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ROCHESTER, NY – Franklin & Marshall College midfielder Bas Solleveld (Sr., Glenmoore, PA/Shipley) and defenseman Dave Taler (Sr., Baltimore, MD/Gilman) combined for eight of the Division III South All-Stars' 70 ground balls, but the North team used seven goals in the fourth quarter to outdistance the South 18-14 in the 63rd Annual STX/USILA Men's Lacrosse North-South Classic at Nazareth College on June 12. The South jumped out to a 6-2 first quarter lead, holding on to a two-goal advantage (8-6) going into the half behind strong goal tending from Washington College's Richard Yost, who finished the half with 17 saves. The North scored four straight goals to take the lead to start the second half, with Nazareth College's T.J. Rogers (pictured) scoring the third in the stretch to give the North the lead for good as the North outscored the South 12-6 in the second half. The South All-Stars were led by Kris Davis (Roanoke), who scored four goals. Stephen Berger of Washington College added three goals and two assists, and Jake VanNostrand of Whittier had two goals and an assist. Michael Saraceni (Middlebury) scored a goal and had three assists for the North, who also got two goals and one assist from Andrew Roth (Cortland). Justin Wahl (Nazareth), Scott Ferguson (Oswego), Greg Bastis (Middlebury) and Paul Purdy (Springfield) scored two each for the North Overall, Solleveld finished with four ground balls and one shot on goal, while Taler contributed four ground balls as the duo's selection marked the first time Franklin & Marshall garnered more than one North-South participant since 1996 when attackmen Chris Mergadt '96, Don Gervais '96 and midfielder Jeremy Nierman '96 were named to the South team. A three-time All-Centennial Conference selection with second team recognition the last two seasons (2003 & 2004) and honorable mention status in 2002, Solleveld scored 21 goals and six assists for 27 points this year to raise his career totals to 70 goals and 29 assists for 99 points. In Conference play, he scored 13 goals and two assists for 15 points as he capped off a season in which he was named to the Centennial Conference honor roll on May 3 and March 8. His best performance of the season came on April 24 as he scored six goals in a 12-6 win over Swarthmore College at Williamson Field. In the season opener on February 28, he scored five goals and handed out an assist in a 15-4 rout at Marymount University. A 2004 honorable mention and 2003 All-Centennial Conference second team selection, Taler was instrumental in the team's defensive success as Franklin & Marshall ranked among the nation's best defensive units with 7.57 goals per game. Offensively, he dished out an assist for his first career point in a 12-8 win at Muhlenberg College on April 10. The North/South game capped off a career in which the pair led the Diplomats to the 2002 Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship as sophomores for the program's first post-season title since claiming the Middle Atlantic Conference championship in 1990. As juniors, the Diplomats concluded the 2003 season with a 12-4 record, 6-2 in Centennial Conference play, as Franklin & Marshall finished fifth in the nation, ranked #9 in the final USILA Division III national poll and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship Tournament. In the tournament, F&M advanced to the quarterfinals before being defeated by eventual national champion Salisbury University. The NCAA playoff berth marked the third in program history (1988, 1990, and 1995) as the team recorded the program's best record since the 1988 team went 13-3 and advanced to the "Final Four". Franklin & Marshall concluded the 2004 season with a 9-5 record as Solleveld and Taler finished their collegiate careers with a four-year record of 39-23. This year marked the third straight year a Diplomat appeared in the North-South Game as defenseman Chris Schellhorn '02 appeared in the 2002 game at Johns Hopkins University and midfielder Jon Singer '03 played in the 2003 game at Sacred Heart University.
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