May 4, 2008
#3 Bullets Best #4 Shoremen, 12-7, for CC Title
Gregory Nets Three Goals, Assist in Loss

GETTYSBURG, PA -- Third-ranked host Gettysburg College used an eight-goal run in the first half en route to a 12-7 win over fourth-ranked Washington College in the Centennial Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship game this afternoon at Clark Field. The Bullets (15-2) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament with the win, while the Shoremen (13-3) will find out tonight if they receive one of the four at-large bids to the tournament.

The Shoremen got on the board first as senior midfielder Nick Gregory (Riva, MD/South River) fired in an unassisted goal with 12:29 left in the first quarter. The Bullets seemed to have evened the score as Joe Brody fired in a shot with 6:39 to go in the period, but the goal was disallowed due to an illegal stick penalty. Gettysburg did tie the score with 3:53 left in the first on a goal by Drew Duckworth. Gregory put the Shoremen back in front with an extra-man goal off an assist from senior attackman Kolyn Kirby (Chestertown, MD/Kent County) with 2:14 to play in the quarter. The Bullets answered with 55 seconds to go in the first when Tom O'Donnell netted a goal.

Gettysburg took its first lead of the game 2:01 into the second quarter when O'Donnell fed Trip Dyer for a goal to give the Bullets a 3-2 advantage. Kyle McGrath then gave the Bullets a two-goal lead with 11:24 remaining and Brody followed with a goal off a feed from Ben Sufrin with 10:14 left in the second to make the score 5-2 in favor of the Bullets. Gettysburg's run continued when Sufrin netted a goal off a feed from Zach Pucci with 9:44 left and Pucci found Sufrin again with 7:27 to go to make it 7-2. Chris Cahill scored the Bullets' eighth goal with 6:29 remaining and Pucci scored off a Sufrin assist with 3:58 left in the second to give Gettysburg a 9-2 lead. The Shoremen ended the Bullet's eighth-goal run when Kirby found junior attackman Jimmy Kielek (Baltimore, MD/Archbishop Curley) to trim the lead to 9-3 with 2:49 remaining in the half. Kielek scored again, the time off an assist from senior attackman Chris Read (Baltimore, MD/Boys Latin) with 1:53 left before the break, pulling the Shoremen to within five goals at 9-4.

Gregory opened the third-quarter scoring for Washington with an extra-man goal off an assist from freshman attackman Doug Herdegen (Baltimore, MD/Archbishop Curley) with 9:35 to go in the period to make it 9-5. Dyer stopped the Shoremen's three-goal rally with a goal with 7:46 on the clock, giving Gettysburg a 10-5 advantage. O'Donnell made it 11-5 with 6:31 to play in the third and the Bullets held a six-goal lead after three quarters.

The Bullets opened up a seven-goal lead when Pucci found Rob Triplett for an extra-man goal with 12:07 to go in the fourth. Washington made it 12-6 when Gregory found junior midfielder Casey O'Connor (Crownsville, MD/Archbishop Spalding) for a goal with 6:36 left in the game, but the Bullets kept the Shoremen off the board until Read rounded out the scoring with a goal off an assist from Kirby with 33 seconds remaining.

Sufrin scored two goals and assisted on two others in the win for Gettysburg, while O'Donnell had two goals and one assist and Dyer scored two goals. Pucci finished the game with a goal and three assists for the Bullets.

Gregory led the Shoremen with three goals and one assist, while Read had a goal and an assist and Kirby tallied three assists.

Gettysburg held a 38-35 advantage in shots in the game. Zachary Furshman made 16 saves for the Bullets, while junior goalie Gordon Cohen (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) made 11 saves for Washington.

The NCAA Division III Tournament field will be announced tonight between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. on CBS College Sports Television, available on satellite and some cable systems. .

BOX SCORE