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LANCASTER, PA - The Franklin & Marshall College men's lacrosse, ranked #11 in April 28 STX/USILA Division III Top 20 Poll, will have a chance to move up to #1 as the Diplomats earned a bid to the 2003 NCAA Championship Tournament. F&M will travel to Virginia to face off against sixth-ranked Lynchburg in the second round of the 17-team 2003 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament on Saturday. Game time is yet to be announced. The NCAA playoff berth marks the third in program history (1988, 1990, and 1995) as the Diplomats will look to improve on their 11-3 record to date. Historically, F&M will look to improve on their best record in program history as the 1988 team went 13-3 and advanced to the "Final Four". "This is a tribute to the outstanding young men on our team who have worked so hard to take our team to this level and help bring F&M back to the NCAA Tournament," stated head coach Bill Gorrow. Ranked #25 in the 2003 preseason poll, #22 in the opening week poll, #14 on March 17, #10 the following two weeks, #9 on April 7 and #8 the prior two weeks, the Diplomats fell at #3 nationally ranked and 2003 Centennial Conference Champion Washington College in the Conference playoffs, 13-6. "We are proud to join the other outstanding Franklin & Marshall College teams who have made the tournament in the past and who have been the cornerstone of our program." Leading the way in the tournament for the Diplomats will be six All-Centennial Conference selections. First team selections, midfielder Bryan Nolan (Sr., Scottsdale, AZ/Western Reserve), attackman Jon Singer (Sr., Reisterstown, MD/Boys' Latin) and face-off specialist Matt Capone (So., Scarsdale, NY/Scarsdale) should have a huge impact in the tournament. A NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship and Verizon Academic All-America candidate, Singer leads the team in scoring with 23-27-50 as he ranks fifth in points (3.57 ppg), 15th in goals (1.64 gpg) and third in assists (1.93 apg) through games of April 27 to anchor an F&M offense which ranks second in scoring offense with 167 goals in 14 games (11.93 gpg). A 2001 Honorable Mention and 2002 Second Team All-CC recipient, Singer led the team in goals scored in 2002 (24) and 2001 (27). The team's leading scorer this year, last week Nolan scored five goals, including three in a 13-6 loss to Washington in the CC playoffs. Against Dickinson College in F&M's regular season finale, he scored twice as the Diplomats rolled to an 11-9 victory. On the season, he now has 32-10-42 and raised his career numbers to 82-38-120 as this year's All-CC honor marks the first time Nolan has been honored by the Conference coaches. Overall, he ranks seventh in points (3.00 ppg) and third in goals (2.29 gpg) in the latest Centennial Conference statistics. Midfielder Bas Solleveld (Jr., Glenmoore, PA/Shipley School) and defenseman Dave Taler (Jr., Baltimore, MD/Gilman School) were honored on the second team, while goaltender Mike Sartorius (So., Summit, NJ/Summit) earned honorable mention honors. The anchor of the Diplomats' defense, Taler has been instrumental in Franklin & Marshall's ninth place national ranking in scoring defense (6.29 gpg) in the latest NCAA Division III men's lacrosse statistics. Solleveld has tallied 21-10-31 this year, including 15-6-21 in Conference play, to raise his career numbers to 47-22-69. Last year, he chipped in 22-5-27, including eight goals and four assists in Centennial Conference games, to earn All-CC Honorable Mention honors. In goal, Sartorius is second in the Centennial Conference in save percentage (61.9%) and goals against average (7.20 gaa) as he has recorded 143 saves and 88 goals allowed in 773 minutes of play. Named to the 2002 All-CC Team as a freshman, Sartorius recorded 208 saves last year, shattering the Conference record freshman goalie saves of 191 formerly held by Andrew Barter of Gettysburg from the 1997 season. However, he fell short of the school single season record of 225 set by Scott Cozzens '88 during the 1988 season. Further, Sartorius reset the Centennial Conference single game and tournament saves records by recording 22 in a 7-6 loss to #1 nationally ranked Gettysburg on April 26, 2002 in the opening round of the Centennial Conference playoffs. The total erased the previous single game playoff record of 15 set by All-American Dave Kahn '01, the goalie Sartorius replaced between the pipes, in a 9-7 loss to Gettysburg in the opening game of the 2001 Conference playoffs. Historically, he is 14th in the history of the Conference in career saves with 352, 28 short of surpassing Swarthmore College's Ben Henwood '97 (379) for 13th place. Other players to watch include Beau Smith (Sr., Baltimore, MD/Gilman), Colin Hanley (So., Davidsonville, MD/DeMatha) and Steve Welsh (So., Lewes, DE/Cape Henelopen). Smith is tied Hanley for 10th in points per game (40, 2.86 ppg) in the Conference. Individually, Smith ranks 20th in goals (20, 1.43 gpg) and eighth in assists (20, 1.43 apg), while Hanley is seventh in goals (28, 2.00 gpg). Further, Welsh is among the Conference leaders as he ranks sixth in points (42, 3.00 ppg) and assists (23, 1.64 apg). On the sideline, the Diplomats will have a national championship coach in Bill Gorrow. The head coach at Anne Arundel Community College from 1993 until taking over the Diplomats in the summer of 2001, he led his team to the NJCAA National Championship in 1998. In the last meeting with Lynchburg, the Hornets Kip Campbell scored at 62:26 in the first overtime period as F&M fell 11-10 in overtime on March 10, 2002 in a neutral site game at Fairfax High School in Virginia. Overall, the Diplomats are 1-2 all-time against Lynchburg, recording the only win the series in 2001 with an 11-7 victory at the University of Delaware in another neutral site game. A complete NCAA Tournament bracket is available online at www.ncaa.org.
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