With the No. 1 seed in the Centennial Conference men's soccer tournament on the line, Franklin & Marshall defeated Johns Hopkins in Saturday's regular season finale. The Diplomats earned the conference's top seed with the victory and will host one of the two semifinals next Friday in Lancaster.
JHU's loss coupled with Washington College's 1-0 triumph over Dickinson earned the defending-champion Shoremen the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. Washington and Hopkins each finished the regular season with 18 points, but the Shoremen own the tiebreaker over the Blue Jays to lock up the No. 2 seed.
Hopkins is the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Dickinson in Tuesday's first round. Despite the loss at Washington, the Red Devils had already secured a playoff spot entering Saturday's regular season finale.
Tuesday's other first round matchup will consist of a repeat matchup from Saturday - No. 5 Muhlenberg at No. 4 Gettysburg. The Mules and Bullets played to a 1-1 draw in Gettysburg on Saturday and will meet again at Clark Field on Tuesday.
F&M will host the Gettysburg/Muhlenberg winner in Lancaster on Friday while Washington College will host the Hopkins/Dickinson winner. The highest remaining seed will host Sunday's championship.
The Centennial tournament will feature a new look this fall. For the first time ever, six teams will compete in the postseason as the conference has expanded its number of playoff participants from five to six. Also, the higher seed will host each round of the tournament and there is now a day off between the semifinals and championship.
Check back to Centennial.org for game times and visit our Championship Central for more information regarding next week's tournament.
FIRST ROUND: Tuesday, Nov. 1 | at #3 & #4 seeds
#6 Dickinson at #3 Johns Hopkins
#5 Muhlenberg at #4 Gettysburg
SEMIFINALS: Friday, Nov. 4 | at #1 & #2 seeds
#3/6 winner at #2 Washington College
#4/5 winner at #1 Franklin & Marshall
CHAMPIONSHIP: Sunday, Nov. 6 | at highest remaining seed
Semifinal winners