GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Gettysburg College goalie Steve Kopp (Upper Montclair, NJ/Montclair) made five saves, including a penalty kick stop in the 74th minute, to hold Muhlenberg scoreless as the top-seeded Bullets downed the second-seeded Mules 1-0 for the 2000 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Mid-Atlantic Region championships on Sunday.

Senior captain Jeremy Shapiro (Leonia, NJ/Fieldston School) tallied the lone-goal game-winner for his team best 16th goal of the season. Kopp was awarded the game's Most Valuable Player Award as Gettysburg (14-5-1) avenged a 2-1 regular season loss to Muhlenberg (11-8) and won its second ECAC championship. The Bullets last won the Mid-Atlantic crown in 1991.

The Muhlenberg loss marks the second year in a row that the Mules have lost the ECAC championship game to a fellow Centennial Conference team, which the Allentown 11 beat during their regular season. Muhlenberg lost the 1999 title match to Johns Hopkins, 1-0.

After almost 74 minutes of scoreless soccer, Muhlenberg looked to break the stalemate when sophomore Ben Long (Granville, OH/Granville) was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty-kick. Despite picking the wrong direction on the ensuing kick, Kopp got his foot on the ball for a dramatic kick-save and averted near disaster for the host team.

Using the momentum, the Bullets pushed hard into Mule territory, and after 10 minutes of increasingly rough play, were awarded with a direct-kick from 23 yards out. Taking advantage of a poorly placed Muhlenberg wall, Shapiro blasted the ball through the Mules and beat keeper Rob Pomento (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Wyoming Seminary) to the far netting. Pomento recorded four often-spectacular saves on the afternoon.

Gettysburg outshot Muhlenberg 16-9 while the Mules held a 7-5 advantage in cornerkicks

Scoring
G - Jeremy Shapiro (direct kick), 86:28

Shots: M 9, G 16. Corner Kicks: M 7, G 5. Fouls: M 18, G 16. Goalie Saves: M 4 (Rob Pomento), G 5 (Steve Kopp).