GETTYSBURG, Pa. --- Tommy Pearce (Chestertown, MD/Woodberry Forest [VA]) tallied a team-high six points on three goals and three assists as Gettysburg used a 12-1 first-half run to down Swarthmore 23-7 in Centennial Conference (CC) men's lacrosse action on Saturday.

     Starting attackmen Ross Garretson (New Hope, PA/Germantown Academy), Pete Milliman (Rochester, NY/Canterbury [CT]) and Ric Bremer (Ridgefield, CT/John Jay [NY]) collected five points apiece to help the Bullets (11-1, 5-0 CC) clinch a share of their third straight CC championship.  Gettysburg would lock up the outright title with a win at Franklin & Marshall College next Saturday.

     Wes Cadman (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) added a hat trick and Mark Pollak (Fairfax Station, VA/Lake Braddock) tallied a goal and two assists as the Bullets extended their record winning streak in conference games to 21.

     Patrick Friel scored three goals for Swarthmore (7-5, 1-4 CC), including the first two of the game to stake the Garnet Tide to a 2-0 lead in the first 3:35.  John Murphy chipped in with two goals and one assist in the losing effort while goalie Sig Rydquist made 10 saves.

     Friel stunned the Bullets with two goals on the first two shots of the game, giving Swarthmore a 2-0 lead with 11:25 remaining in the first period.

     Gettysburg responded with unassisted goals from Charlie Hanchett (Annapolis, MD/Stony Brook School) and Pearce 26 seconds apart to pull even at the 6:33 mark.  Milliman then put the Bullets ahead to stay at 3-2 with his first goal of the game with 1:23 left.

     Gettysburg rattled off the first five goals of the second quarter to take command of the game.  Milliman scored the first of the Bullets' five extra-man goals off a feed from Pearce 21 seconds into the period and Cadman converted the team's next man-up opportunity off a pass from Garretson to make it 5-2 with 11:50 left in the half.

     Pollak followed with his lone goal of the contest 37 seconds later to extend the Bullet lead to 6-2.  Garretson scored his first goal of the game at the 9:13 mark, then set up Bremer on an extra-man tally to make it 8-2 with 8:09 left before halftime.

     Friel broke the Gettysburg run with his third goal of the game off a feed from Murphy at 7:28 to pull Swarthmore within 8-3.  Keyed by a goal and two assists from Pearce, the Bullets responded with a 4-0 run to close out the second period ahead 12-3.

     Murphy scored for the Garnet Tide to open the second half, but Gettysburg put the game out of reach with a 6-0 run over the next seven minutes and 48 seconds.

     Gettysburg outshot Swarthmore 52-17 on the afternoon and held a 47-35 advantage in ground balls.  The Bullets converted on five of seven extra-man opportunities against the Garnet Tide and are 11 for 13 with the extra man over their past three games.

     Gettysburg, currently, ranked second in Division III, returns to action on Saturday, April 29 at Franklin & Marshall College.  Game time is 1:30 p.m.
 
 

Swarthmore: Patrick Friel 3, John Murphy 2, Mark Dingfield, Marcus Shin.

Gettysburg: Pete Milliman 3, Ric Bremer 3, Tommy Pearce 3, Wes Cadman 3, Ross Garretson 2, Kevin Callahan 2, Matt Twombly, Mark Pollak, Charlie Hanchett, Jason Carlstrom, Peter Politi, Vinny Merlino, Chris Porter.

Assists:

Swarthmore: Adam Dickinson, Coby Smith, Dingfield, Murphy.

Gettysburg: Garretson 3, Pearce 3, Milliman 2, Bremer 2, Pollak 2, John Czerapowicz.

Shots: Swarthmore 17, Gettysburg 52.

Ground Balls: Swarthmore 35, Gettysburg 47.

Extra-Man: Swarthmore 2 of 6, Gettysburg 5 of 7.

Faceoffs: Swarthmore 13, Gettysburg 20.

Goalies: Swarthmore (Sig Rydquist – 50 minutes, 10 SV, 20 GA; C.J. Riley – 10 minutes, 1 SV, 3 GA), Gettysburg (Andrew Barter – 45 minutes, 3 SV, 5 GA; Eric Gregg – 11 minutes, 3 SV, 0 GA; Tim Kurz – 4 minutes, 0 SV, 2 GA).

Clearing: Swarthmore 10 of 16, Gettysburg 10 of 14.

Penalties: Swarthmore 7 for 5:00, Gettysburg 6 for 4:00.

-30-