The Dickinson Men’s Lacrosse team closed out their regular season in a fantastic way on Saturday, April 28, with a 12-7 win over rival Gettysburg. The senior day victory gave the Devils their third straight win over the Bullets in the last two years. The game began with serious playoff implications as Dickinson entered in third place but tied in the conference with Gettysburg in terms of record. A win would move the Devils into the second seed, while a victory for Gettysburg would have given them the opportunity to host the Centennial Conference playoffs for the second time in three years.

Gettysburg would jump out first, but their early 1-0 lead would last all of five seconds, as Chip Murray ’12 would win the ensuing faceoff and quickly set up Christian Beitel ’13 who would knot the game at one. The Devils never looked back from that point stretching their lead to 4-2 by the end of the first. Their second goal came barely a minute after the first, as Ward Gruppo ’12 found the back of the net. Brian Cannon ’14 followed 52 seconds later with a score of his own to make it 3-1. After the Bullets cut the lead to one towards the end of the quarter, Cannon capitalized in a man-up situation with 51 seconds left to give the Devils the two-goal lead once again. This momentum carried into the second quarter as Richard Craft ’12 and Bobby Kingsley ’12 each tallied goals in the opening minutes of play in the second quarter, as Kingsley scored twice, to extend the lead to 7-2. Gettysburg was able to answer, but Sam Greenburg ’12 scored man-up with just under four minutes remaining in the second quarter to extend the lead to 8-3 at the break.

The second half was much of the same as the Devils outplayed the Bullets from start to finish. Kingsley scored twice in six seconds to bring the lead to 10-3 before Gettysburg could answer again. Dickinson continued to add on as Tyler White ’15 closed the scoring for the Devils midway through the fourth on a beautiful effort to extend the lead for the home team to 12-6. A late Gettysburg goal would prove meaningless as Dickinson secured the 12-7 victory.

Kingsley finished the day with four goals in what would be his last game at Biddle Field. Chip Murray also turned in an unbelievable performance going 15-22 in faceoffs and picking up eight ground balls while adding a goal. Greg Hanley made nine saves on the day for the Devils. The win moved the Devils to 12-3 overall and 6-2 in conference. They will be the number two seed in the Centennial Conference Championships next week at Washington College and will take on Gettysburg again on Friday, May 4, at 4 p.m. At the end of the game, Coach Webster remarked, “Saturday was great fun. Our team was loose and relaxed and as a result played with greater purpose and had fun.”

The senior class honored at Biddle Field on Saturday will be the most winning class in Dickinson College history, winning 75% of its games while suffering only 16 losses in its four years. Eight of those losses came in the class’s first year. These seniors have set the foundation for classes to come because of their efforts. Chip Murray will leave as perhaps the best face off midfielder in the program’s history and currently sits in the top 10 for most ground balls in a career; he had 105 this year alone and won 172 out of 288 face offs. The day was bitter sweet for one senior, Sam Abramson ’12 who did not get to play because of a torn ACL suffered last week. He did not play all of junior year either because of his ACL on his other knee. He served as an inspiration to all as he continued to show his leadership despite the injuries.

Coach Webster commented that the class as a whole made a “great contribution to our program and [demonstrated a] strong example of commitment.” Overall, this class has left an unbelievable mark by winning the Centennial Conference regular season title two years in a row, capturing the school’s first ever CC Lacrosse Championship last year, and making two straight trips to the NCAA tournament. Hopefully, by the time postseason play is over, this class will have added another achievement or two to an already remarkable legacy.