GETTYSBURG, Pa. --- Tommy Pearce (Chestertown, MD/Woodberry Forest [VA]) matched a career high with four goals as No. 2 Gettysburg survived a furious fourth-quarter rally to defeat 12th-ranked Rensselaer 14-11 in non-conference action on Saturday.

     After Pearce scored his fourth goal of the day with 10:22 remaining to give the Bullets (4-0) a 13-7 lead, the Engineers (0-1) answered with four straight tallies over the next five minutes and 34 seconds to pull within 13-11.

     An RPI penalty with 3:04 left, however, gave Gettysburg its sixth extra-man opportunity of the afternoon and Bullet midfielder Charlie Hanchett (Annapolis, MD/Stony Brook [NY]) converted off a feed from Wes Cadman (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) to halt the Engineers' charge and lock up the win.

     Pete Milliman (Rochester, NY/Canterbury [CT]) scored three goals for the Bullets while Ross Garretson (New Hope, PA/Germantown Academy) added two goals and one assist on the afternoon.  Andrew Barter (North Brookfield, MA/Tabor Academy) made nine saves for Gettysburg, which held the Engineers to a 1-for-10 showing on extra-man opportunities and forced 10 failed clears.

     Nick Childs and Joe Battaglia led RPI (0-1) with three goals apiece on the day while Tom Terzulli scored one goal and added a team-high four assists.  Ben Terzulli added one goal and one assist for the Engineers, who fell in their 2000 season opener.

     Behind goals from five different players, the Bullets jumped out to a 5-1 lead after one period and pushed the lead to 7-1 with goals from Callahan and Garretson in the first 4:20 of the second quarter.

     RPI scored three of the next four goals, including a tally by Ben Terzulli with three seconds left, to cut the lead to 8-4 at halftime.

     Pearce's third goal of the game gave Gettysburg a 12-5 lead with 1:26 left in the third period.  Battaglia closed out the third with two goals in the final 42 seconds and RPI rattled off four of the game's next five goals to pull within 13-11 with 4:48 left.

     Hanchett's extra-man goal restored the Bullets' three-goal edge and the Gettysburg defense held the Engineers off the board the rest of the way.

     Cadman, Mark Pollak (Fairfax Station, VA/Lake Braddock), Kevin Callahan (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Inst.) and Patrick McAneny (Summit, NJ/Summit) all added single goals for Gettysburg.  McAneny's goal, off solo run at 7:17 of the third period, was the senior's second career tally.

     Matthew Moog made five saves in 41 minutes for RPI while Joe Garvey added three stops in 19 minutes.  Gettysburg backup Eric Gregg (Narberth, PA/Episcopal Academy) made a key save during a Barter penalty while playing three minutes in the third period.

     The Bullets, currently ranked second in Division III, return to action on Wednesday, March 22 at home against fourth-ranked Middlebury College.  Game time is 3:30 p.m.
 
 

Goals:

RPI: Joe Battaglia 3, Nick Childs 3, Andrei Lombardi, Ben Terzulli, Tom Terzulli, Pat Blount, Scott Tami.

Gettysburg: Tommy Pearce 4, Pete Milliman 3, Ross Garretson 2, Kevin Callahan, Mark Pollak, Charlie Hanchett, Wes Cadman.

Assists:

RPI: T. Terzulli 4, B. Terzulli, David Perlman.

Gettysburg: Ric Bremer, Garretson, Pearce, Hanchett, Cadman.
 

Shots: RPI 33, Gettysburg 34.

Ground Balls: RPI 35, Gettysburg 42.

Extra-Man: RPI 1 of 10, Gettysburg 2 of 6.

Faceoffs: RPI 16, Gettysburg 13.

Goalies: RPI (Matthew Moog – 41 minutes, 5 SV, 10 GA; Joe Garvey – 19 minutes, 3 SV, 4 GA), Gettysburg (Andrew Barter – 57 minutes, 9 SV, 11 GA; Eric Gregg – 3 minutes, 1 SV, 0 GA).

Clearing: RPI 14 of 24, Gettysburg 19 of 25.

Penalties: RPI 6 for 4:30, Gettysburg 10 for 7:30.

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