GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College women's lacrosse heads to this weekend's Centennial Conference Championship at Clark Field in search of its 11th title in 18 years.
 
Gettysburg (15-2, 8-1 CC) has never rested on past laurels to get where it needs to be and despite winning four of the last five conference championship, the Bullets are preparing for a competitive weekend of lacrosse on its home field.
 
"It's important to know that teams will bring their best during the playoffs," said senior co-captain Macauley Mikes (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington). "This is the time of the season where we cannot feel complacent. We need to be confident in our abilities and realize that we made it here for a reason."
 
Gettysburg marched its way through the regular season and heads into the postseason ranked third in the country. An early stumble against Muhlenberg College (13-3, 7-2 CC) had the Bullets scrambling to get back in the hunt for the conference's top seed, but the team took care of business with seven consecutive victories to end the regular season.
 
The Orange and Blue will host the Centennial semifinals and championship for the sixth time in eight seasons and the ninth time overall. The home-field advantage has worked more often than not with six championships finishing in Gettysburg's favor.
 
"We are excited to be hosting the CC Tournament as it allows us the familiarity with our field, of having our team meals in our awesome dining facilities, and having the players sleep in their own beds," said Head Coach Carol Cantele.
 
Cantele has been at the helm for all of Gettysburg's 10 conference titles. She heads into the weekend with a record of 372-104 in 25 seasons on the battlefield.
 
This weekend's field figures to be one of the most competitive in recent memory with Franklin & Marshall College (14-4, 8-1 CC), Muhlenberg, and Dickinson College (10-7, 6-3 CC). All three have big wins over nationally-ranked competition this season. The Red Devils already have one postseason win in the books, beating Washington College 10-9 in the first round on Wednesday.
 
"The games are likely to be very competitive from Wednesday through Sunday and that will bode well for the advancing teams," noted Cantele. "The team that advances will be the team that makes the fewest errors and focuses on the little things."
 
Since dropping back-to-back games to The College of New Jersey, currently ranked No. 1 in Division III, and Muhlenberg, Gettysburg has out-scored its opponents 107-28. Included in that run was a 12-6 win over then top-ranked Franklin & Marshall.
 
Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall have faced off for the conference championship in 13 of the last 14 seasons, but Muhlenberg and Dickinson are poised to break up the party. The Red Devils came within a goal of taking down Gettysburg in a 9-8 decision on April 19 at Clark Field. The team will get its second crack at the Bullets in Saturday's first semifinal at noon.
 
The Diplomats and Mules will square off for the second-straight Saturday in the second semifinal at 3 p.m. F&M topped Muhlenberg 17-10 last weekend.
 
The semifinal winners will compete for the conference title and automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Sunday at 3 p.m.
 
Gettysburg won the championship last season, but came up short the last time it hosted the league tournament in 2015. The five Bullet seniors – Emma Christie (Cos Cob, Conn./Greenwich), Caroline Jaeger (Hampton, N.J./North Hunterdon), Shannon Keeler (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown), Mikes, and Katelyn Neillands (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) – started their collegiate careers by hoisting the conference title at Clark Field and that's how they want to finish their conference careers.
 
"We need to bring our best game," said Mikes. "It's always exciting to play in these games, but during any moment of any game, we cannot become complacent. If we play with the intensity and confidence with which we have been playing, good things can happen."
 
Saturday's and Sunday's games will be streamed live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/gettysburg/. Additional information can be found on the championship website at http://gettysburgsports.com/sports/2017/5/1/WLAX_0427153919.aspx.