CARLISLE, Pa. – The second-seeded and eighth-ranked Dickinson men's lacrosse team got all they could handle from the third-seeded Muhlenberg College on Thursday night, but ultimately locked things down defensively over the final couple of minutes to secure an 11-10 Centennial Conference Tournament semifinal win at Biddle Field. The win the for the Devils books them their third consecutive appearance in the conference final on Saturday afternoon.

Both keepers were tested early as the Mules Stephen Krug denied the trio of Sascha Gannon, John McKee and Owen Porter while at the other end Patrick Scarborough turned away Daniel Friedel. That gave Dickinson the opportunity to claim the early lead as James Isaacson scored unassisted, before Ben Monroe buried a feed from Skyler Schluter to make it 2-0 with just over five minutes gone. The Red and White pushed it to 3-0 less than a moment later as Ren LaMotte knocked the ball loose to Capp Reynolds who eventually found Matt Thurston for the goal. Wyatt Malia and Andrew Sellitto answered back for the visitors to trim the gap to one. However, off the ensuing faceoff win for McKee, Ethan Gess ripped the back of the net for a 4-2 lead after one.

After each goalie made a stop within the first two minutes of the second, both teams would find the cage just over a minute later as Tyler Kitchen and Luke Whalen exchanged strikes. Following a DC giveaway, Aidan Murphy got the rock up to Sellitto who scored, before Friedel netted the game-tying marker at 5-5 with 8:15 left in the frame. Dickinson fired the next four shots with Schluter and Whalen not getting them to Krug, while Cullen Mulhern hit Porter for the finish prior to Porter doing it on his own for a 7-5 lead with just under six minutes left. It then took about 20-seconds to find two more goals with Jack Bill and Thurston each tallying to leave the home side ahead 8-6. Both keepers notched one more stop in the half as the game went to the break with DC up two.

A stop by Krug on Thurston with 2:29 gone would lead to Malia going back down the other way and hacking one off the deficit. Dickinson then rode the momentum of two Scarborough saves to find their ninth of the matchup thanks to Thurston. Two minutes later Muhlenberg took advantage of a man-up opportunity to as Jack Quinn solved the DC keeper making it 9-8 with seven minutes to play. Gannon, Schluter, Thurston and Whalen all tried to grow the Devils lead going into the fourth, but were unable to hit the net.

Scarborough shutdown Bill with 63-seconds off the clock, which allowed for Schluter to find Porter for the 10-8 lead. With that assist Schluter set the all-time Dickinson record for career points with 227. Turnovers caused by both Evan Karetsos and Xander Usich led to chances for Isaacson and Thurston, but neither found the net. That gave the Mules the opportunity to get back down the field and watch Matthew Hochegger find Kitchen for the goal. After the two sides traded the next four shots with no results, Thurston would re-establish the hosts two goal margin at 11-9 with six minutes left. Back-to-back stops by Scarborough gave way to Liam Carney getting a look at the other end, but he would clang the post. Sellitto made it 11-10 with 2:55 left and gave the Mules the opportunity to push for an equalizer which never had a chance to develop as turnovers forced by Jack Deady and Usich sealed up the win.   

Red Devil Leaders
Goals – Thurston (4), Porter (3)
Assists – Schluter (2)
Groundballs – McKee (11), Karetsos (5), Reynolds (4)
Faceoff – McKee (13-21), Ben Trucksess (1-3)
Saves – Scarborough (11)

Mule Leaders
Goals – Sellitto (3), Kitchen and Malia (2)
Assists – Seven players tied (1)
Groundballs – Schwartzberg (5), Krug (4)
Faceoffs – Minuto (10-22), Drago (0-2)
Saves – Krug (8)

Next on the Turf
Based on fifth-seeded Gettysburg's 13-12 road win at top-seeded and No. 4 Swarthmore, Dickinson (15-2) has earned the right to host the Centennial Conference Championship game for the third straight season on Saturday afternoon at 1pm. Full game preview will be released tomorrow.  
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