Saturday's Semifinal Notebook

Haverford at Franklin & Marshall (Field Hockey, 12:00)
The top-seeded Diplomats (15-2) welcome the fourth-seeded Fords (11-7) to Tylus Field for the first-ever Centennial field hockey final four played away from Collegeville. F&M defeated Haverford, 5-0, back on Oct. 9 in Lancaster to break a four-game losing streak to the Fords and extend its all-time series lead to 20-7-1. This is the Diplomats' seventh appearance in the Centennial tournament with a 2-6 record (1-3 in the semis). Haverford is in its third straight Conference semifinal and is 3-2 in tourney games. The Fords defeated F&M, 1-0, in the 2009 first round in their only previous tournament matchup.

Ursinus at Johns Hopkins (Field Hockey, 2:30)
The seven-time defending champion Bears (14-3) are trying to do something that no other UC hockey team has ever accomplished - winning a Centennial title on the road. Every tournament since 2003 as been played in Collegeville, but this year finds Ursinus playing in Lancaster in the semifinals against a familiar foe in the third-seeded Blue Jays (10-7). The two teams have met six previous times in the Centennial tourney, including a pair of semifinals. Hopkins' only win in 16 games against the Bears came in the 2003 semifinals by a 1-0 count. Ursinus has won 14 straight CC playoff games dating to that loss. Hopkins is 11-8 all-time entering its 11th tournament appearance.

Tournament Notes

No #5 seed has reached the Centennial final.
Since 2005, teams scoring the first goal of the game are 17-4, while teams leading at halftime are 19-3.
Only twice in the history of the tournament has a team come back from a two-goal deficit to win - Ursinus in the 2004 final and Haverford in the 2011 first round.
Six of the eight first-round games since 2004 have been decided by a single goal.
Only four tournament games have gone to overtime and none have been decided by strokes.
There have been 15 shutouts in the 37-game history of the Centennial tournament and seven 1-0 results.
Ursinus, the seven-time defending champion, has won 14 straight tournament games since a 1-0 loss to Johns Hopkins in the 2003 semifinals in Collegeville.

Haverford vs. Johns Hopkins (Women's Soccer, 4:30)
The Blue Jays (17-0), the top-seed and fourth-ranked team in the country, bring their perfect record and six straight Centennial titles into their 11th Conference tournament appearance. The Fords (12-2-4) are in the field for the seventh time, fresh off a win against F&M in the opening round for their first-ever Conference tourney win. Hopkins, on the other hand, is 16-3 in Centennial tourney matches and 9-1 in the semifinals alone. The Jays have won 12 straight CC tournament matches since a 4-3 loss to Gettysburg in the 2004 final. JHU is 4-0 all-time against Haverford in the tournament and 14-6-3 overall. The Fords' last win vs. Hopkins was a 1-0 triumph at home in 2007. Haverford has never defeated the Jays in Baltimore.

Gettysburg vs. Swarthmore (Women's Soccer, 7:00)
The second-seeded Bullets (11-6) and the third-seeded Garnet (12-5) square off at Homewood Field for the right to advance to the Centennial final. Gettysburg defeated Swarthmore, 3-2, in overtime back on Oct. 9 at the Battlefield to extend their all-time series lead to 19-4-2. The Garnet downed the Bullets, 1-0, in Baltimore in the 2006 CC semifinals in their only playoff meeting. Swarthmore is looking to return to the final for the first time since that 2006 victory, while Gettysburg is looking for its first trip to the title match since 2004 - the last time Hopkins did not win the Centennial crown.

Tournament Notes

Only once has a No. 5 seed reached the Centennial final - Dickinson in 2009
Since 2005, the team that scores the first goal in a match is 19-4 and the team that is leading at halftime is 18-1.
Nine matches have gone to overtime with two decided by a "golden" goal and seven decided by penalties.
No team has ever come back from a two-goal deficit to win a tournament match. Only Haverford in the 2010 semifinals has battled back to tie a match when trailing by two goals.