Box Score
(Carlisle, Pa.) – The Dickinson men's lacrosse team rallied to a thrilling 9-8 victory over Franklin & Marshall to claim the #3-seed in the Centennial Conference playoffs. The Red Devils tallied three straight goals in middle of the fourth quarter to overtake the Diplomats in the regular season finale at Biddle Field.
The Red Devils struck first, capitalizing on an extra-man opportunity as junior Rob Kendall (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy) finished an assist from Chris Menard (South Hadley, Mass./South Hadley), with just 2:34 remaining in the first quarter.
Michael Bossidy tied the game, just 1:02 into the second period. Menard tallied another assist, this time finding first-year Sam Saleeby (Cos Cob, Conn./Greenwich) for a 2-1 advantage, with 8:51 to play in the half.
The Diplomats put together a 3-0 run as Sean Rogers struck twice with Bossidy scoring again and handing out an assist. Menard and Kendell connected again to counter at the 3:30 mark before Bossidy fed John Barney to give F&M a 5-3 lead at the break.
F&M opened the second half with a goal from Ben Ross to stretch the margin to 6-3. The Devils would pull within one at the end of the quarter behind a goal and assist from junior Will Trevenen (Montclair, N.J./Taft).
Senior Tyler White (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) made a strong move in front of the cage, tying the game, 6-6, to start the fourth quarter.
Barney capitalized on a Dickinson penalty to give the Diplomats a 7-6 advantage with 8:04 to play in the game. The Red Devils were ready to rally, pulling even on a strike from Kobi Frankel (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) as Trevenen picked up another assist, less than a minute later.
The Red Devils could feel the momentum shift, and went in front on a goal by first-year Tucker Carney (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) at the 6:23 mark. Senior Michael Smith (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) scooped up the ground ball on the ensuing face-off and made no hesitation, scoring with the long pole to give Dickinson a two-goal edge.
Sean Brown kept things interesting, finding the net with 4:44 remaining in regulation. The Devils gained possession on the face-off but the Diplomats took over on a turnover. The teams traded possessions over the final two minutes with Smith causing a huge turnover into the stick of Slay Sudah (Franklin Park, N.J./St. Joseph). Senior Mike Serpa (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) caused a turnover and controlled the ground ball as the Devils held on for the win.
Bossidy led the Diplomats (7-9, 4-4) with two goals and two assists while Timothy Mattesich made 13 saves on the day.
Menard handed out three assists to lead the attack while Trevenan tallied a goal and two assists, and Kendell found the net twice. Smith caused three turnovers while Serpa and Sudah each caused two. John Bower (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne's Belfield) and Graham Parsons (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) each added a pair as well. Greg Castro (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) won 14-of-18 face-offs on the day.
Nick Baxter (Boxford, Mass./Governor's) came up with a huge save late in the game, making six on the day. He added three ground balls as the Red Devils improve to 7-8 overall and 5-3 in the Centennial Conference.
The Red Devils earn the #3-seed in the conference playoffs and will travel to Ursinus College on Wednesday for the semfinals. Washington College will travel to Gettysburg on Wednesday for the other semifinal match-up. The winners will advance to the site of the highest remaining seed for the championship on Saturday.
