace Saliba and throwing it into the net just 1:15 into the contest.
 
The Diplomats picked up a yellow card on the next possession and the Bullets took advantage of the extra player with Buell scoring on a free-position shot at 26:50.
 
Sophomore goalie Shannon Keeler (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) made a pair of defensive stops to swing momentum to the hosts, first stopping a shot by Jorgenson and then intercepting a pass to regain possession for her team. Gettysburg answered with Connolly posting a score to make it 2-1 at 24:44.
 
After F&M tied the game on a goal by Saliba, Connolly found a cutting Buell for the tally to make it 3-2 with 21 minutes left in the first half.
 
The teams settled in defensively with no goals over the next 11-plus minutes. Six turnovers kept things tied up until Megan Kelly broke loose for an unassisted tally at 9:40. The Diplomats forced two more turnovers in the following minutes with the second leading to a goal by Saliba to make it 4-3 with less than five minutes remaining before the break.
 
Franklin & Marshall continued to build momentum with the first two goals of the final period by Jorgenson and Gabby Frank to push the advantage to 6-3. Buell prevented any more damage with a quick score to slice the deficit back to two at 27:03.
 
Keeler halted a free-position shot by Jorgenson with 21:36 left in the game and Gettysburg came right back up the field on offense. Freshman Katie Landry's (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) ensuing shot was turned away, but her second found the mark following a pass from Connolly at 19:48.
 

 
The Bullets wasted just 10 seconds in tying the game as senior Bridget Kenny (Gladstone, N.J./Bernards) raced in for the goal following the draw.
 
Both defenses went on lockdown for the next 17 minutes. Harrington posted four of her game-high seven saves during the stretch, including stopping junior Amanda Borucki (Westminster, Md./North Carroll) with 5:05 to play. Keeler was just as good as her Diplomat counterpart, posting a pair of saves and a caused turnover.
 
Franklin & Marshall followed up a Gettysburg turnover with the eventual game-winning score. Standing behind the cage, Saliba found Jorgenson in front for a quick strike to grab the lead.
 
Despite gaining possession of the draw, Gettysburg gave the ball right back to the Diplomats as Anastasia Mergner came up with the caused turnover. The Bullets recovered, however, with junior Abby Baigelman (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck) breaking up the clear attempt and regaining control of the ball for the hosts.
 
Gettysburg had a chance to tie the game with 52 seconds left as Connolly drew a foul at the top of the eight-meter arc. The crashing defenders managed to deflect Connolly's attempt and Franklin & Marshall came away with the ground ball. The visitors evaded the pressure up the field with Frank eventually scoring on an empty net with one second left.
 
Gettysburg held the lead in shots (21-19), ground balls (13-12), and draw controls (10-5). The Diplomats committed just nine turnovers to the Bullets' 13.
 
Keeler finished with seven saves, five ground balls, and two caused turnovers for the Bullets. Baigelman added four ground balls and one caused turnover. Kenny grabbed four draw controls.
 
The Bullets will find out their national playoff fate tonight during the broadcast of the NCAA Selection Show at 9:30 p.m. Coverage of the show is available here: http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2015/1972&date=2015/05/03.